What changed in Cyprus

The innovative SME investment deduction has a clock on it, it expires 31 December 2026

Moving your company

Selling shares in a company can trigger Cyprus property gains tax through a look-through test

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Foreign pensions get 5,000 euros free then a flat 5 percent, with a yearly opt out

Pension

Ex-gratia payments are tax free to 200,000 euros, then a flat 20 percent above that

Personal income tax

Approved employer share scheme awards are taxed at a flat 8 percent, not your marginal rate

Personal income tax

Working over 90 days abroad for a non-Cyprus employer makes that pay fully exempt in Cyprus

Personal income tax

Salary is deductible but costly, dividends are not deductible but cheap for a non-dom

Moving your company

Owning over half your Cyprus company may make you self-employed for social insurance regardless of payroll

Social security

A past Cyprus stint inside the last 15 years can disqualify you from the 50 percent exemption

Personal income tax

Under the 55,000 euro salary line, the 20 percent or 8,550 euro relief is the one that fits

Personal income tax

Returning to Cyprus after 7 years away can exempt 25 percent of your income

Personal income tax

Open question, does remote work for a foreign employer count as being employed in Cyprus for the 60 day rule

Tax residency

A settled, employer backed home office is where real PE risk starts, not signing authority alone

Permanent establishment risk

Dutch Zvw health insurance ends when Cyprus becomes your competent state

Healthcare coverage

A valid A1 keeps you out of GESY, losing it enrols you as a contributor

Healthcare coverage

A Cyprus social security flip costs the employer 15.4 percent, and part of it is uncapped

Employer compliance

A posting A1 needs a real posting, an employee-initiated move to Cyprus is not one

Social security

If your employer will not register in Cyprus, Article 21 lets you pay contributions yourself

Social security

As a Cyprus resident, your social security flips to Cyprus at 25 percent of working time

Social security

Cyprus never signed the EU telework framework, so the 50 percent tolerance does not exist here

Social security

Cyprus social insurance attaches from your first day of work, with no minimum period

Social security

Once Cyprus has a taxing right, you self-assess it on a TD1 by 31 July

Employer payroll obligations

Cyprus can tax your directors fee with zero days spent in Cyprus

Personal income tax

The Netherlands exempts your Cyprus employment income but only credits directors fees

Personal income tax

Once the shelter breaks, Cyprus taxes your workday share, not your whole salary

Personal income tax

Recharging your salary to a Cyprus entity kills the 183 day shelter on day one

Personal income tax

Holidays, weekends and sick days in Cyprus all count toward the 183

Personal income tax

The 183 day count runs on a rolling 12 month window, not the calendar year

Personal income tax

The Netherlands-Cyprus treaty is live, not a gap, since 1 January 2024

Personal income tax

Cyprus's own tax residency bar is lower than what your origin country actually demands

Moving your company

Cyprus Tax Department Circular 2/2026 confirms the paid non-dom extension beyond 17 years

Personal income tax

Cyprus corporate tax is 15 percent from 2026, not the 12.5 percent still widely quoted

Moving your company

The IP box brings qualifying IP profit down to about 3 percent, if the nexus fraction supports it

Moving your company

Notional interest deduction can cut the effective rate to about 3 percent on new equity

Moving your company

Cyprus still charges no outbound withholding tax, but two defensive exceptions now exist

Moving your company

Foreign dividends into a Cyprus holding are exempt from corporate tax outright, the anti-avoidance test sits in SDC

Moving your company

Since 2026 the 60-day route no longer requires giving up residency elsewhere

Tax residency

Non-dom SDC exemption is real in 2026, but repriced to 5 points not 17

Personal income tax

The 50 percent salary exemption travels with you between employers and is retested every year

Personal income tax

Non-dom shelter can now be extended to 27 years for a fee

Personal income tax

The 2026 tax reform is enacted law, not a pending proposal

Personal income tax

Non-dom status does not shelter crypto tax, and Cyprus is now a MiCA-only market

Crypto tax and legal status

For an active trader the reform likely cuts crypto tax from 35 percent to 8 percent

