On March 28, 2025, the Council of Ministers of the Northern Cyprus in the official messenger of the Northern Cyprus published the Law on Rest Houses.
The purpose of the law is to transfer the short -term rental of housing rented to tourists without the control and supervision of the state to the rental regime under state control. This involves the registration of individuals and legal entities in the Ministry of Tourism, who are owners or landlords of housing delivered to tourists on a short -term basis, as well as registration of objects themselves. This will allow the state to receive all types of taxes, fees, duties and other income.
Let's reveal important concepts from this law.
The landlord is not only individuals, but also legal entities who are owners or landlords of housing, including on the basis of a power of attorney passed by tourists on a short -term basis, who are obliged to personally register with the Ministry of Tourism of Physical and Legal Entities, as well as registration of objects surrendered.
Short -term rent - means renting a holiday home for up to 60 days.
A dwelling ” - means housing, which has at least one kitchen, a bathroom and a toilet (either a bathroom and a toilet), has a sufficient area for a comfortable residence of one family, includes common areas and can be located on the lower and upper floors (while other apartments can be located in the building).
The rest house is any independent structure that the law divides the type: a villa, a separate house, a studio, an apartment in an apartment building, which are built in accordance with the current urban planning legislation, received permission to operate, registered in the land cadastre.
Rest houses are classified by the Department of Planning and Tourism, and the class of the rest house (indicated in the registry and in the permit for operation) is recorded next to the address at which the house is located.
Classification rules will be published later in an official messenger with a separate resolution.
What are the requirements for the rest house:
Basic requirements:
1. Each object is allocated and has its own area.
2. A maximum of five (5) bedrooms and no more than ten (10) people. If there are more than five bedrooms, it is prohibited to place over ten (10) people.
3. There should be a kitchen equipped with devices that allow, after use, wash dishes and kitchen accessories. (Commentary: Separate projects are obtained, which are built by developers without a kitchen, they may not meet the requirements of the rest house).
Additional requirements:
- Sleeping rooms (with the exception of those where young children who need parents care) should be designed for a maximum of two people.
- If the rest house is designed to accommodate no more than four (4) persons, then it should have one bathroom and one toilet; from 4 to 7 persons - two bathrooms and two toilets; If from 8 to 10 people - three bathrooms and three toilets.
- A separate entrance and output.
- Parking place for one car (as it will be determined if in most cases there are no dedicated parking spaces, but general)
- The presence of containers for collecting household waste in a specially designated place.
In general, most houses and apartments in Northern Cyprus meet the basic and additional requirements, so this is not any problem.
Let's move on to the procedure for obtaining a license and registering holiday houses.
Application procedure and requirements
1. Who can apply?
- The owner of the rest house
- Authorized representative of the owner (by proxy)
- Lessor
2. Submitting an application
• to the Department of Planning and Tourism through the Form of Registration
- The form should be filled completely with the application of all the necessary documents
- Upon demands of the department - submitting through the electronic portal
3. Restrictions
- One statement can be registered from the 1st rest house to 5 houses
- More than 5 houses-only through the KitsAB agency Association of Tourism and Travels of Cyprus and Turkey ( https://www.kitsab.org/members.aspx )
4. Processing of the application
- In case of errors or lack of documents, the applicant is obliged to correct them within 15 days
- In the absence of corrections, the application is canceled
5. Checking objects
- It is carried out within 30 days after the application is submitted
6. Consideration of the application
- The department considers up to 90 days
- The applicant is notified of the decision in writing or by e -mail
7. Registration and issuance of a registry certificate
- Department maintains a register of rest houses
- Within 10 days after registration, a registry certificate is issued.
- The cost of the certificate - monthly minimum wage 43,469 Turkish lire before deduction of taxes
8. Change in the number of holiday houses
- Apply for amendments to the register
- If necessary - eliminate deficiencies within 30 days
- Obtaining an updated certificate within 5 days
For amendments to the register certificate, a fee equal to a monthly gross size of the minimum wage (43,469 Turkish lire) is charged, which is paid to the treasury department of income and taxes.
The death of the owner
The heirs are obliged to notify the Department of Death of the owner within 30 days by attaching a death certificate and an obligation to provide documents after the establishment of the inheritance.
- In the absence of a notification, the registry, certificate and permission are canceled.
- To continue the operation of the rest of the rest, the inheritance case should be opened within 60 days, and within 15 days after that - the order of the court with the names of the heirs was granted.
- If the deadlines are not observed, registration is canceled.
Removing part of the houses from the register certificate
If you refuse to operate part of the holiday houses, you must submit an application (Appendix 3). The directorate updates the register, registration certificate and permission for the remaining objects. For the changes, a fee equal to the specified interest rate from the monthly gross-minimal wage paid to the tax department is charged. Excluded objects are removed from the registry.
Issuance and extension of the permit for operation
- The resolution is issued within 10 days after the fee, contains the addresses of the objects (Appendix 6).
