There are three main one-off taxes which must be paid.
1. The first is a 0.5% stamp duty (current at March 2023) whihc is paid within one month of the contract date on all properties.
2. The second is 5% VAT which is only due on either brand new properties (all new build properties) OR on a resale where the original owner has not paid the VAT previously. This is not payable on resales sold as “VAT Paid, Deed in Owner’s Name” which makes resales with VAT paid cheaper for taxes than new build properties.
3. The third tax is the tax payable for title deed transfer. There have been recent changes to the “Transfer of Title Fee” tax for both citzens of North Cyprus, Turkiye and for overseas buyers. Until February 2023 this was 3% for a first purchase and 6% thereafter. Since February 2023 this has risen to 6% for citizens of TRNC and Turkiye and 12% for overseas buyers. One reason for this increase was to give additional funding to the Turkiye earthquake victims as well as help to fund the Immovable Property commission which protects property owners in North Cyprus from future claims by former Greek Cypriot owners by paying compensation.
Half of this figure is now due at the time of contract registration with the balance payable at title deed transfer.
Please contact NCI for details of a Trust Purchase route which can keep the tax at 6% for overseas buyers too. You can read more about these taxes on our article on COSTS OF BUYING HERE.