Living here as a digital nomad, I run my own business in a place where they really push the tax setup and weather as selling points. But let me tell you what they don’t mention. Taxis are a total rip-off, thanks to strict government regulations. Uber got the boot back in 2016, and minimum fares are set by law, leaving no room for real competition, even with companies like Bolt in the mix. If you want to avoid being taken for a ride, pun intended, you better get yourself a car or be prepared to pay through the nose for taxi rides. And forget about trains – they shut down in 1951 and never made a comeback. The bus system isn’t much better, so getting your own wheels is a must from day one.
Flying to Turkey directly is another headache here, thanks to lingering issues from a past conflict. A quick 45-minute flight turns into a full-day ordeal with layovers in a third country. And don’t even get me started on the bureaucracy. Home wifi installation took me over two weeks and a dozen phone calls – and that’s considered normal. Be prepared to triple your expected timeline for anything government-related. Bringing a non-EU partner here is a nightmare. Unmarried partners don’t have an automatic right to join you, and the authorities can deny you for almost any reason. I’m currently in a heated dispute after my partner was rejected over a technicality. Marriage seems to be the only surefire way to make them budge.
To add insult to injury, corporate tax rates shot up from 12.5% to 15% in January 2026, affecting every registered company, not just the big players. And the provisional tax system will have you paying up front for income you haven’t even earned yet, with hefty penalties if you miscalculate by more than 25%. Finding reliable service staff, especially cleaners, is like finding a needle in a haystack. Even if you pay above market rates, you’ll still get flaked on.
Things just move at a slower pace here compared to what you might be used to in northern Europe, the US, or most of Asia. It’s not a deal-breaker on its own, but when you stack up all these issues, it can be frustrating. I’m not saying you should write this place off completely – the tax setup can work in your favor, and the weather is fantastic. Just go in with your eyes wide open: