When a person becomes a Cyprus tax resident
Checked: Changed:
In short
- Who it applies to
- Anyone who is not in Cyprus all year round, or who has income in more than one country. Residency decides whether you pay Cyprus tax on all income or only on Cyprus income, and it turns on neither citizenship nor a residence permit.
- What it costs
- Residency itself is neither applied for nor paid for — it follows from the facts of the year. You pay only for a certificate of tax residence, if another country asks for one: €80 in fee stamps.
- How long it takes
- There is nothing to wait for: you become a resident by the outcome of the tax year, not by a decision of the authority. Τμήμα Φορολογίας names no time for issuing the certificate — the application goes to the district office, is assigned to an officer, and they contact you when it is ready.
- Where to apply
- Nowhere: residency is registered nowhere. The certificate is ordered from the district office of the tax department — on form Τ.Φ. 126 for an individual, by email or post, with the attachments from the department's list.
- If your case differs
- The certificate is issued only for a country with which Cyprus has signed a double taxation agreement. If the other country requires its own form, it is stamped the same way. For a foreign national the attachments include the registration certificate, locally called the yellow slip.
Deadlines and conditions
| Condition | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| more than 183 days in Cyprus in a tax year makes you a resident | Article 2 of the Income Tax Law Ν.118(Ι)/2002 as set out by the department: a stay in the Republic in one or more periods exceeding 183 days in total in a tax year. |
| at least 60 days is the first of the four conditions of the second rule | The same article, the 60-day rule: at least 60 days in the Republic in a tax year — the first of four conditions, not a ground on its own. |
| and the second: not to reside in another country for more than 183 days in the same year | The same article, the second condition of the 60-day rule: not to reside in another state for more than 183 days in the same year. |
| 17 years of residency out of the last 20 create a domicile regardless of origin | The Special Defence Contribution Law Ν.117(Ι)/2002 as set out by the department: a Cyprus tax resident for at least 17 of the last 20 years is deemed to have acquired a domicile, whatever their origin. |
| and it is shed only by 20 years without Cyprus residency | The same source: a domicile acquired that way is retained until 20 years have passed during which the person was not a Cyprus tax resident. |
| the exemption can be extended for €250,000 for each five-year period | Article 3Δ of Law Ν.117(Ι)/2002 and circular 02/2026 as set out by the department: a person who acquired a domicile under the 17-of-20 rule may extend the exemption for two further five-year periods, paying this amount for each. |
| and there are exactly 2 such periods; the rule gives no third | The same source: there are exactly two further five-year periods; this article provides for no third. |
| the defence contribution on rents ran to and including tax year 2025 and was then abolished | The department's page, the footnote on consequences: rental income was subject to the defence contribution up to and including tax year 2025, after which that line was abolished. The number of the abolishing law is not given on the page. |
| a certificate of tax residence costs €80 in fee stamps | The page on the certificate of tax residence: the cost of issue is fee stamps of €80. The stamp is handed to the officer in exchange for the certificate; payment is made at the cash desk. |
| the second exception carries a fixed date — 16 July 2015 | The department's page, the exceptions to domicile: a person with a Cyprus domicile of origin who resided abroad for more than 20 consecutive years before 16 July 2015 may be treated as not domiciled in Cyprus. The date is fixed in the rule and does not move. |
Your case
If you spent more than 183 days in Cyprus in the tax year
You are a Cyprus tax resident, and no further condition is attached. The days add up across all periods of the year, not only the longest. Count by the department's rules: the day of arrival is a day in Cyprus, the day of departure is a day outside.
If the days are fewer than 183 but not fewer than 60
You become a resident only if all four conditions hold at once: at least 60 days in Cyprus, no more than 183 days in another state, a business or employment in Cyprus, and a permanent home here, owned or rented. If the business or the employment ends during the year, residency under this rule falls away for the whole year. There have been four conditions since 1 January 2026: before that there was a fifth — not being a tax resident of any other state — and it still applies to tax year 2025, the one being declared now.
If you were in Cyprus for fewer than 60 days
You are a Cyprus tax resident under neither rule. Cyprus then taxes only Cyprus income falling under Article 5(2), and the defence contribution does not apply to you at all — not to interest, not to dividends.
Residency and domicile are separate layers: income tax turns on the first, the defence contribution on the second
What follows from this:
- days are counted by the department's rules, not by stamps: the day of arrival is a day in Cyprus, the day of departure a day outside; arrival and departure on the same day count as a day in Cyprus, departure and arrival on the same day as a day outside
- the 60-day rule has had four conditions since 1 January 2026, and they must all hold at once: a home alone, or days alone, is not enough. For tax year 2025 there were five — the fifth being that you are not a tax resident of another state
- residency under the 60-day rule can be lost retroactively: if the business or the employment ended during the year, the person ceases to be a resident for that whole year, not from the date it ended
- domicile is not obtained by application: it is either inherited by origin or built up by 17 years of residency out of the last 20, and is then shed only by 20 years without it
- exemption from the defence contribution does not happen by itself — it is claimed on form Τ.Φ. 38, and only if you genuinely have no domicile in Cyprus
Sources
- Tax Department, “Tax Residency/Domicility”, both versionswww.gov.cyThe 183-day rule and how arrival and departure days count, the four conditions of the 60-day rule, what domicile is, the 17-of-20-years rule and the alternative method of the defence contribution.
- Tax Department, “Certificate of tax residence”www.gov.cyWho needs the certificate and why, the €80 fee in stamps, the three-step procedure and the different lists of attachments for Cypriots, foreign nationals and companies.
- Income Tax Law Ν.118(Ι)/2002, the department’s consolidated text (up to Ν.219(Ι)/2025)www.gov.cyArticle 2, the definition of «κάτοικος της Δημοκρατίας»: the 183-day rule, the 60-day rule with conditions (i)–(iii) plus the two in the chapeau, how arrival and departure days count, and the loss of residency if the business or employment ends.
- Ν.244(Ι)/2025, Official Gazette Παρ. Ι(Ι) Αρ. 5070 of 31.12.2025, articles 2 and 25www.gov.cyArticle 2 replaces the definition of «κάτοικος της Δημοκρατίας» in full: the chapeau of the 60-day rule keeps only “no more than 183 days in another state”, and the condition “is not a tax resident of any other state” disappears. Article 25: the law is in force from 1 January 2026.