Cyprus · Tax regime
Non-Domiciled Tax Status
Materially changed by the tax reform passed by Parliament on 22 December 2025, gazetted 31 December 2025 and in force for tax years from 1 January 2026. The 17-year limit stays, but is now extendable by two consecutive 5-year periods at EUR 250,000 per period, for a maximum of 27 years. At the same time, the SDC rate on dividends from post-2026 profits fell from 17% to 5%, which sharply reduces what the non-dom exemption is actually worth.
The 2026 reform is more double-edged than the marketing admits. Yes, non-dom status can now run to 27 years. But cutting SDC on dividends from 17% to 5% means a domiciled Cypriot now pays only 5% on dividends. So the exemption a non-dom is paying EUR 250,000 to extend is worth a fraction of what it was worth in 2025. Run the arithmetic before buying the extension. For many families, the extension will never pay for itself.
Qualifying routes
17 tax years from becoming Cyprus tax resident, free of charge, if not deemed domiciled
lump sum covering a further 5-year period, available where the domicile of origin is outside Cyprus
a further 5 years. The election may be made twice, giving up to 10 additional years
The facts
- Minimum
- €250k
- Total landed cost
- It is free for the first 17 years. After that, each 5-year extension costs EUR 250,000, up to EUR 500,000 for the full additional decade.
- Route type
- Tax regime, not a visa
- Physical presence
- Cyprus tax residence is required. That means 183 days, or 60 days under the alternative test.
- Family
- Each taxpayer is assessed individually
- Permanent residency
- Not applicable. This is a tax status, not a residency path.
- Citizenship
- Not applicable
- Language test
- Not applicable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- Cyprus tax resident under the 183-day or 60-day testNot domiciled in Cyprus by origin, and not deemed domiciled by 17 years of residence in the last 20For the extension: a domicile of origin outside Cyprus, plus a EUR 250,000 lump sum per 5-year period
- The 17-year clock runs from the year you become Cyprus tax resident, not from when you claim the status. Arriving young burns years cheaply. Arriving at 55 may mean the clock outlives the plan anyway.
- The EUR 250,000 extension must be assessed against the new 5% SDC rate, not the old 17%. Advisers still pricing the extension against a 17% counterfactual are overstating its value by more than threefold.
- Dividends out of pre-2026 profits keep the 17% SDC rate until 31 December 2031. That is a transition trap for companies with accumulated reserves.
- Deemed domicile catches anyone Cyprus-domiciled by origin or resident 17 of the last 20 years, regardless of the extension.
- Cyprus corporate tax rose from 12.5% to 15% on 1 January 2026, so structures built on the old rate need re-modelling.
- The precise conditions attaching to the extension election are not confirmed by the statute text. KPMG describes it only as 2 consecutive 5-year periods (5+5), subject to conditions, without publishing what those conditions are. Verify before committing EUR 250,000.