How Gains on Foreign Stocks Are Taxed in Türkiye

The tax on gains from a US stock arises not in the US but in Türkiye. For shares on foreign exchanges there is usually no intermediary in Türkiye withholding tax at source either; the calculation and the filing fall to the investor. This article describes the rules in force as of 2026.

How a Capital Gain Is Calculated

A gain from selling foreign shares counts under the Income Tax Law as a capital gain (değer artışı kazancı). The math is done in lira: what's taxed isn't the dollar gain, but the difference between the purchase converted to lira and the sale converted to lira.

Indexation is a correction for inflation eroding the cost. If the domestic producer price index (Yİ-ÜFE) rises 10% or more between the month before the purchase and the month before the sale, the lira cost is raised by that rate. Below 10%, no indexation applies.

The mechanism matters: as the lira loses value, even a position with no dollar profit at all can show a gain in lira. Indexation partly offsets that, not fully. More: Currency Risk

Declaration: Whatever the Amount

The law sets an annual exemption amount for capital gains, but that exemption doesn't apply to securities. The result: gains from selling foreign shares are declared whatever their size.

• The declaration is made on the annual income tax return in March 1-31 of the year after the gain. A share sold in 2026 is declared in March 2027.
• Tax is calculated on the progressive schedule (brackets from 15% to 40%), together with other declarable income.
• Payment is in two installments: March and July.

What Happens to Losses

Trading losses within the same calendar year are deducted from trading gains of the same year. If you gained 5,000 TL on one stock and lost 3,000 TL on another, 2,000 TL goes into the return.

The limits are clear too: losses can't be deducted from other income such as salary, rent or dividends, and they don't carry forward to the next year. A loss not used within the year disappears with it.

Dividends

Dividends from foreign shares are income from movable capital (menkul sermaye iradı) and follow a different rule from capital gains.

• 01The dividend is converted to lira at its gross amount, at the CBRT buying rate on the day it's received. The amount before the US 20% withholding is what counts. More: W-8BEN and 1042-S
• 02For 2026 income, if total movable and immovable capital income not taxed at source doesn't exceed 22,000 TL, no return is required for it. If it does, all of it is declared, not just the excess.
• 03The half exemption on dividends from Turkish companies doesn't apply to a portfolio investor's foreign dividends.
• 04Tax paid in the US can be credited against the tax calculated, provided it's documented and doesn't exceed the Turkish tax on that income.

Running the Numbers

The site's tax calculator helps you produce an estimate by entering purchase and sale dates, dollar amounts and rates. Read the result as a preliminary calculation, not a tax return.

This article is based on the relevant articles of the Turkish Income Tax Law, the communiqué setting the 2026 thresholds and GİB rulings. It is general information, not tax advice, and reflects the rules as of 2026; regulations can change.