Tax residency in Türkiye and CRS: what the bank collects and what is reported

Opening or keeping a bank account in Türkiye now involves a tax-residency form. This guide explains the Turkish residence test in the Income Tax Law, what the bank collects under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), what is reported to your country of tax residence through the Revenue Administration, which documents support your answer and what to do when you move. It describes procedure only and is not tax advice.

The Turkish residence test

Article 3 of Income Tax Law No. 193 treats as full taxpayers (tam mükellef) those settled in Türkiye, meaning people whose residence under the Civil Code is in Türkiye and people who stay in Türkiye continuously for more than six months in a calendar year. Short trips abroad are treated as temporary absences and do not interrupt the stay. Many guides call this the 183-day rule. The law itself says six months; 183 days is the figure used in tax treaties, so check which text applies to you. The article also lists exceptions, for example for stays only for education or medical treatment, and its wording can be amended, so read the current consolidated text before relying on any of them. A full taxpayer is taxed in Türkiye on worldwide income; a limited taxpayer (dar mükellef) only on Turkish-source income. Whether you are a tax resident is decided by the tax authority on the facts, not by the bank and not by ROSTU.

What CRS is and what gets reported

The Common Reporting Standard is an OECD framework under which participating jurisdictions require their financial institutions to identify where each account holder is tax resident and to report the account to their own tax authority. That authority then exchanges the data once a year with the authority of the country where the holder is resident, provided that country takes part in the exchange. In Türkiye the receiving authority is the Revenue Administration (GİB). Under the standard, the report generally covers the holder’s name, address, country of residence, tax identification number (TIN) and date of birth, the account number, the year-end balance and income credited during the year, such as interest or dividends. It is a routine, automatic process applied to every relevant account; it is not an accusation and it does not depend on any suspicion. Which countries exchange with Türkiye is published by the OECD and GİB.

What the bank collects: self-certification

When you open an account, a Turkish bank asks you to complete and sign a self-certification (öz beyan) form. It asks for every country where you are tax resident, the TIN for each, your date of birth and your address, and often your US status for FATCA. Banks commonly treat this form as a condition for opening the account, so ask your branch what applies. You sign it on your own responsibility, so the entries must match your passport, residence permit and address record. If the bank sees indicators that point elsewhere, such as a foreign address or phone number, it may ask for an explanation or a supporting document. If a country does not issue TINs, or you do not yet have one, the form usually has a field for the reason; leave nothing blank without stating why. If you are resident in more than one country, list each of them.

Documenting residence and the tax number

The bank normally accepts your signed declaration, and asks for evidence only where something does not fit. Useful documents are the certificate of tax residence issued by the tax authority of your country, a recent tax return or assessment, an official letter or card showing your TIN, and for Türkiye the residence permit with the registered address and the tax number issued by the tax office. For the TIN format in your country, see the country information on the OECD portal. Foreign documents may need an apostille and a Turkish translation, and the bank decides which form it accepts. The Turkish tax number and address steps are explained in our guide on tax number and address registration. Keep copies of what you submitted, with the date, because the same file will be asked for again at the next update.

What changes when you move

A move can change your tax residence, and your bank has to know. If you leave Türkiye, become resident in another country, get a new TIN or change your address, send the bank a new self-certification in writing; banks usually set the deadline in their request, and an outdated form can lead to restrictions on the account. After the change the bank reports you to the country of your new residence, provided it takes part in the exchange. If two countries both treat you as resident, the double-tax treaty between them normally contains tie-breaker rules, such as permanent home and centre of vital interests, applied by the tax authorities. Keep proof of the dates: residence permit end, deregistration, a new lease or employment contract. Whether you are a tax resident of any country is for the tax authority and your tax adviser to confirm.

Sources

• mevzuat.gov.tr — Income Tax Law No. 193, article 3 (full and limited taxpayers)
• gib.gov.tr — Revenue Administration (GİB): tax number and international exchange of financial account information
• oecd.org — Common Reporting Standard and the automatic exchange of information portal, including TIN information by country
• yapikredi.com.tr — example of a Turkish bank’s customer page on CRS and FATCA

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