Cyprus non-dom status: 0% SDC on dividends for 17 years, extendable to 27
Cyprus non-dom status gives a resident domiciled abroad 0% Special Defence Contribution on dividends and interest for 17 years, extendable to 27. We file the declaration.
What Cyprus non-dom status is
What non-domiciled means
Non-dom is short for non-domiciled. Cyprus charges the Special Defence Contribution (SDC) on the dividends and interest of people who are both tax resident and domiciled in Cyprus. A tax resident whose domicile is in another country stands outside that charge. The rule has applied since 16 July 2015.
Where domicile comes from
Domicile comes from the Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195. A person takes a domicile of origin at birth, usually the father's, and keeps it until settling for good in another country. For tax, a person also counts as domiciled after being tax resident in Cyprus for 17 of the last 20 years.
A tax status, apart from the right to live
Non-dom is a tax status. The right to live in Cyprus comes separately, from EU citizenship or a residence permit, and the tax status follows from the days you spend on the island. Two tests count the days of each calendar year: more than 183 days in Cyprus, or 60 days or more with a home and a business, a job or an office here and no more than 183 days in any other country.
Non-dom against an ordinary tax resident: what changes and what stays
A resident who is also domiciled in Cyprus is the ordinary case, and the comparison is against that taxpayer. GeSY is the health system, charged on income up to €180,000 a year.
| Charge | Non-dom resident | Domiciled resident |
|---|---|---|
| SDC on dividends from profits of 2026 and later | 0% | 5% |
| SDC on dividends from earlier profits | 0% | 17% |
| SDC on interest | 0% | 17% |
| Income tax on dividends and interest | 0% | 0% |
| GeSY on dividends and interest | 2.65% | 2.65% |
| Income tax on a salary | 0% to 35% | 0% to 35% |
| Tax on gains from the sale of shares in a company with no Cyprus property | 0% | 0% |
| SDC on rent, abolished from 1 January 2026 | 0% | 0% |
| SDC on a company asset that a shareholder uses privately | 0% | 10% of the market value |
| SDC on the deemed dividend from the profits of 2024 and 2025 | 0% | 17% on 70% of the profit |
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What changed on 1 January 2026 for non-doms in Cyprus
From the Tax Department's pages and presentations on the 2026 tax reform.
The contribution on a dividend that a domiciled resident receives fell from 17% to 5% for profits of 2026 and later. Dividends paid by 31 December 2031 out of profits up to 2025 keep 17%. A non-dom pays 0% on both. The figures are in dividends in Cyprus.
A company pays 15% corporate tax on its profit from 1 January 2026. For profits from 2026 it no longer counts as having paid out 70% of them two years later. That rule still reaches the profits of 2024 and 2025, at 17%, on the share of owners who are resident and domiciled.
The contribution on rent ended on 1 January 2026 for every resident. A new charge of 10% falls on a resident and domiciled shareholder who uses a company asset privately, such as a property that the company owns. A non-dom stands outside it.
The exemption stays. The Tax Department lists a change in the definition of domicile. A person deemed domiciled keeps that domicile until 20 years as a non-resident are complete, and the 20 years need not run in a row. A person without a Cyprus domicile of origin can extend the exemption twice.
The rule lost one condition: you no longer need to be free of tax residence in another country. The other conditions stand, and the table of the two tests below shows them.
The tax-free amount rose from €19,500 to €22,000. The rates are 0% up to €22,000, 20% up to €32,000, 25% up to €42,000, 30% up to €72,000 and 35% above, where 35% began above €60,000 before. The bands apply to salary and to rent.
What non-dom registration in Cyprus costs
Prices are before VAT.
Tax number, non-dom declaration and residency certificate
Fixed in your quoteYou get the figure in writing by the end of the next working day.
Get a quote- Certificate and tax return in later years
- in your quote
- Cyprus company formation
- from €1,699
- Accounting for the company, a month
- from €290
Worked example: €200,000 of dividends a year
A founder who is tax resident in Cyprus receives €200,000 of dividends in 2026, paid from the profit of the same year, and has no other income.
Dividends
- Non-dom resident
- €200,000
- Domiciled resident
- €200,000
SDC
- Non-dom resident
- €0
- Domiciled resident
- €10,000 (5%)
GeSY, 2.65% of the first €180,000
- Non-dom resident
- €4,770
- Domiciled resident
- €4,770
Kept
- Non-dom resident
- €195,230
- Domiciled resident
- €185,230
€10,000What the status saves each year
On these figures the status saves the founder €10,000 each year, and €170,000 over 17 years. Interest follows the same pattern at a higher rate: on €20,000 of bank interest a domiciled resident pays €3,400 of SDC, and a non-dom pays none.
15%The company pays its tax first
The company that pays the dividend has paid 15% corporate tax on its profit first. Tax in Cyprus follows the money from the company's profit to the owner.
