Warning: New property taxes will raise rents even further

The redetermination of property tax bases, which are updated every four years for the 2026-2029 period, has sparked controversy, with increases of up to 40-fold in some regions. However, the real debate is expected to unfold in March-April 2026, the tax payment period. Former Treasury bureaucrats have stated that even some apartments could be considered valuable housing in 2026 with this tax base increase. Experts, noting that the property tax has become a wealth tax, have suggested revisiting the rates.

RENT RATES MAY INCREASE EVEN MORE

Experts have warned that landlords will not sit idle in the face of rising property taxes and that rents, which are cited as one of the causes of inflation, will increase at a higher rate.

The controversial property tax increases were discussed on vergialgi.com, a think tank published by the New Economy Group. The analyses were conducted by Mehmet Akarslan, Head of the Revenue Administration's E. Group, and Dr. Ahmet Ozansoy.

YILMAZ SEZER: LANDLORDERS INCREASE RENTS

Güncel Group Chairman Yılmaz Sezer, in his assessment to Ekonomim, said that the main reason for the increase was the extraordinary increase in real estate prices in recent years.

Sezer said in his statement:

The property tax increase is actually the result of a routine procedure performed every four years, but this time, the high rate of increase has attracted considerable attention and discussion. The reason for this high increase is the high rates of increase in real estate and land prices. According to TurkStat data, the cost of real estate increased by 650% between 2021 and 2024, while the rate of increase in land and land prices reached 800%.

7 DIFFERENT TAXES ARE AFFECTED BY VALUE INCREASE

In fact, market values ​​in the real estate market have increased significantly during this period. Because market value and tax value are the same in our tax system, seven different taxes, primarily property tax, have been affected by this increase in value. In other words, clarifying the concepts of tax value and market value and defining each separately would completely eliminate this problem. Furthermore, property tax is a reflective tax. Therefore, landlords will want to reflect the high tax rates they pay in rental prices. This could result in further increases in rental expenses, which we often criticize for already comprising 65% of the family budget. Therefore, instead of filing a lawsuit to challenge the value, we can redefine the tax value, lowering it and setting the market value higher, or at the actual value. However, if property taxpayers wish to file a lawsuit, they can do so starting from September 8th, with the latest deadline being December 31, 2025.

Source: My Economy