Taxes in Cyprus in 2026: rates for individuals

Money and taxes in Cyprus Checked: 27 October 2026 Changed: 1 January 2026

In short

Who it applies to: Anyone who lives in Cyprus or earns income here. Which taxes apply to you depends on the kind of income — salary, your own business, dividends and interest, a property sale — and on whether you are a tax resident.
What it costs: Income tax: nothing up to €22,000 a year, then 20, 25, 30 and 35% in bands. A salary also carries 8.8% social insurance and 2.65% GESY. VAT is 19% and already in the price.
How long it takes: These rates apply from 1 January 2026 — the tax reform. For 2025 and earlier years the old scale applies, where tax started above €19,500.
Where to apply: Income tax, the defence contribution, capital gains tax and VAT — the Tax Department (Τμήμα Φορολογίας). Social insurance contributions go to Social Insurance Services, GESY contributions to the Health Insurance Organisation.
If your case differs: Cyprus has had no annual immovable property tax since 2017, and no stamp duty since 1 January 2026. If an article presents either as current, it was written before those dates.

Your case

If you are employed

A salary carries three payments: income tax on the scale (the first €22,000 a year is tax-free), 8.8% social insurance and 2.65% GESY. The employer pays its own share of social insurance and GESY on top; it is not taken out of your salary. The employer withholds income tax itself each time it pays your salary.

If you are self-employed

The income tax scale is the same as for an employee. Contributions are higher: 16.6% social insurance and 4% GESY — there is no employer to pay a share.

If you have dividends, interest or rent

The defence contribution is paid only by a tax resident who is also domiciled in Cyprus: 5% on dividends, 17% on interest. Without a Cypriot domicile there is no contribution at all. Rent no longer carries the defence contribution from 2026, but 2.65% goes to GESY on rent, interest and dividends. Rent itself is subject to income tax on the normal scale, but 20% is deducted first.

If you sell property in Cyprus

The gain carries capital gains tax of 20%, whether or not you are resident. The first €30,000 of gain over a lifetime is exempt, and on selling your own main residence €150,000 is exempt — but you get only one of the two allowances, the larger.

Deadlines and conditions

from 2026 no tax is charged on taxable income up to €22,000 a yearThe department's page “Individual Income Tax Return”, table “From Tax Year 2026 onwards (Tax Reform)”: a 0% rate on taxable income from 0 to €22,000.
from €22,001 to €32,000 — 20%The same table: 20% on the part of income from €22,001 to €32,000, so no more than €2,000 of tax from this band.
from €32,001 to €42,000 — 25%The same table: 25% on the part of income from €32,001 to €42,000.
from €42,001 to €72,000 — 30%The same table: 30% on the part of income from €42,001 to €72,000.
above €72,000 — 35%The same table: 35% on everything above €72,000. The scale is banded — each rate applies only to the part of income inside its band.
for 2025 and earlier only the first €19,500 was tax-freeThe same page, table “Tax Years 2008 – 2025”: the old zero band ended at €19,500, and the top 35% rate started at €60,000.
an employee pays 8.8% of salary in social insuranceSocial Insurance Services announcement “Social insurance contributions from 1 January 2024”: the employee pays 8.8%, the employer another 8.8%.
a self-employed person pays 16.6% in social insuranceThe same announcement: a self-employed person pays 16.6% themselves, and the state adds 5.2%.

Show all conditions (25)