- Permission collection:
- Standard house - 7% of the monthly minimum salary
- Comfortable house - 11%
- Luxurious house - 15%
- The primary resolution is valid for 1 year, the extension of the annual (Appendix 7).
- If the refusal was not received within 10 days after submitting the application, the resolution is extended automatically.
The conditions for extending the permit
when extending the permission for each standard recreation building are paid 7 % of the monthly gross-target wage, for each comfortable-11 %, and for each luxurious-15 % to the tax department (to the Fund for Promotion and Development of Tourism).
Adding new recreation houses
if changes are made to the registration and registration certificate, and new holiday houses are added to the permission to operate, for each new object a collection set in paragraph (2) for the corresponding class of the rest house paid by the owner or lessor to the tax department (to the account of the Fund for promoting and developing tourism). The initial term of resolution for added objects is one year; Subsequent extension is carried out annually with the payment of fees, as indicated in paragraph (3).
Full refusal
In case of full refusal, it is necessary to notify the directorate. Registration, certificate and permit are canceled, the applicant receives a notice of cancellation.
Monthly reporting
The owner (either his representative or the lessor) must provide the directors with two copies of the completed registration form of the user no later than 10 days after the end of each month (paragraph (1) of Article 11 of this Law). When requesting the Directorate on the provision of user data, including information from personality or passport certificates, in electronic form through the created portal, the owner (either his representative or the lessor) must fulfill the corresponding requirement. Forms are provided along with the text given in Appendix 11 of this Law.
The taxation of income from the lease
income received from renting a vacation house is taxed in accordance with Article 4 of the Law on income tax.
Fines, sealing and punishment
- For violations, a notification is provided (15 days for correction) , a fine in the amount of a monthly minimum salary, cancellation of permission and sealing the house.
- With non -payment, the fine increases, the recovery is carried out by law.
- The possibility of appeal in court.
Fines and punishment for violations:
1. Lack of registration, registration certificate or permit for operation (Articles 7, 8, 9):
• Punishment : up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 times the monthly gross-minimal wage, or both punishments together.
2. Non -payment of fees (Article 9):
• Punishment : up to 6 months of imprisonment or a fine up to 5 times the monthly gross-minimal wage, or both punishments together.
3. Violations under Articles 10, 12, 13, as well as the removal of a typo from the facility (Article 17, 18):
• Punishment : up to 2 months of imprisonment or a fine before a monthly gross-minimal wage, or both punishments together.
The license is issued for a period of 1 year within 10 days after the fee of 7, 11 or 15% of the MZP is also extended by 1 year with the payment of a similar amount of the fee. That is, the cost of the collection (duties) for the license does not depend on the amount of the rental, which the owner established, but depends on the type of housing. Questions to which there are no answers yet:
Let me remind you that this law concerns only a short -term lease and does not affect the long -term lease, which is considered from 2 months (60 days) or more. The contract will be registered with the tax with tax for a period for a period usually from 6 months or immediately for a year or parts. How will the owners of housing from the short -term lease be transferred to the long -term rental. There are not many who want to live on a residence permit on the basis of high income with a reflection of $ 50 thousand per person in a bank account.
It is not yet clear from the law what criteria for the separation of recreation homes by type are standard, comfortable and luxurious on which the amount of payment for registration fee 7%, 12%or 15%depends.
The procedure and the method of making payment by the tenant (user) for the rented apartment is not indicated, but given the separate law from January 1, 2025, which concerns just fees and payments for weekly, daily or similar short -term rental housing, which are required only when paying through the bank in accordance with the Decree of 11.11.2024. Banks will be intermediaries in payments. In exchange for incoming funds entered through deposits, transfers, EFT/eös, checks, debit and credit cards will be issued receipts or statements from an account that will be considered documentary confirmation. Payments and fees conducted through Internet banking also fall under these rules. Lessans paying cash payments and property owners who accept such payments will be fined. However, if the tenant who violated the requirement of documentary confirmation will inform the tax department within five working days after payment, the fine will not be applied to it.
How can customers bring money to a local bank it is not clear and whether the owner himself can do this.
Taxation of rental income
received from leasing a holiday house is taxed in accordance with Article 4 of the Law on income tax, this is about 12%.
The law does not establish the validity of the register certificate - that is, it is assumed that it acts indefinitely, while the lessor annually extends the license.
An example of the calculation (for apartment 2+1, worth 180,000 euros):
Now let's make an approximate calculation of the taxes for one apartment 2+1 worth 180,000 euros , which is owned by a foreigner and it rents an average of 100 euros per day with an annual workload of 30%= 109 days = 109 days x 100 euros = 10900 euros - total annual income.
We believe that the apartment is completely equipped for rental and the price of the apartment already included all taxes on purchase, that is 12% titles, 0.5% cadastral fee, 5% VAT, transformer fee and another application to the ministry for purchase permission.
