When purchasing a property in Northern Cyprus the first thing you need to do is to leave a holding deposit in order to reserve the property. The minimum deposit required is normally £1,000 and over. Most reservation deposits to Vendors are non-refundable.
When a reservation deposit is lodged against the property, the sale price is fixed and the property is taken off the market until contracts can be drawn.
The current laws of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, state non-TRNC citizens can only take title to one property up to a maximum area of 0.33 Acres (One Donum) per household. Husband and wife count as one household.
Before the title deeds to the property can be registered in your name, you will need to have permission from the TRNC Council of Ministers. If you wish to take title to more than one property, or a property over one donum in area, we can give you advice on using trustees or setting up a TRNC Company to hold the title to the property for you.
Appointing a lawyer
We can recommend several trusted lawyers in North Cyprus who are bilingual and do not represent the seller or agent.
Bank Accounts
Once you have decided to purchase a property the next step is to open a North Cyprus bank account. If buying off-plan your developer will require stage payments to be made through a Cypriot bank account. If buying a resale property the utility bills can be paid through direct debit, making your life easier.
1. ‘Esdeger’ or ‘Exchange’
Turkish Cypriots who had land in the south pre ‘74 were given points calculated on the value of their land, which they had left behind. The TRNC Government established a matrix whereby the allocated points were used by the Turkish Cypriot to acquire freehold title to previously owned Greek Cypriot property which should, theoretically, be the equivalent value of land left behind in the south.
Immovable property to which a Turkish Cypriot acquired title in this way is known as ‘Exchange title land'.
2.'Turkish / Foreign Pre 74'
Property which was not owned and abandoned by the Greek Cypriots which is solely owned by the Turkish Cypriots and Foreign National pre 1974.
Taxes
There are four main taxes involved in any property sale and purchase transaction. These taxes are:
Transfer Fee
Capital Gains Tax
VAT (KDV)
Stamp Duty
TRANSFER FEE - is payable on transfer of Title. The fee is payable according to the value of your property. The percentages are as follows.
3% - First homebuyers
6% - Property owners
VAT FOR PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS - 5% of either the assessed value or the sale price.
CAPITAL GAINS TAX – The rate will be 3.5% payable by the Vendor.
STAMP DUTY – This is 0.5% of the contract price provided this is paid within 1 month of the date of the contract. If it is not paid within this time, the rate increases in stages until after 6 months it becomes 1.5%.
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