the GESY contribution on salary, pension, rent, interest and dividends is 2.65%Law 89(Ι)/2001, art. 19(1), and the table on the GESY page “Financing”: an employee pays 2.65% of earnings, a pensioner 2.65% of the pension, a person with rent, interest or dividends 2.65% of that income.
a self-employed person pays 4% to GESYThe same article and table: a self-employed person (αυτοτελώς εργαζόμενος) pays 4.00% of earnings.
your own GESY contribution is charged on no more than €180,000 of income a yearLaw 89(Ι)/2001, art. 19(4)(α), and the same GESY page: a person's own contribution is charged on no more than €180,000 of combined salary, pension and income a year. The employer's share (art. 19(1)(β)) is not capped; an overpayment for years from 01.01.2025 is refunded by the Tax Department.
the defence contribution on dividends is 5%Defence Contribution Law 117(Ι)/2002, art. 3(1)(α), as amended by Ν.245(Ι)/2025: a resident pays 5% on dividends. The exception is art. 3(1)(α)(ii): dividends paid out of profits of tax years up to and including 2025, within six years of 01.01.2026, are charged at 17%.
on interest — 17%The same law, art. 3Β(α)(i) as amended by Ν.245(Ι)/2025: a resident pays 17% on interest. Dividends out of profits up to 2025 paid within six years are also charged at 17%.
with income up to €12,000 a year, anything withheld on interest above 3% is refundedThe same law, art. 3Β(α)(i), second proviso: if total annual income including interest is no more than €12,000, the contribution withheld above 3% is refunded.
before income tax, 20% is deducted from income from letting buildingsIncome Tax Law 118(Ι)/2002: rent is taxed under art. 5(1)(ε) (“μισθώματα”), and under art. 9(2) 20% is deducted from an individual's income from letting buildings — before the deduction for wear and tear (art. 10) and interest. The rule dates from 2003; the 2026 reform (Ν.244(Ι)/2025) left it unchanged.
capital gains tax is 20% of the gain on the saleCapital Gains Tax Law 52/1980, art. 4: 20% on the gain from disposing of “property”. Under art. 2 that means immovable property in Cyprus and shares in companies that own it.
the first €30,000 of gain over a lifetime is exemptThe same law, art. 5(1), as amended by Ν.242(Ι)/2025 (from 01.01.2026): no tax is due while a person's total gain from all disposals has not exceeded €30,000. It is one lifetime allowance, not one per deal.
on selling your own main residence, €150,000 of the gain is exemptThe same law, art. 5(2), as amended by Ν.242(Ι)/2025: on selling a main residence the owner lived in for at least five years, €150,000 of the gain stays tax-free. Of the two allowances — this one and €30,000 — only one is given, the larger (art. 5(2)(v)).
if you lived in it yourself for at least 5 yearsThe same law, art. 5(2): the home must have been used solely as the owner's own residence for at least five years; on a second or later sale, at least ten (art. 5(2)(iii)). Sold more than a year after moving out, it gets no allowance (art. 5(2)(iv)).
the allowance covers a home on up to 1,500 m² of land; the gain on land beyond that is taxedThe same law, art. 5(2): the allowance covers a home “σε έκταση γης μέχρι ενάμισι δεκάριο” (on land of up to one and a half decares). A decare is 1,000 m²: “Δέκα άρια ισούνται με ένα δεκάριο, δηλαδή 1000 τ.μ.” (Department of Lands and Surveys, “Ο Κτηματικός Χάρτης της Κύπρου”). On a larger plot, tax is charged on the share of the gain from the land beyond one and a half decares (proviso (ii)).
the standard VAT rate is 19%VAT Law 95(Ι)/2000, art. 17: the standard rate is 19% from 13 January 2014. The reduced rates — 5% (art. 18), 9% (art. 18Α) and 3% (art. 18Β) — apply only to what the law's schedules list.
5% — food (except spirits, beer, wine and soft drinks), water and medicinesVAT Law 95(Ι)/2000, art. 18 and the Fifth Schedule: food and drink “εκτός από οινοπνευματώδη ποτά, μπύρα, κρασί και αναψυκτικά” (except spirits, beer, wine and soft drinks; Table A, item 7), water (item 4), medicines and vaccines (item 10). Food supplied without service, takeaway included, falls under the same item.
9% — restaurants and cafés, hotels, taxisThe same law, art. 18Α and the Twelfth Schedule: taxis (item 1), restaurant and catering services (item 2), stays in hotels and tourist accommodation (item 3), domestic sea passenger transport (item 4). Food supplied without accompanying services is not a restaurant service under item 2 and goes at 5%.
3% — books, newspapers and magazines, electronic ones includedThe same law, art. 18Β and the Fifteenth Schedule: books, newspapers and magazines, “είτε σε υλικό υπόθεμα είτε ηλεκτρονικά” (in print or electronically; Table A, item 1), plus audiobooks, lifts, wheelchairs, prostheses and hearing aids for people with disabilities (items 2–3).
the annual immovable property tax was abolished from 2017Immovable Property Tax Law 24/1980 as amended by 86(Ι)/2016: the duty to pay tax on all immovable property in Cyprus is abolished “from 1 January 2017 for the year 2017 and every year that follows”.

Sources

Tax Department, “Individual Income Tax Return” — section “Tax Bands”www.gov.cyBoth income tax scales: from tax year 2026 (the reform) and for 2008–2025, with rates, band limits and cumulative tax.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(Ι)/2002, consolidated text (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgThe rates on dividends (art. 3) and interest (art. 3Β) after the reform, the refund for income up to €12,000, and the definition of resident: a tax resident who is also domiciled in Cyprus.
Ν.245(Ι)/2025 — amendment to the Defence Contribution Law (Official Gazette No. 5070, 31.12.2025)www.cylaw.orgThe text of the amendment and its date of entry into force — 1 January 2026 (art. 10).
Capital Gains Tax Law 52/1980, consolidated text (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgThe 20% rate (art. 4), what counts as property (art. 2), the €30,000 allowance and €150,000 for a main residence with the five- and ten-year conditions (art. 5).
Ν.242(Ι)/2025 — amendment to the Capital Gains Tax Law (Official Gazette No. 5070, 31.12.2025)www.cylaw.orgThe allowances replaced with €30,000 and €150,000, and the date of entry into force — 1 January 2026 (art. 9).
VAT Law 95(Ι)/2000, consolidated text (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgThe standard 19% rate (art. 17) and the reduced 5%, 9% and 3% (arts. 18, 18Α, 18Β), referring to the schedules that list goods and services.
Income Tax Law 118(Ι)/2002, consolidated text (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgRent as taxable income (art. 5(1)(ε)), the 20% deduction from income from letting buildings (art. 9(2)), withholding of tax on salary by whoever pays it (arts. 41 and 44(1)(α)).
Department of Lands and Surveys, “Ο Κτηματικός Χάρτης της Κύπρου”portal.dls.moi.gov.cyCypriot land measures: a decare (δεκάριο) is 1,000 m², the old donum (σκάλα) 1,337.8 m². Needed to turn the capital gains law's “one and a half decares” into square metres.
Stamp Duty Law 19/1963, consolidated text with the repeal note (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgThe note on Ν.239(Ι)/2025: the stamp duty laws of 1963–2024 are repealed from 1 January 2026.
Immovable Property Tax Law 24/1980, consolidated text (cylaw)www.cylaw.orgAmendment 86(Ι)/2016: the tax is abolished from 2017 and for every year after.
Health Insurance Organisation, “Financing and Global Budget”www.gesy.org.cyThe table of GESY contributions by category — employee, employer, self-employed, pensioner, person with rent, interest and dividends — and the €180,000 ceiling.
Social Insurance Services, “Social insurance contributions from 1 January 2024”www.gov.cyThe contribution rates in force: employee and employer 8.8% each, self-employed 16.6%, the state's share.