Before you start

Tax Identification Code from the Tax Department, headquartered here in Nicosia
A TAXISnet account
ARC or identity document
For non-dom status: a domicile of origin outside Cyprus and no Cyprus tax residence in at least 17 of the previous 20 years

Step-by-step

1
Register with the Tax Department
Its headquarters are in Nicosia, which makes an in-person query practical rather than a day trip. Registration issues your Tax Identification Code.
In personWho: You
2
Establish which residency test you meet
More than 183 days, or the 60-day rule: at least 60 days here, not more than 183 in any other single state, a business tie or directorship throughout the year, and a permanent home in Cyprus.
OnlineWho: You
3
Claim non-domiciled status if eligible
It exempts you from the Special Defence Contribution on dividends, interest and rent for up to 17 years. The 2.65% GESY charge on dividends is unaffected.
OnlineWho: You
4
Check the 50% employment exemption
Article 8(23A) exempts half your employment income if you were not Cyprus tax resident for at least 15 consecutive years before starting first employment here and your remuneration exceeds €55,000. It runs up to 17 tax years and survives changing employer.
OnlineWho: You
5
File through TAXISnet
Annual returns are electronic. Deadlines and provisional tax obligations are published by the Tax Department each year.
OnlineWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Tax Identification Code
TAXISnet credentials
Employment contract and payslips
Evidence supporting non-dom status
Day-count records if relying on the 60-day rule

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 60-day rule is four cumulative conditions, and it is oversold as one.

Sixty days in Cyprus is only the first. You must also spend no more than 183 days in any other single state, carry on business or hold a directorship in a Cyprus tax-resident company throughout the year, and maintain a permanent home here. All four must hold for the whole tax year. The business tie and the permanent home are what foreign tax authorities actually challenge.

Source: PwC — Cyprus individual tax residence rules

The condition that made the 60-day rule hard was removed on 1 January 2026.

Until then you also had to not be considered tax resident by any other state — an almost impossible negative to prove. From 2026 that condition is gone and dual residence is resolved by treaty tie-breaker instead. This is a genuine liberalisation and it is recent enough that most published guidance still describes the old position.

Source: PwC — Cyprus residence, 2026 position

The SDC cut from 17% to 5% quietly halved what non-dom status is worth.

Non-dom exempts you from the Special Defence Contribution. Before 2026 that was worth 17 points on dividends; from 1 January 2026 the rate for everyone is 5%. The regime still matters, particularly on interest, but material published while the 17% rate applied overstates the benefit by a factor of three.

Source: KPMG — Cyprus tax reform effective 1 January 2026

The 15-year absence test is what disqualifies most 50%-exemption hopefuls.

To claim the Article 8(23A) exemption you must not have been a Cyprus tax resident for at least 15 consecutive years before starting first employment here. Anyone who did a previous posting on the island, or lived here as a student and stayed long enough to become resident, is out — however high the salary. Check the absence test before the salary test.

Source: PwC Cyprus — amendments to the 50% exemption of Article 8(23A)