Have you ever wondered if Airbnb is legal or not in a certain city, state, province, or country? As much as it can be confusing, it is crucial for prospective hosts and vacationers to understand the laws and regulations of the city /country regarding temporary rentals. This article is dedicated to giving you some valuable tips and general information to understand the regulations regarding temporary rents via Airbnb Turkey.
What’s Airbnb?
Airbnb is a service you can use to rent your property for short-term to people who visit your country. Founded back in 2007 in San Francisco, the Airbnb website succeeded in establishing this new form of renting properties in many cities all over the world. In 2023, most people already know the Airbnb concept and there are millions of them who have already used it.
How did Airbnb services start in Turkey?
No one can deny that Airbnb struggles sometimes to be established in some countries since every country has its different policies relating to short-term rentals. Some local governments have put restrictions, requiring registration, obtaining a business license, or taking permission to state your property offer. If these rules are not followed, fines and penalties might be applied according to the law. Airbnb further faces some challenges regarding accountability in tax collections. Some people claim that Airbnb is not subject to health and safety as hotels do, and there are also some concerns about guests not respecting local neighborhoods.
For all these reasons, the beginning of Airbnb in Turkey was kind of hard and for quite a long time, people used to think that it was illegal, and many of them still think it is. However, the number of houses rented through Airbnb services has increased to reach over 40,000 houses.
Is Airbnb Legal?
Turkey is one of the greatest destinations for traveling as it is vibrant in tourism. Finding accommodation listings is now facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb and its services. Wondering if it is legal or not? We summed up the main requirements and an overview of the rules concerning Airbnb in Turkey.
Airbnb Policies:
Airbnb business has its own legal guidelines regarding permissions to rent out your property, health and safety measures, courtesy, etc. make sure to follow these hosting requirements as well as the hosting standards in their website to avoid any issues.
Report to the Police:
As an Airbnb host, you should also take some security measures related to the confidential information of your guests. Even if their personal information is registered in the Airbnb platform, you should report their IDs in the online identification system (Kimlik bildirim sistemi) to the Police department the same way hotels do. Generally the police checks if the information provided about the guests match with their IDs.
Tax regulations:
Considering Taxes, the legislation differs from one country to another. In Turkey, the income you earn as a host is subject to rental tax, income tax, or VAT. If you exceed a specific amount, you will be taxed based on the profit gained from short-term rental. Please check if you need to declare your earnings as well as keep updated following recent tax regulations in Turkey (a free tax guide provided by Airbnb).
New regulations on the way for Airbnb in Turkey
At the beginning of a new legislative year starting from October 1st, many new legal texts concerning short-term rental have been stated.
The new regulation should include the following :
- The owner who would like to rent his or her property according to the Airbnb concept must have a rental permit certificate for tourism purposes delivered by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Otherwise, the owner will not be allowed to rent his property on a daily basis
- In order to rent your property in Turkey on a daily basis, you must have a license that states that all the neighbors give you permission to do so
- New regulations are also supposed to require that the property owners will have to obtain permits for some security aspects such as fire escapes, fire reports, and waste control certificates
- Other amenities will be required for short-term rental which are similar to the things provided by hotels (towels, bed linen, hair dryer…)
- The identity information of the tenant and the duration of rental must be reported to the police services through a numeric platform which will be provided by e-devlet (Turkish e-government).
If property owners do not respect any part of the new regulations by the time they’re implemented, they risk sanctions and a fine that can reach 1 million Turkish Lira. If they keep the rental without resolving the infractions, the property could even be sealed.
As you got an idea about the main rules related to Airbnb rentals, there are no legal issues regarding renting out your property on Airbnb. As long as you meet the legal guidelines set by your country and fulfill the requirements of Airbnb business, you don’t have to be concerned as you will not face any problems. You can book an appointment with us by filling out a short form and we will help you understand more about the new regulation and how to boost your Airbnb earnings.
Disclaimer: As we do not provide any legal tax advice, please keep updated while searching about your country’s rules as Local regulations are subject to change.
