In short
- 183-day rule: more than 183 days in Cyprus in the calendar year, so 184 or more. Nothing else is asked.
- 60-day rule: 60 days in Cyprus, 183 at most in any other country, a home and work or an office in Cyprus.
- Since 2026 the 60-day rule applies even when another country also treats you as its tax resident.
- The certificate costs €80: form T.D.126 for a person, form T.D.98 for a company.
In this guide
Cyprus tax residency rules in 2026: two tests for a person
Article 2 of the Income Tax Law gives a person two ways to be a resident of the Republic for a tax year, and the tax year is the calendar year. Passing one of them is enough. Tax residency is tested again every year, on the facts of that year.
| Condition | 183-day rule | 60-day rule |
|---|---|---|
| Days in Cyprus in the year | More than 183 | 60 or more |
| Days in any other single country | No limit | 183 at most |
| Work in Cyprus | None required | A business, a job or an office in a Cyprus tax-resident company, kept to the end of the year |
| Home in Cyprus | None required | A permanent home, owned or rented |
| Tax residence in another country | No bar | No bar since 1 January 2026 |
A resident is taxed in Cyprus on income from Cyprus and from abroad. A non-resident is taxed on income from Cyprus alone. Residence is also the first of two conditions for the exemption that our page on non-dom status in Cyprus describes.
What is the 183-day rule in Cyprus?
You are resident for the tax year when your stays in Cyprus add up to more than 183 days in that year. The days need not be consecutive: three stays of 70, 60 and 54 days make 184, and that is enough. The law attaches no other condition. You need no property, no job and no company in Cyprus.
The count runs from 1 January to 31 December and starts from zero each year. From 1 July to 31 December there are 184 days. A person who first comes to Cyprus on 2 July or later cannot pass the 183-day rule in that year, and the 60-day rule is the one left.
The Cyprus 60-day rule: four conditions in the same tax year
The 60-day rule has applied since 2017 and serves people who divide the year between countries. All four conditions have to be met in the same tax year.
- You stay in Cyprus for 60 days or more in the tax year.
- You do not stay in any other single state for more than 183 days in total in that year.
- You carry on a business in Cyprus, are employed in Cyprus, or hold an office in a person that is tax resident in Cyprus, at any time in the year. A director of a Cyprus tax-resident company holds such an office.
- You keep a permanent home in Cyprus that you own or rent.
The third condition fails for the whole year if the business, the job or the office ends before 31 December.
Until 31 December 2025 the rule had a fifth condition: you could not be tax resident in any other state. The reform removed it from 1 January 2026. Where Cyprus and another country both treat you as resident, the tax treaty between them decides. Its tests include where your permanent home is and where your personal and economic ties are closer.
A founder spends 75 days in Cyprus, 150 in a second country and 140 in a third. She rents a flat in Limassol for the whole year and is a director of her Cyprus company. She is tax resident in Cyprus for that year. With 190 days in the second country she would fail the second condition.
How days in Cyprus are counted
Both rules use the same count, and the law sets it in four lines.
| What happens on the day | The day counts as |
|---|---|
| You arrive in Cyprus | A day in Cyprus |
| You leave Cyprus | A day outside Cyprus |
| You arrive and leave on the same day | A day in Cyprus |
| You leave and come back on the same day | A day outside Cyprus |
A trip that starts on Monday morning and ends with a flight out on Friday evening gives four days: Monday to Thursday. Keep boarding passes and passport stamps for every trip, in Cyprus and elsewhere. The 60-day rule also needs proof that you stayed no more than 183 days in each other country.
We do this for you Cyprus non-dom status 0% SDC on dividends for up to 17 years
Company tax residency: the change of 1 January 2026
A company is a resident of the Republic in two cases. The first is the older test: its control and management are exercised in Cyprus. The second applies from 1 January 2026: the company was incorporated in Cyprus under the Companies Law, unless a double tax treaty provides otherwise. A company that moved its registered office or seat to Cyprus counts as incorporated there.
The change concerns companies registered in Cyprus and run from another country. Until 2025 such a company was Cyprus resident on the condition that no other country treated it as its resident. From 2026 it is resident by default and pays 15% corporate tax on its income from Cyprus and from abroad, unless a treaty places its residence in the other country. A company formed abroad becomes Cyprus resident when its control and management are exercised in Cyprus.
The guide to Cyprus corporate tax covers what a resident company pays, and our page on tax services in Cyprus lists the returns we file for it.
Tax residency certificate: forms, documents and the €80 fee
A tax residency certificate (TRC) is the Tax Department's confirmation that a person or a company is resident in Cyprus. You need it when your income comes from two countries, and the authority that asks for it is the one to which you declare that you are not its resident. The department issues it where Cyprus has a double tax agreement with that country.
- Register in the Tax Registry through the Tax For All portal, the one channel the department accepts. A person who registers under the 60-day rule attaches an identity document, a letter that explains the reason, and the title deed, the stamped contract of sale or the stamped tenancy agreement.
- Complete form T.D.126 for an individual or form T.D.98 for a company.
- Send the form with the supporting documents to the Tax Department office of your district, by email or by post.
- An officer prepares the certificate and contacts you where a document or an explanation is missing.
- Pay the €80 fee at the cash counter and collect the certificate.
Documents for a foreign national
- Copy of the yellow slip, the registration certificate of an EU citizen
- Passport or identity card
- Title deed or tenancy agreement
- Utility bill from the last six months
- Employment contract
- Statement of your account from the Social Insurance Services
- Vehicle ownership certificate and your children's school enrolment, where you have them
A company attaches its certificate of incorporation from the Registrar of Companies. Some countries have their own form for the Cyprus tax office to stamp, and the procedure and the fee are the same. You can apply during the tax year, once you have met the day count and can show it, or after the year has ended.
Who registers with the Tax Department, and when
A tax resident registers in the Tax Registry when they have any gross income, from Cyprus or from abroad. Every tax resident aged 25 to 70 registers and files a return even with no income at all. A non-resident registers when they have income from Cyprus.
An employee attaches proof of the job: the employer's letter with its terms, the employment contract, or the notice of hiring that the employer filed in Ergani, the Ministry of Labour's system. The employee also states their social insurance number. An EU citizen uploads the registration certificate, and a third-country national the residence permit.
What Cyprus tax residency changes for your taxes
A resident's salary and business profit are taxed by the 2026 bands. The rate is 0% on the first €22,000 of taxable income a year, 20% up to €32,000, 25% up to €42,000, 30% up to €72,000 and 35% above. Dividends and interest are outside income tax. A resident who is also domiciled in Cyprus pays the Special Defence Contribution on them: 5% on dividends from 2026 profits and 17% on interest. A resident without a Cyprus domicile pays none under the Cyprus non-dom rules. Both pay 2.65% to GeSY, the health system.
A founder's salary is worked through in the guide on how payroll works in Cyprus. We do the work of registering as a tax resident and non-dom in Cyprus: the registration, the day count and the certificate.
What a resident pays on each kind of income: Cyprus income tax.
