Notary and Transfer Costs in Vehicle Ownership Transfers: Who Pays?

In Türkiye, the rule for vehicle transfer costs is that the buyer pays them: notary fees, notary service charges, and mandatory traffic insurance belong to the buyer by default. However, this is not an absolute obligation - it is an open item for the parties to negotiate; and since, as of January 1, 2026, the fee is calculated based on the sale price, who pays what now holds a far more important place at the negotiating table than before.

Who pays the transfer costs: the rule and the reality

The established practice is simple: the buyer pays the notary costs. Neither the notary fee schedule nor the registration legislation contains any provision imposing these costs on the seller; therefore, unless otherwise agreed in the sales listing or during negotiations, the bill lands on the buyer's table. In thirty years of professional life, I have never witnessed a single sale where this issue was not discussed before going to the notary; and at the table where it wasn't discussed beforehand, it ends up having to be discussed there.

The subtle point here is: this is a matter of custom, not a legally mandated sharing scheme. The parties can split the costs equally, the buyer can pay the fee while the seller pays the notary charge, or in a dealership sale, the entire cost can shift to the other side. The only condition is that this be confirmed in writing, not by a verbal agreement. Adding a brief note to the document showing the sale price or getting confirmation by email is the only means of proof in any later dispute.

How much does a notary transfer cost in 2026?

Things used to be easy: there was a fixed transfer fee, everyone knew it, and negotiations were made accordingly. In 2025, this fee was around 1,489.36 TL. With the regulation that came into force on January 1, 2026, the fixed fee was abolished and replaced by a proportional fee system based on the sale price. Now, the more expensive the vehicle, the more expensive the transfer; this turned cost sharing from a mere agreement clause into one of the main agenda items of the negotiation.

Calculating the fee

The vehicle sales fee is charged as 2 per thousand of the sale price, with a minimum of 1,000 TL. There is one detail to watch in the calculation: the fee is calculated on whichever amount is higher - the sale price or the comprehensive insurance value. For a vehicle worth one million liras, the fee is 2,000 TL; for a two-million-lira vehicle, 4,000 TL. This regulation also covers the first registration of brand-new vehicles; but in sales to authorized dealerships the proportional fee is not applied, which makes the dealership sale option worth re-evaluating in terms of price.

Items other than the fee

The fee is only part of the expense. The notary's service charge is calculated as 30% of the fee collected, with a minimum of 58.82 TL per transaction. In addition, a page fee of 80.68 TL, a registration fee of 25.21 TL per transaction, and a notification page fee of the same amount are paid. The transfer service charge totals in the range of 1,870-1,970 TL for 2026. Ultimately, for a vehicle worth 500,000 TL, the total expense is approximately 2,870 TL; for a vehicle worth two million liras, a 4,000 TL fee and a service charge of approximately 1,870 TL come together. When inspection, insurance, and other items are included, it can be accepted that the total cost increases as the vehicle's value rises, reaching the 3,000-5,000 TL range.

It should be noted that the figures vary with different calculation methods: some calculations include only the fee and notary charge, while others also include the inspection and insurance. Clarifying which items are covered before sitting down to negotiate prevents both parties from getting lost between two different numbers.

How are the motor vehicle tax and traffic insurance shared in the transfer?

The two items outside the notary costs are also negotiable, and both have clear official rules. On the motor vehicle tax side, the Revenue Administration's regulation is clear: if the transfer is made in the first 6 months of the year, the tax liability applies to the following last 6 months; if made in the last 6 months, it applies from the beginning of the following year. In other words, a seller who transfers the vehicle in July is not obligated to pay the second half of that year's motor vehicle tax; the liability is naturally divided by the transfer date. In practice, the seller either asks the buyer for their share of the remaining period of the motor vehicle tax they paid or reflects it in the price; this is a matter of convention, and reflecting it in the sale price is the healthiest way.

The situation with traffic insurance changed fundamentally a few years ago. With the regulation that came into force on December 5, 2024, the practice of using the previous owner's policy for 15 days was abolished; instead, a summary logic applies: first insurance, then registration. The buyer must obtain an active traffic insurance policy in their own name before the notary transaction, and the policy is issued using the seller's current registration details. If the plate is going to change, the current plate is written and updated with an endorsement after the transfer.