Crypto tax and legal status

A buy-and-hold crypto investor should expect the 8 percent too

Crypto tax and legal status

From 2026 Cyprus taxes every crypto disposal at a flat 8 percent

Crypto tax and legal status

Real substance in Cyprus is what makes the tax residency certificate and treaty benefits stick

Moving your company

The IP box and notional interest deduction both survived the 2026 reform

Moving your company

Corporate tax rises to 15 percent from 2026, and redomiciliation into Cyprus is available

Moving your company

Cyprus levies no wealth, inheritance, gift or exit tax on individuals

Leaving home: exit tax and ties

Dual nationality is understood to be permitted when you naturalise

Permanent residency and citizenship

Naturalisation is really 8 years of stay, and there is no citizenship by investment any more

Permanent residency and citizenship

Category F needs far less capital than Reg 6(2), but the queue runs 5 to 7 years

Residency routes

A EUR 300,000 investment buys permanent residence, not a work permit

Residency routes

EU, EEA and Swiss movers settle through the yellow slip, then MEU3 after 5 years

Residency routes

An employee abroad with contract or management authority can create a foreign PE for the Cyprus employer

Permanent establishment risk

Cyprus employers must get the A1 or treaty certificate before posting anyone abroad

Employer compliance

Cyprus charges no exit tax when you leave

Personal income tax

Cyprus releases you from tax residency, and non-dom status ends with it

Tax residency

A shorter stay abroad keeps Cyprus dismissal protection as the operative regime

Dismissal protection

A long stay abroad can layer the host country's mandatory rules onto your Cyprus contract

Employment law

Cyprus sick pay and invalidity protection travel with an A1

Sick leave

Cyprus unemployment benefit exports for 3 months within the EU, nowhere else

Unemployment rights

The non-contributory Social Pension never travels, not even within the EU

Pension

Your Cyprus pension record has a path to stay intact almost anywhere

Pension

GESY and your Cyprus EHIC lapse once you stop being habitually resident

Healthcare coverage

No coordination outside the EU and bilateral list, voluntary insurance is your continuity tool

Social security

A bilateral treaty covers posting to the UK, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Serbia or Egypt

Social security

Working from another EU state defaults your coverage away from Cyprus

Social security

Register once you settle in: yellow slip for EU nationals, ARC for everyone else

Local registrations

GDPR applies in Cyprus, third-country transfers still need a legal basis

Data protection

Long enough in Cyprus, and Cyprus mandatory employment law can layer on

Employment law

Longer non-EU stays need private health insurance by law

Healthcare coverage

GESY is closed to short-term visitors, EHIC covers you instead if EU

Healthcare coverage

Without an A1 certificate, Cyprus is your default social insurance country

Social security

Social insurance, not tax, is the more likely payroll trigger

Employer payroll obligations

Whether a foreign employer must register for Cyprus PAYE is unsettled, your own TD1 is the confirmed fallback

Employer payroll obligations

Signing contracts or managing from Cyprus creates real PE risk

Permanent establishment risk

Permanent establishment risk looks low for a plain remote setup

Permanent establishment risk

No Cyprus tax treaty means relying on unilateral credit alone

Personal income tax

A tax treaty backstops you if Cyprus and home both claim you

Personal income tax

New Cyprus tax residents get real income tax and dividend relief

Personal income tax

Cyprus tax residency means worldwide income comes into scope

Personal income tax

Short non-resident stays with no local clients stay outside Cyprus income tax

Personal income tax

Under 60 days, neither Cyprus residency test can be met

Tax residency

The 60-day rule can also make you Cyprus tax resident

Tax residency

Over 183 days makes you a Cyprus tax resident, no other conditions

Tax residency

Serving Cyprus clients or signing locally is outside every route described here

Right to work

Remote work on a visitor stamp sits in a tolerated grey zone

Right to work

Full right to work and self-employ, no permit needed

Right to work

The nomad visa quota can fill, and current availability is not confirmed

Immigration and visa

The Digital Nomad Visa is the compliant route for non-EU remote workers

Immigration and visa

Past 90 days you need a status beyond a visitor stamp

Immigration and visa

Visa-exempt nationals get 90 days in 180, counted on Cyprus alone

Immigration and visa

EU, EEA and Swiss nationals move freely into Cyprus

Immigration and visa