Cyprus tax lawyers

Our tax team advises individuals and companies on how Cyprus tax applies to them. We handle the filings and the correspondence with the Tax Department that follow.

We act for people relocating to Cyprus, for companies setting up or restructuring here, and for clients who have received an assessment they want to challenge.

For the rules themselves, rates, bands and what changed in the 2026 reform, read our guide to the Cyprus tax system.

Advice for individuals

Most individual work starts with residency. We assess whether you meet the 183-day test or the 60-day test, what that means for your worldwide income, and whether non-domiciled status is open to you.

Non-dom status and the flat €250,000 contribution

Non-dom status is not permanent. For the defence contribution, anyone who has been tax resident in Cyprus for 17 of the 20 years before a tax year is treated as domiciled here, and stays so until they have spent 20 years, not necessarily in a row, as a non-resident.

Since 2026 a person without a Cyprus domicile of origin who reaches that point can apply to pay a flat €250,000 of defence contribution for a five-year period in place of the contribution on their income, for up to two periods.

The terms are:

• The application goes in on form T.D.631 by 30 June of the first year of the period.
• It needs the Commissioner's approval.
• The €250,000 is due by the end of the month after approval.
• The choice cannot be reversed.

From there we handle registration with the Tax Department, the annual return, and the treatment of foreign pensions, rental income and capital gains on Cyprus property.

The 60-day rule and planning a move

Where the 60-day rule is the route, the details decide the outcome. You need:

• at least 60 days in Cyprus
• no more than 183 days in any other single country
• a business or a job in Cyprus that does not end during the year, a directorship of a Cyprus tax resident company included
• a permanent home here that you own or rent.

Since 1 January 2026 the 60-day rule no longer asks whether another country treats you as tax resident. Where two countries both do, a tax treaty between them can decide which one wins. We plan these points with clients before the year begins rather than reconstructing them after it ends.

Clients relocating from abroad usually want two questions answered before they move. What their Cyprus tax bill would look like, and how it interacts with tax in the country they are leaving. We work through both, including the double tax treaty position.

Advice for companies

For companies, we advise on tax residency and substance, and on the effect of the incorporation test that applies from the 2026 tax year.

We cover group structuring and the reliefs a Cyprus company can claim, including the IP Box regime and the notional interest deduction.

On the compliance side, we:

• prepare and file the annual return
• work alongside your auditors on the financial statements that support it
• deal with provisional tax
• manage VAT registration and returns.

From tax year 2026, the tax return and final payment for companies, and for individuals who must have audited accounts, are due by 31 January of the second year after the tax year, so the 2026 return is due by 31 January 2028. We track what falls due for you and when.

When a company is being redomiciled to Cyprus or unwinding a structure, we handle the tax side alongside our corporate team. A company that moves its registered office or seat to Cyprus is treated as incorporated here for the residence test.

Tax disputes and Tax Department dealings

We represent clients in objections to assessments, audits, and information requests, and in negotiations over penalties and the settlement of arrears.

The 2026 reform raised several fines and gave the Tax Department power to suspend a business and seal its premises for up to ten days, with up to 20 more if the failure continues. The grounds are:

• at least two tax returns left unfiled from 1 January 2027
• more than €20,000 in tax and charges owed and no longer open to challenge
• missing or inaccurate invoices and receipts
• obstructing an audit.

Three written notices come first.

Early engagement keeps most matters at the correspondence stage.

You have 60 days from the day a tax assessment is served on you to object to it, in writing or electronically. For an assessment served in December, the deadline is the end of February. With the objection you file any missing tax return and pay the tax you accept as due. The grounds and the amounts you dispute have to be stated precisely.

It is worth taking advice as soon as an assessment lands rather than after the deadline has passed.

Tax certificates and confirmations

We obtain tax residency certificates, non-domicile confirmations and tax clearance certificates, and deal with the supporting evidence the Tax Department asks for.

Banks and foreign tax authorities routinely request these. Applications are often refused on documentation rather than on substance.

Working with us

The first consultation is free and is used to establish what you actually need.

After that we quote a fixed fee for the work agreed, whether that is a return, a certificate application, an advisory opinion or a dispute. You will have the fee and its scope in writing before we start.

If a matter grows beyond the agreed scope, we tell you first and agree a new fixed fee before continuing. No work is billed unless you have signed off on it.