The seller has their own obligations as well. The old policy is not automatically cancelled by transfer; the seller applies to the insurance company to request cancellation and a refund of the premium for the unused period. If no application is made, the seller's past insurance history-based late payment surcharge may be reflected in the buyer's new policy; this can be removed with authorization, but it creates an extra point of negotiation on the day of transfer. There is no ready-made formula in the legislation for a day-based sharing of the insurance premium; the period actually used belongs to the buyer, and the remaining period and its refund belong to the seller.

Payment security: Mandatory Secure Payment System

When discussing the sharing of costs, a topic that gets skipped but is just as critical as the costs themselves is how the sale price itself will be paid. Since September 27, 2024, the Secure Payment System has been mandatory for vehicle sales. The buyer makes the payment as a blocked transaction through a bank or payment institution, and the amount is placed into the escrow account; the parties go to the notary together and complete the transfer with a reference number, and the payment takes place simultaneously with the transfer. The system has a fee, and the fee varies according to the transaction value; the Takasbank Vehicle Exchange System also operates as an alternative. Don't forget to add this service fee to the cost table as well.

What to prepare before going to the notary

The notary procedure takes 20-30 minutes when the paperwork is complete; together with the registration procedures that follow, the entire process is generally completed within 1-2 days. But a missing document can turn this into weeks. What needs to be brought to the table:

• The registration document, i.e. the traffic registration certificate
• Identity documents of the parties
• An active traffic insurance policy issued in the buyer's own name
• The inspection certificate
• A statement of the plate and vehicle tax debt status
• If one of the parties is represented, a power of attorney with the authority to sell explicitly stated

Before the transfer, the buyer must also query the vehicle's records for motor vehicle tax, traffic fines, liens and encumbrances: the notary procedure automatically halts for a vehicle showing debt or a lien in the system. A sale with a power of attorney is possible, but the power of attorney must explicitly include the authority to sell, and its fee varies according to the number of pages, signatures and copies. The inspection fee is usually paid by the buyer, but this is not a strict rule; if the sale does not take place, whose responsibility it is remains open to debate - just as it should be discussed at the outset, if it isn't discussed, problems arise.

Negotiation position: sharing the costs correctly

The most common pattern of dispute I have encountered over the years is this: a price is agreed upon, the parties go to the notary, the total cost is seen there for the first time, and the parties begin to haggle backwards over an amount that can be taken seriously in high-value vehicles. With the proportional duty system, this risk has increased; because the duty now varies according to the vehicle's value, and on a two million lira vehicle the total cost can exceed 5,000 TL.

The practical solution sequence should work as follows: who covers the costs should be clarified during the negotiation, not on the day you go to the notary, but as part of the price agreement. Which items are covered (the duty stamp, the notary fee, the expert inspection, or the GÖS fee) should be confirmed in writing. The seller should start their insurance cancellation and premium refund process immediately after the transfer, and the buyer should inquire about the late payment surcharge before the transfer. For the MTV share, rather than splitting by day or period, reflecting the item in the sale price is the least friction-prone method.

None of these come from a law book; they are all customary practices that operate according to the nature of each expense item. But once put in writing, they leave the realm of custom and become a binding clause of the agreement, and that written form becomes the only thing you can lean on after the transfer.

The bottom line

The short answer to the cost question in a vehicle transfer has not changed: as a rule, the buyer pays. The long answer got even longer in 2026; the proportional duty stamp, the mandatory insurance precondition, and the Safe Payment System transfer have turned the costs into a multi-item picture. Whoever calculates the figures on the negotiation day rather than the transfer day, and leaves the outcome in writing, will breathe easy when the time comes to sit down at the table.

Sources

• 2026 Notary Fee Tariff
• Notary Procedures and Fees When Selling a Vehicle 2026
• MTV and Traffic Administrative Fines - GİB (Revenue Administration)
• Safe Payment System - Türkiye Notaries Union
• Will Traffic Insurance Last 15 Days in a Vehicle Sale? - TOBB
• Notary Fees 2026: Vehicle Sale and Power of Attorney
• Vehicle Sale Duty Stamp Calculation 2026
• Current Notary Fees 2026
• Second-Hand Vehicle Notary Sale Procedures 2026