Imagine that the apartment belongs to the type of housing comfort with a collection of 11% of MZP = 4782 TL = 117 euros , for receiving a license for 1 year.
Obtaining a registry certificate - 1 MZP = 43 469 TL = 1060 euros , issues and acts in fact for the duration and subsequent extension of the license. The term of receipt is up to 90 days. We conventionally calculate that the owner plans to rent an apartment for 5 years , and then cancel this registry certificate and license. Accordingly, the expenditure part for 1 year out of five is 212 euros.
The income tax for renting housing in currency is 13% and will be: 109 days x 100 euros x 13% = 1417 euros.
Meetenns (expenses of the management company of the complex) for the year will be 80 x 12 months = 960 euros .
Electricity consumption is an average of 150 euros per month x 12 months = 1800 euros.
Water 10 euros per month x 12 months = 120 euros.
Internet 20 euros per month x 12 months = 240 euros.
Cleaning an apartment with a change in linen at least 50 euros, provided that the average duration of the short -term rental of housing was at least 10 days, that is, 109 days / 10 days = 11 of the harvest X 50 euros = 550 euros .
Services of the management company 30% of total annual income = 10900 euros x 30% = 3270 euros.
Total : 10900 euros (income) - 3270 euros (Services of the Criminal Code) - 240 euros (Internet) - 550 euros (cleaning) - 120 euros (water) - 1800 euros (electricity) - 960 euros (METIENNES) - 1417 euros (income tax) - 212 euros (⅕ part of the registry certificate) - 117 euros (annual license) = 2214 euros Pure profit per year , if not, if not To believe that over 5 years of operation of the apartment it will be necessary to solve the issues of plumbing, electricians, replacement of shift linen and dishes. Do not forget the costs of fuel and the operation of a car for trips to the bank and the police to put money or transfer documents.
If you live here and are ready to do everything with your own hands - and this is far from a passive income, but real work, then return the services of the Criminal Code and cleaning the apartment, that is, 3270 + 550 = 3820 euros + 2214 euros, net profit = 6034 euros per year.
We calculate the profitability during passive surrender 2214/180000 × 100 = 1.23% per annum .
If you personally take part: 3.35% per annum.
Here is such arithmetic. I may have chosen a pessimistic option for loading 109 days , but it will correspond to the average temperature in the hospital. I am sure that individual apartments in the complexes can safely give loading and 60-70%, but there will be a few.
Perhaps it will be more profitable to rent the same apartment for long -term rental for 800 euros per month , so that the tenant independently pays utility bills (Internet, electricity, water) and cleaning when evicted, that is, 9600 euros per year income - 960 euros METIENONS - 1248 euros (13% income tax) = 7392 euros or 4.1% per annum .
Frequently Asked Questions (FQA)
1. How to register a lease?
In order to register a lease, it is necessary to submit an application through an electronic portal or directly to the Department of Planning and Tourism, using a special form of registration with the application of all the necessary documents. More detailed information can be found here .
2. What tax needs to be paid when renting real estate in Northern Cyprus?
The income from the delivery of real estate is taxed in accordance with Article 4 of the Law on income tax, which can be about 13% depending on the conditions. In more detail about tax liabilities, you can read here .
3. What is a vacation house and how are the holiday houses classified?
The rest house is an independent building intended for short -term rental by tourists (including villas, separate houses, studios and apartments in apartment buildings). The classification is carried out by the Department of Planning and Tourism, which fixes the class (for example, standard, comfortable or luxurious) in the register and operation permits.
4. What are the basic and additional requirements for the rest house?
The main requirements include:
- The presence of a dedicated area with a maximum of 5 bedrooms and a capacity of up to 10 people;
- The presence of a kitchen provided with dishes washed.
Additional requirements provide for:
- The correct distribution of sleeping places (a maximum of 2 people in the bedroom, with the exception of rooms for young children);
- The presence of the required number of bathrooms and toilets depending on the number of guests;
- Separate input and output, parking space and installed containers for household waste.
5. What are the terms and procedure for obtaining a license for the operation of a vacation house?
The license is issued within 10 days after the payment of the established fee (7%, 11% or 15% of the MZP) and is valid for 1 year with the possibility of automatic extension if the application was not rejected. The process includes submitting an application, checking the objects (up to 30 days) and consideration of the application within 90 days.
6. How is the monthly reporting and registration of recreation houses are carried out?
The owners or their representatives are required to provide two copies of the completed registration form no later than 10 days after the end of each month. The register of rest houses is regularly updated after receiving register certificates, which ensures control over compliance with the law.
7. What fines and punishments are provided for violations of the Law on Rest Houses?
For non -compliance with requirements (for example, lack of registration, non -payment of fees or violation of established norms), fines, cancellation of permission, and even imprisonment are provided. The size of the punishment varies depending on the nature of the violation, up to 10 times the monthly gross-minimal wage or more.
