Why Cyprus
Three Cyprus provisions decide whether relocating here is worth doing, and they are set out below. What decides whether it works is the other half: what the country you are leaving does when you go. That half is mapped by origin country further down this page.
Structuring a company rather than moving personally? See the corporate case.
Non-domiciled status
A Cyprus tax resident who is not domiciled in Cyprus is outside the Special Defence Contribution, which is the tax that would otherwise apply to dividends and interest. For a founder taking profit from their own company as dividends, this is the provision that does the work. Status runs for 17 years.
Cyprus non-dom statusThe 60-day rule
Cyprus offers a second route to residence alongside the ordinary 183-day test. It requires 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in any other single country, a Cyprus business, employment or directorship held through the year, and a permanent home in Cyprus owned or rented. The condition that you not be tax resident in another state was removed with effect from 1 January 2026.
The 60-day ruleExpatriate exemption
Article 8(23A) exempts half of employment income where annual remuneration exceeds 55,000 euro, for up to 17 years, for an individual who was not Cyprus tax resident in the 15 years before their first employment here. The threshold is tested annually, and the exemption applies to salary rather than dividends.
How the exemptions interactWhat it does not do
Becoming Cyprus tax resident is one half of a move. The other half is ceasing to be resident where you were, which is decided by that country under its own rules and is very often the harder half. This is the point at which most relocations actually fail.
See what your country does on exitDoviandi is a licensed Cyprus firm and advises on the Cyprus position. It is not licensed to advise on the tax law of the countries below, so this table describes what regime exists in each and what to put to your own adviser there. That division is deliberate and it runs through every playbook.
| Origin | On ceasing residence there | Treaty with Cyprus | Residence decided by |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | No charge on departure itself. | Yes | Statutory Residence Test, with split-year treatment |
| Germany | Deemed disposal of qualifying shareholdings. | Yes | Residence or habitual abode, ended by deregistration |
| United States | None on moving. Applies only on formal expatriation. | Yes | Citizenship, not residence |
| Israel | Deemed sale, with deferral to actual realisation. | Yes | Centre of life, a facts and circumstances test |
| India | None. | Yes | Day count, with a resident but not ordinarily resident tier |
| Netherlands | Protective assessment on a substantial interest. | Yes | Facts and circumstances, centred on personal ties |
| France | Exit tax above value thresholds, with deferral inside the EU. | Yes | Home, principal residence, professional activity or economic interests |
| Sweden | No departure charge. A ten-year trailing claim instead. | Yes | Essential connection, which can survive physical departure |
| Norway | Exit tax on unrealised share gains, recently tightened. | Yes | Day count and continued ties, with a multi-year unwind |
| Switzerland | None. | Yes | Registration and residence with the commune and canton |
| Italy | An area of recent change. Confirm the current position. | Yes | Registration, domicile or residence for most of the tax year |
| Spain | Exit tax above high thresholds, with deferral inside the EU. | Yes | More than 183 days, or the centre of economic interests |
| Poland | Exit tax above a 4 million zloty threshold. | Yes | Centre of personal or economic interests, or 183 days |
| Lithuania | None on individuals. | Yes | Declared residence, day counts, or personal and economic interests |
| Ukraine | None. | Yes | Domicile, then centre of vital interests, then day count |
| South Africa | Deemed disposal of worldwide assets. | Yes | Ordinary residence, or the physical presence test |
| Australia | Deemed disposal, with an all-or-nothing deferral election. | None | Ordinary residence, domicile and the 183-day test |
| New Zealand | No general departure charge. | None | Permanent place of abode, plus a 325-day absence |
Australia and New Zealand have no double tax treaty with Cyprus in force. Every other playbook in this set relies on a treaty tie-breaker to resolve which country has the residence claim. Those two do not have one, which changes the analysis rather than preventing the move, and it is the first thing to raise with an adviser in either country.
It starts with three questions: where your revenue comes from, what you own, and where you are tax resident. From there, the conversation is about what you are building and where you want to take it. After the call, you receive a written proposal covering the recommended structure, the implementation roadmap, and a fixed fee quote.
