Technical article

Turkey and New Zealand: Two New-resident Regimes

Inland Revenue, the official source, gives new residents about four years of exemption on most foreign-source income.

By Neil Solomon · 4 min read

Picture a retired couple with investment accounts abroad and a family trust that pays their daughter. They are thinking about a country that taxes residents on income from anywhere in the world. They have heard that a few countries give newcomers a holiday from that rule. How long does the holiday run, and what does it ask of them?

Here is what the sources show for two countries, with three others beside them.

Turkey. EY's tax news reports Law 7582, published on 4 June 2026. It exempts foreign-source income for 20 years for people who become resident from 1 January 2026. Turkey counts you as resident after more than six months in a calendar year. EY adds a reduced 1% inheritance and gift tax rate on qualifying assets while a person is eligible. Outside the regime, PwC gives a top income tax rate of 40%, and inheritance and gift rates of 1% to 30%. EY says standard inheritance rates reach up to 10%, so the two sources differ on that one number.

New Zealand. Inland Revenue, the official source, gives new residents about four years of exemption on most foreign-source income. It is once in a lifetime. Pay for work done abroad is not exempt. The exemption ends early if the exempt income is put on a New Zealand return or the person claims Working for Families. A person is resident with a permanent place of abode in New Zealand, or more than 183 days in any 12 months. The top income tax rate is 39% above NZD 180,000 (approximately US$108,000).

Where a trust fits in New Zealand. The sources describe the payout rules for a foreign trust. Income paid to a resident beneficiary is taxed at the beneficiary's own rate, 10.5% to 39%. A trust that fails the rules faces 45%. Payments of trust capital, meaning the original money and gains already realised, are not taxed. One law firm summary gives these rates, so they sit at tier B, and Inland Revenue confirms the capital point.

You might say: "Twenty years sounds like a long time to count on a rule that was passed this year." That is a fair worry. Law 7582 is new, and the source is a professional summary rather than the law itself. Rules can also change at the end of any period. A long break is one factor, and the table shows it does not travel alone. Each regime has an entry test about where you lived before.

Those entry tests matter most for families. A daughter who lived in New Zealand as a child may not count as a newcomer. A son who lived in Turkey within the last three years may not qualify. The break belongs to the person who moves, and not to the whole family.

The break also covers income, and the sources do not describe it as covering everything. New Zealand leaves out work income earned abroad. Portugal needs a job. Italy asks for a yearly payment that rises from EUR 200,000 (approximately US$220,000) to EUR 300,000 for those who join from 2026. An heir who is retired and living on trust income may find that some of these regimes were built for a different kind of newcomer.

You could start with three questions about each country. How many years of residence in the last ten does the entry test count? What does the break cover? And what happens to the heirs, who may not qualify at all?

If you have moved to a country with a break like these, what did you learn about the entry test that others might want to hear? Share it here, because someone weighing the same door may benefit from your story.

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