Nasdaq Helal Hisseler (2026): Screening US Stocks and Buying Them From Turkey

A US share is halal for a Turkish investor on the same basis as a Borsa Istanbul share: the company's business must be permissible and its interest exposure must sit under published thresholds. The Borsa Istanbul katılım index rule set in force from 29 September 2026 caps non-compliant income at 5 per cent of revenue and interest-bearing assets and interest-bearing debt at 33 per cent of total assets each. Apply those three tests to a company's own SEC 10-K, buy through a Turkish broker that offers foreign markets, purify the impermissible share of each dividend, and declare dividends and gains to the Gelir İdaresi Başkanlığı (GİB) yourself, because no Turkish withholding is applied to foreign shares. Our halal stocks hub covers the Borsa Istanbul side; this page covers Nasdaq and the NYSE.

Which screen applies to a Nasdaq ticker

There is no Turkish regulator that screens foreign shares for you. Borsa Istanbul and the TKBB Advisory Board screen Turkish listed companies into the BIST Katılım indices, and the rule set they publish is the closest thing to a national standard. The version effective 29 September 2026 says a company qualifies if, on the valuation day, income from non-compliant activities is at most 5 per cent of total income, interest-bearing assets are at most 33 per cent of total assets, and interest-bearing debt is at most 33 per cent of total assets, with consolidated figures used where the company consolidates. A company already in the index may overshoot a threshold by up to 10 per cent of that threshold for one review period before it is removed.

Kuveyt Türk's own share-trading page prints an older form of the same rules: interest-bearing financing at most 30 per cent of market value, interest-earning cash and securities at most 30 per cent of market value, and non-compliant income at most 5 per cent of total income. The difference between a market-value denominator and a total-assets denominator is not academic. For a company whose shares trade at many times book value, the market-value test is far easier to pass. AAOIFI's standard also uses market capitalisation as the denominator; we did not fetch aaoifi.org during this check, so we do not quote its percentages here. The TKBB screening standard explained sets out the sector exclusions that come before any ratio.

• Sector test first: interest-based finance, alcohol, gambling, pork, tobacco, weapons, adult entertainment and forward trading of gold, silver and currency are excluded whatever the ratios say
• Income test: non-compliant income divided by total income, threshold 5 per cent under the Borsa Istanbul rule set
• Interest-bearing assets test: interest-earning cash, deposits and debt securities divided by total assets, threshold 33 per cent
• Interest-bearing debt test: loans, bonds and commercial paper divided by total assets, threshold 33 per cent
• Use consolidated group figures, the same way Borsa Istanbul does for Turkish issuers

A worked screen of Apple from its FY2025 10-K

Apple's fiscal year ended on 27 September 2025 and the 10-K was filed with the SEC on 31 October 2025. We pulled the figures from the SEC's XBRL company-facts data rather than from a screener app, so you can repeat the exercise for any US ticker. Total assets were 359,241 million dollars. Debt was commercial paper of 7,979 million, the current portion of long-term debt of 12,350 million and non-current long-term debt of 78,328 million, which together make 98,657 million dollars, or 27.5 per cent of total assets. That passes the 33 per cent debt test with room to spare.

The asset test is where Apple becomes a judgement call. Marketable securities alone are 26.9 per cent of total assets, under the 33 per cent line. Add cash and cash equivalents and the figure is 36.9 per cent, over the line. The 10-K does not tell you how much of the cash balance earns interest, and the XBRL tags we read do not break out interest income as a separate line, so the 5 per cent income test needs the "Other Income/(Expense), Net" note in the filing itself. On a market-capitalisation basis the question disappears: against a public float of about 3.25 trillion dollars, Apple's debt is around 3 per cent and its cash plus securities around 4 per cent. That is why some screeners pass Apple and others flag it, and why the honest answer to "Apple katılım endeksine uygun mu" is: it depends which denominator your scholar accepts.