Interest, rent, gains and share options for a non-dom in Cyprus
Where a tax does not depend on domicile, a non-dom and a domiciled resident pay the same.
A non-dom pays no contribution on interest from Cyprus or from abroad, and an individual's interest carries no income tax. GeSY at 2.65% applies. A domiciled resident pays 17% on interest, or 3% on government bonds and listed corporate bonds.
Rent bears income tax by the bands and GeSY at 2.65%, for a non-dom and a domiciled resident alike, since the contribution on rent ended on 1 January 2026. You pay provisional tax in two instalments, on 31 July and 31 December.
The profit from selling shares is exempt from income tax. Capital gains tax reaches a share only when the company owns property in Cyprus, as the next tile sets out.
Capital gains tax of 20% falls on a gain from property in Cyprus and from shares of a company that owns it, whoever the seller is. From 2026 shares held through other companies count once 20% of their value comes from Cyprus property, where 50% was needed. The lifetime allowance for a main home is €150,000: capital gains tax in Cyprus.
A tax resident employee or director not connected with the employer pays 8% on the benefit from share options under a plan that the Tax Commissioner approved. Vesting takes 3 years minimum, and the exercise price may not fall below 50% of the share value at approval. The 8% covers a benefit up to twice the pay from that employer in the vesting year and €1,000,000 in ten years. The bands tax the rest.
A gain from selling, gifting or exchanging crypto-assets, or paying with them, bears 8% for any person. A loss offsets only gains of the same year. Assets that a person mined stay under the bands.
Who qualifies for non-dom status in Cyprus
- A Cyprus tax resident
- You become tax resident under the 183-day rule or the 60-day rule, for each calendar year in turn. Each rule is set out in Cyprus tax residency: the 183-day and 60-day rules.
- With a domicile of origin abroad
- Your domicile of origin, taken at birth, is outside Cyprus. Most founders who move to Cyprus from another country meet this.
- Resident for fewer than 17 years
- You have been tax resident in Cyprus for fewer than 17 of the last 20 years.
- Born in Cyprus, settled abroad
- A person with a Cyprus domicile of origin qualifies after settling in another country and staying outside Cyprus tax residence for 20 years in a row.
- Each member of the family
- A husband or a wife qualifies on their own days and their own ties to Cyprus. Children follow their parents.
- What ends the status
- The 17th resident year makes you domiciled by law. So does a change of domicile: your domicile of origin continues until you acquire a domicile of choice, which means settling in a country to live there permanently or indefinitely. The Tax Department judges that on your acts and conduct, with questionnaire T.D.38QB.
Tax residency comes first: which test you meet
Either rule makes you tax resident for the year. The non-dom declaration rests on it.
| Condition | 183-day rule | 60-day rule |
|---|---|---|
| Days in Cyprus in the calendar year | More than 183 | 60 or more |
| Days in any other single country | No condition | 183 at most |
| Home in Cyprus | No condition | Owned or rented, kept through the year |
| Work tie to Cyprus | No condition | A business in Cyprus, a job in Cyprus (the employer need not be Cypriot) or a directorship in a Cyprus company, held to 31 December. If it ends earlier, the year does not count as resident |
| Tax residence in another country as well | No condition | Allowed since 1 January 2026. A tax treaty decides between the two. |
| How a day counts | The day you arrive counts as a day in Cyprus, the day you leave as a day abroad. Arriving and leaving on the same day counts as a day in Cyprus, leaving and arriving on the same day as a day abroad | The same |
| What ends residence for the year | 183 days or fewer in Cyprus, unless you meet the 60-day rule | Fewer than 60 days, more than 183 days in one other country, no home, or a work tie that ends before 31 December |
| Papers for the Tax Registry | Identity document and a letter that explains the reason for registering | Identity document, the letter, and the title deed, stamped sale contract or stamped tenancy agreement of your home. With a job: the employer's letter, the stamped employment contract or the ERGANI recruitment notice |
How to get non-dom status in Cyprus
- first1
You set up your base in Cyprus
You rent or buy a home. For the 60-day rule we register your company and appoint you as its director: company formation in Cyprus.
- 1 to 2 weeks2
We obtain your tax number
We register you in the Tax Registry through Tax For All, the Tax Department's portal, and receive your tax identification code (TIC).
- 2 to 4 weeks3
We file the non-dom declaration
We file form T.D.38 with the questionnaire T.D.38QA on your domicile of origin and the evidence behind it. We add form T.D.624/NP, your declaration that asks a payer in Cyprus not to deduct SDC from your dividends or interest. The Tax Department answers with a letter that confirms the status.
- after 60 or 183 days4
We obtain the residency certificate
Once your days in Cyprus reach 60 under the 60-day rule or 183 under the 183-day rule, we apply on form T.D.126 with your travel record, your lease or title deed and the proof of your work tie.
