Technical article

Greece and Turkey: Border Zones, Approvals and the Heirs

In Turkey, a foreign individual may buy if the person comes from a country the President has approved.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a retired couple from Ohio who like an island in the Aegean and a coastal town in Turkey. They have two daughters, one in Canada and one in Germany. The amounts below are round examples, not a forecast. The couple ask two things. Can we buy there? And what do the girls pay and file when we are gone?

Can you buy?

In Greece, a buyer from the EU is treated like a Greek. A buyer from outside the EU, or a company from outside the EU, needs a permit in border regions and on some islands. One legal-information site describes a committee that decides, with a vote by the Defence Ministry, and a wait of months. The same site says refusals are rare. Which islands are on the list differs from source to source, so the list is worth asking about for the exact address.

In Turkey, a foreign individual may buy if the person comes from a country the President has approved. A Turkish government investment office puts that at about 183 countries. The list is not published. Reciprocity as a condition was dropped in 2012, and no residence permit is needed to buy. Three limits are set out in one law firm's article from 2018. A foreigner may not buy in a military or security zone. The total held may not pass 30 hectares, which the President may raise to 60. And the holding may not pass 10% of the private land in a district. The land registry asks the military offices to clear the file, and that takes about one to three months.

What the heirs pay

Both countries tax the person who receives the home, not the estate.

The Greek rates come from a PwC summary (tier B). The Greek deadline comes from the Greek tax authority itself (tier A). The Turkish figures come from law firms (tier C), and here the sources differ. One firm gives 1% to 10%. Another, describing 2025, gives 1% to 7% for direct relatives, a flat 15% for others and 30% for people not related. A PwC summary puts the whole range, inheritance and gifts together, at 1% to 30%. The filing time also differs: one firm says four months after a death in Turkey and six months if abroad, another says one month from the court certificate. Turkey lets the tax be paid in instalments over three years.

A Turkish home is valued at its tax value for this purpose. A law firm says that is often 50% to 70% of market value.

What the heirs file

In Greece, the heir files the tax return, signs a deed of acceptance before a notary and records it at the Land Registry. The return needs a certificate of the yearly property tax paid over five years. An heir abroad has 12 months to renounce as well. Gifts made in the last ten years can be challenged by those who hold the reserved share.

In Turkey, the heir first gets a certificate of inheritance from a court or a notary. Then comes the tax declaration, and then a tax clearance, which goes to the land registry to put the title in the heir's name. Papers from abroad need an apostille and a translation.

Selling later

Greek tax on gains from selling real estate is suspended to 31 December 2026, according to PwC. A secondary guide says the rate when it returns is 15%. In Turkey, one guide says a home held more than five years is generally free of tax on the gain. A tax-news site says a home that came by inheritance is exempt whatever the holding time.

Yearly costs differ too. One guide puts Turkish property tax on a home at 0.2% of tax value, and another gives a range of 0.1% to 0.6%.

A fair objection

You might say: this is a lot of papers for a home we might use six weeks a year. That is a fair way to look at it. The papers fall mostly on the daughters, once, and not on the couple. You could ask the lawyer for the exact permit position at the address before a deposit is paid, and for a list of what the daughters will sign.

Have you bought near a coast or a border in either country? What did the approval take in your case? Share it here, and someone weighing the same door may be glad to read it.

Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.