Why screeners disagree about the same company

Three choices drive most disagreements. The first is the denominator, total assets or market value, discussed above. The second is what counts as an interest-bearing asset: some screeners include all cash and equivalents, others only deposits and debt securities that pay a stated return. The third is the data date, because a screener using a quarterly 10-Q will differ from one using the annual 10-K. Borsa Istanbul reviews Turkish companies on a fixed calendar using a standard information form filed to KAP; nothing comparable exists for US issuers, so you are the review committee.

Our guide to screening Borsa Istanbul shares walks through the KAP form for Turkish companies. For a US company, the equivalent documents are the balance sheet, the debt note and the other income note in the 10-K, all free on sec.gov. Write down which rule set and which denominator you used, and apply it consistently across every holding. Changing the rule to suit a stock you like is the one method every scholar rejects.

How a Turkish investor actually buys a US share

US shares are bought through a Turkish brokerage (aracı kurum) licensed by the Sermaye Piyasası Kurulu (SPK) that offers foreign markets, or through a bank acting as that broker's agent. Your lira is converted to dollars, the order is routed to the US exchange through the broker's foreign correspondent, and the shares are held in an omnibus account in the broker's name at a foreign custodian. You own a claim on the broker's record, not a direct entry at the US depository, so the SPK licence and the broker's capital matter more here than for a Borsa Istanbul holding registered at the MKK in your own name.

Kuveyt Türk Yatırım is the broker most readers of this edition will meet first, because Kuveyt Türk branches act as its agent. Kuveyt Türk's share-trading page is explicit about what that account does: through Kuveyt Türk Mobil and internet banking it only intermediates the purchase of shares that meet the Katılım index rules, charges 2 per thousand of transaction value excluding BSMV on share trades, and levies no account opening, custody or maintenance fee. The page does not mention US or other foreign markets at all. A reader who wants Nasdaq exposure should ask Kuveyt Türk Yatırım directly whether foreign markets are offered and at what commission, because nothing on the public page says so, and should treat every other broker's US commission, FX spread and custody fee as quote-only until it appears on a published tariff. The screening that Kuveyt Türk does for Borsa Istanbul shares stops at the Turkish border; nobody at the broker screens a Nasdaq ticker for you.

Purifying dividends from US holdings

Purification (arındırma) removes the slice of a dividend that came from impermissible income. For Borsa Istanbul shares, Kuveyt Türk's page points investors to KAP, where companies in the katılım indices publish their purification ratios. For a US company you compute the ratio yourself: impermissible income, mainly interest earned, divided by total income, from the same 10-K you screened. Multiply the dividend you received by that ratio and give the result away. The Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı's Din İşleri Yüksek Kurulu (DİYK) decision number 118 of 11 December 2024 is the reference point for what to do with such money: it must be handed to the poor or used for public benefit without any expectation of reward, it may not be given to mosques, and the person should stop earning that way and repent.

Keep the arithmetic in a spreadsheet with the filing date, the ratio, the dividend and the amount donated. The sums are usually small for a company like Apple, where the impermissible portion is a fraction of a percent of a modest dividend, but the record is what lets you answer a zakat or inheritance question later. The how to invest halal hub covers purification for funds and ETFs, which do it inside the fund.

What GİB expects from a Turkish resident holding US shares

GİB's 2026 Menkul Sermaye İradı guide, written for income earned in 2025, treats dividends from foreign companies as capital income that carries no Turkish withholding. Such income is declared on the annual return if the total of unwithheld, unexempted capital income exceeds 18,000 TL for 2025 income, rising to 22,000 TL for 2026 income. The guide stresses that this figure is a filing threshold, not an exemption: cross it and the whole amount is declared, taxed in the 2025 bands that run from 15 per cent to 40 per cent. The half-dividend exemption in Gelir Vergisi Kanunu article 22/4 is irrelevant to a retail portfolio, because the guide ties it to owning at least half of the foreign company's paid-in capital and repatriating the dividend before the filing deadline.