- every year5
We keep the status in order
Each year we count your days from your travel records, file your personal tax return and apply for the new certificate.
Documents for the non-dom declaration and the certificate
Documents
For the tax number and the declaration
- Passport
- Evidence of your domicile abroad
- Lease or title deed of your home in Cyprus
- Utility bill in your name
- Letter that explains why you register, with the paper that supports it
For the certificate, each year
- Boarding passes, tickets and passport stamps for the day count
- Employment contract or proof of your directorship
- Lease or title deed that covers the whole year
- Utility bill dated within the last six months
- Social Security account statement
You send them in your account. We check each document the day it arrives and tell you what is missing.
See the platformHow long non-dom status lasts and how it is extended
- 17 years of tax residence
- A founder resident in every year from 2026 holds the status until the end of 2042, the 17th year. A year in which you are resident elsewhere stays out of the count, as the guide to the 17 years of non-dom status shows.
- Two extensions of 5 years
- From 2026 a person whose domicile of origin is abroad extends the status twice, for 5 years each time, at €250,000 for each period. That makes 27 years.
- One certificate a year
- Tax residency is tested for each calendar year, so the certificate is issued year by year. We apply for it once the days of the year are reached. The Tax Department issues it for use in a country that has a double tax treaty with Cyprus, for €80 in fee stamps.
- A tax return each year
- From 2026 every resident aged 25 to 70 files a yearly tax return, with or without tax to pay. We prepare yours and keep the books of your company: accounting in Cyprus. The return for 2026 is due by 31 July 2027.
- After the 17 years: domiciled
- From the tax year after your 17th resident year you are deemed domiciled: 5% on dividends from profits of 2026 and later, 17% on interest. The domicile stays until 20 years as a non-resident are complete. In the Tax Department's example a person resident for 17 years up to 2026 and away from 2027 to 2030 is still domiciled on returning in 2031.
- How an extension is claimed
- You apply on form T.D.631 for each period by 30 June of its first year, and the Tax Commissioner approves. You pay the whole €250,000 by the end of the month after approval. The choice is final: no refund, no offset against other tax, and the payment settles the contribution for all five years. After a late application or payment, domiciled rates apply for that year.
Questions about Cyprus non-dom status
What is the non-dom status in Cyprus in 2026?
A Cyprus tax resident whose domicile is abroad pays no Special Defence Contribution on dividends and interest, from Cyprus or from abroad. A domiciled resident pays 5% on dividends from profits of 2026 and later and 17% on interest. The status runs until you have been tax resident for 17 of the last 20 years, and from 2026 it extends twice for €250,000 each time.
What does a non-dom mean?
Non-dom is short for non-domiciled: your domicile, the country the law treats as your permanent home, is outside Cyprus. You take a domicile of origin at birth, usually your father's, and keep it until you settle for good in another country. Tax residency is a separate test that follows your days in Cyprus, and the exemption is for a tax resident whose domicile is abroad.
What are the tax rules for foreigners in Cyprus?
Residence decides. You are a tax resident with more than 183 days in Cyprus in a year, or with 60 days or more, a home and a work tie here. A resident declares income from Cyprus and from abroad under the bands: 0% to €22,000, then 20%, 25% and 30%, and 35% above €72,000. A non-resident pays tax on income from Cyprus only. Dividends and interest carry no income tax. A US citizen is tested on the same days: Cyprus tax residency for US citizens.
Do non-doms pay tax on dividends in Cyprus?
A non-dom pays no income tax and no Special Defence Contribution on dividends, whether they arise in Cyprus or abroad. GeSY, the health system, takes 2.65% of income up to €180,000 a year, which is €4,770 at most.
How long does non-dom status last in Cyprus?
A founder resident in every year from 2026 holds it to the end of 2042, and from 2043 is domiciled by law. Two extensions of five years each, at €250,000 a period, make 27 years. The €250,000 equals the 5% contribution on €5,000,000 of dividends over the five years, and it also covers the contribution on interest.
How long does non-dom registration take in Cyprus?
3 to 6 weeks from your documents to the Tax Department's letter: 1 to 2 weeks for the tax number, then 2 to 4 for the declaration. We apply for the residency certificate once your days in Cyprus reach 60 under the 60-day rule or 183 under the 183-day rule.
Do I need a Cyprus company for non-dom status?
For the 183-day rule, no. For the 60-day rule a directorship in your own Cyprus company gives the tie the rule asks for, and the company pays you dividends.
Is a founder's salary covered by non-dom status?
No. A salary bears income tax at 0% to 35%. In a first job in Cyprus above €55,000 a year, half of it is exempt for 17 years. We apply that exemption in payroll in Cyprus.
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Updated 9 November 2026. Reviewed by Vladyslav Drapii, Founder.
