Yes they are planning a crack down on the rentals as they have had many complaints from hotel and pension owners.
Actually, they do this throughout the year but at the start of every season we always hear "rumours" that the maliye are going to "crack down" on rentals. I think they first started doing it about eight years or so ago and its not just holiday rentals they're interested in, its any form of rental.
We also hear, every year, that they are targeting foreigners - another myth. In reality they target anyone they can prove is renting out a property without declaring the rental income - its actually easier for them to process and recover money from a Turk for this offence than a foreigner.
There is a certain element of the ex pat community who, I suspect, revel in finding something that proves the authorities hate foreigners and will try to "fleece" them at any opportunity and just love starting unsubstantiated rumours, or "facts" as they call them. Well, there are elements of authority who do hate foreigners, but the fact is that they target them in far more subtle ways than the gin soaked, efes drinking bar monkeys (EPK's) could comprehend.
The bottom line is that if you rent out a property you are due to pay tax (above a certain threshold) on any rental income received. Think of the inverse situation and how rags like the Daily Mail would headline it:
"
Foreign landlords renting out thousands of properties and paying NO TAX on rents"
JF