As a foreigner, living in Turkey far away from the homeland is tough though. However,there are also some good parts of being a foreigner in Turkey. While all the Turkish citizens have to pay private consumption tax(Özel Tüketim Vergisi,ÖTV) and value added tax (Katma Değer Vergisi,VAT) for the new purchased car,the foreigners dont pay them.Depending on the size of the car’s engine,Turkish citizens pay between 37% and 84% ÖTV plus they have to pay 18% VAT.The foreigners are exempted from these two taxes. There are two kinds of car purchase:

1-) Buying a brand new car: As a foreigner,it is very simple to buy a brand new car from the dealer if you have a tax number and residence permit(Blue Book).You sign a purchase and sale agreement with the dealer.During this process,they ask the following documents from you

• Copy of your Passport
• Copy of your Tax number
• Copy of your Residence Permit ( Ikamet İzni Kopyası)
• Power of attorney to the person who will get your licenseand number plate from the traffic police.( In brand new cars,this service is included in the sales price of the car)

All these process takes 3-4 days and at the end,you get your car,license and number plate without any problem.We would like to mention that if you buy an expensive or middle quality car,the dealer can give you a 1 year insurance as a bonus.Please note that starting from the purchasing date,your new car must be registrated to Traffic Registration Office within 3 months.

2-) Buying a second hand car: This kind of sales happens at notary offices. Before going to the notary,the seller has to give the following documents to the buyer:

• Document showing that the car passed from the vehicle inspection test ( Araç muayene sorgulama )
• Document showing that the car has no traffic fines
• Document of Compulsary Traffic Insurance ( Zorunlu Trafik Sigortası)
• Document that the seller has paid fort he car tax ( MTV )
• Proof of adres

Registration plates

The buyer and the seller goes to the notary with sales contract. The notary asks for these documents:

• Passport or ID of the buyer and the seller. Photocopy is not valid,they have to be original.
• Vehicle Registration Book ( Ruhsat )
• Traffic Registration Document ( Trafik Belgesi )

Notary first checks the Passport/ID of the seller and the buyer and then registration of the vehicle and then the sales contract.If all are good,confirms the sales agreement and lets the seller&buyer sign it.

After finalising the sales,the notary informs the Traffic Registration Office regarding the sale of the car.In order to finalise the number plate registration,the new buyer has to make Compulsary Traffic Insurance ( Zorunlu Trafik Sigortası )

Within 15 days,the copy of the registartion document gets posted to the buyer and starting the day he receives it,the buyer has 10 days to insure the car.