Cyprus personal taxes and tax residence

More than 183 days establishes domestic residence

An individual is a Cyprus income-tax resident if they spend more than 183 days there in the tax year. The Tax Department also provides a separate qualified sixty-day route; being below the 183-day threshold is not by itself proof of nonresidence. A passport or immigration permit alone does not decide these tests.

The sixty-day route has cumulative conditions

Current guidance requires at least sixty days in Cyprus during the tax year, no stay exceeding 183 days in another country, business and/or employment in Cyprus including holding an office, and a permanent home in Cyprus owned or rented by the individual. If the qualifying business ceases or employment terminates during the year, the guidance says residence under this route ceases for that tax year. This does not negate residence independently established by the more-than-183-day test.

Arrival and departure days follow specific rules

Arrival counts as a day in Cyprus and departure as a day outside. Arrival and departure on the same day count as a Cyprus day; departure and return on the same day count as a day outside. Use these conventions rather than assuming every part-day or every overnight stay is counted the same way.

Resident reporting extends to foreign income

From tax year 2026, the Tax Department states that a resident with gross income from Cyprus or abroad falling within Section 5(1) must file regardless of age. Nonresidents with Cyprus-source income falling within Section 5(2) must file. These are statutory income categories, not a claim that every foreign receipt is taxable or that exclusions and treaty relief disappear.

Some residents must file even without income

From tax year 2026, residents aged 25 to 70 must also file even when they have no income. The guidance exempts no-income residents younger than 25 or older than 70 and allows Cabinet orders exempting particular people or categories for a given year. Filing liability must not be confused with a zero-tax band or with an amount of tax due.

Non-dom treatment is not a general income-tax exemption

Special Defence Contribution uses a separate domicile test in addition to income-tax residence. The Tax Department states that non-domiciled or nonresident individuals are not subject to this contribution on interest and dividends; its rental-income charge was abolished from 2026. Domicile can arise through the stated seventeen-out-of-twenty-year tax-residence rule. None of these statements makes an individual exempt from all income tax or other charges.