Capital gains are covered by GİB's 2026 Diğer Kazanç ve İratlar guide, which states plainly that gains from buying and selling securities on foreign exchanges are declared as capital gains (değer artış kazancı) on the annual return, and gives an example of a 225,000 TL gain from foreign share trades that must be declared. The general capital gains exemption of 120,000 TL for 2025 and 150,000 TL for 2026 does not apply to securities issued after 1 January 2006, so it does not apply to your Apple shares. The acquisition cost may be indexed by the Yİ-ÜFE producer price index when the rise between purchase and sale months is 10 per cent or more. Compare that with Kuveyt Türk's note that Borsa Istanbul share gains carry 0 per cent withholding and GİB's rule that BIST shares held over a year are outside capital gains tax entirely. Our participation banking taxes article covers the domestic side.

Direct US shares, a BIST katılım share, or a foreign halal ETF

The middle row is the default for a reason: the screening, the purification ratio and the tax treatment are all handled by someone else, and the account is free to hold. The top row buys you the US market at the price of doing the committee's work yourself. The bottom row is covered in our halal ETFs in Turkey piece, and it is the sensible middle ground for a reader who wants Nasdaq exposure but will not open a 10-K.

Verdict: who should hold US shares directly

Hold US shares directly if you are willing to run the three ratio tests on each company's 10-K once a year, record the purification ratio, and file an annual return with GİB for dividends above the 18,000 TL threshold and for every gain. If that list reads as a chore, buy a halal ETF or stay with the BIST Katılım names that Kuveyt Türk Yatırım will already sell you at 2 per thousand. Either way, decide your rule set before you decide your stock. A reader who wants a quick is it halal answer on a single ticker should start with the sector test, which fails more companies than the ratios ever do. Facts checked against sec.gov, borsaistanbul.com, kuveytturk.com.tr, gib.gov.tr, kurul.diyanet.gov.tr on 30 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Is Apple stock halal under the Turkish katılım rules?

It depends on which asset test you apply. From Apple's FY2025 10-K, debt is 27.5 per cent of total assets, under the 33 per cent limit. Marketable securities are 26.9 per cent of total assets, also under the limit, but adding cash and cash equivalents takes the figure to 36.9 per cent. On a market-value basis both ratios are under 5 per cent. Decide your rule, then apply it the same way to every holding.

Can I buy Nasdaq shares through Kuveyt Türk?

Kuveyt Türk's share-trading page describes a Kuveyt Türk Yatırım account that trades only Katılım-index-compliant Borsa Istanbul shares through the mobile and internet channels, at 2 per thousand commission with no custody fee. It does not mention US or other foreign markets. Ask Kuveyt Türk Yatırım directly whether foreign markets are available before assuming they are.

Do I pay Turkish tax on US dividends?

Yes, if the total of your unwithheld capital income exceeds the filing threshold. GİB's 2026 guide sets that at 18,000 TL for 2025 income and 22,000 TL for 2026 income, and once crossed the whole amount is declared at the 15 to 40 per cent bands. No Turkish withholding is taken at source on a foreign dividend, so the duty to declare is yours.

Are gains on US shares taxed in Turkey?

Yes. GİB's 2026 capital gains guide says gains from securities traded on foreign exchanges are declared as değer artış kazancı on the annual return. The 120,000 TL (2025) and 150,000 TL (2026) exemption does not cover securities issued after 1 January 2006, so it does not help. Costs may be indexed by Yİ-ÜFE when the index rise is 10 per cent or more.

How do I purify a US dividend?

Divide the company's interest and other impermissible income by its total income from the same 10-K you screened, multiply the dividend by that ratio, and give the result to the poor or to public benefit without expecting reward. DİYK decision 118 of 11 December 2024 is the Diyanet reference for disposing of such income; it also says it may not go to mosques.

What are the 33/33/5 thresholds?

They are the three ratio limits in the Borsa Istanbul katılım index rule set effective 29 September 2026: non-compliant income at most 5 per cent of total income, interest-bearing assets at most 33 per cent of total assets, and interest-bearing debt at most 33 per cent of total assets. Kuveyt Türk's page still prints the older 30 per cent of market value version, so check which one your broker applies.