What does Cyprus non-dom status get you, and what doesn't it cover?
Non-dom does one thing: it takes the defence contribution off your dividends and interest. Income tax, capital gains tax and, generally, GESY stay exactly as they are. It runs until you have been tax resident here for 17 of the 20 tax years before the year in question; after that, under conditions, a fixed €50,000 a year can take the contribution's place for up to ten more years. Close to year 17? Read that part first: it has a deadline.
Tax years resident in Cyprus, out of the 20 before a tax year, that make you count as domiciled for the defence contribution in that year.
If you have been resident every year since you first became tax resident here, your 18th tax year here is the first in which you count as domiciled.
Defence contribution on your dividends and interest as a non-dom (who counts, below)
GESY on dividends and interest, which you generally still pay as a non-dom
Per five-year period of the fixed charge that can follow non-dom, two at most (who can choose it, below)
Which taxes does non-dom take off, and which stay?
Just one: the defence contribution on your dividends and interest, from Cyprus or abroad. Everything else ignores domicile, so a non-dom generally pays income tax, capital gains tax and GESY like anyone else in the same position. And since no individual pays income tax on dividends, or from 2026 on interest, the one Cyprus charge a non-dom generally still pays on them is 2.65% GESY.
| Charge | Domiciledtax resident and domiciled in Cyprus | Non-domtax resident, not domiciled |
|---|---|---|
| Defence contribution on dividends | 5%generally | None |
| Defence contribution on interest | 17%generally | None |
| GESY on dividends, interest and rent | 2.65%generally | 2.65%generally |
| Income tax on salary, pension and rent | Charged | Charged, the same way |
| Capital gains taxon a taxable gain | 20% | 20% |
Taking a job here? The income tax exemptions on pay work independently of non-dom: New-resident exemptions
The detailsdividends and interest from abroad · what a domiciled resident pays · disguised and deemed dividends · rent · capital gains tax · GESY's ceiling, and who is exempt
Dividends and interest from abroad. A domiciled resident pays the defence contribution on dividends and interest from abroad too, by the tax return deadline, with a credit for foreign tax paid on that income; a non-dom pays it on neither. GESY reaches a tax resident's dividends and interest from abroad as well.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · General Healthcare System Law 89(I)/2001, consolidated text (CyLaw)
What a domiciled resident pays instead. The 5% on dividends has exceptions: dividends from a Cyprus tax-resident company paid out of profits of 2025 or earlier carry 17% if received by the end of 2031, as the Tax Department dates it, and a dividend is reduced by any part already deemed distributed, or paid out of dividends that have already borne the contribution. On interest, 3% applies instead of 17% to savings certificates and development bonds of the Cyprus or another EU government and to certain listed bonds, and nothing to interest on compensation for disability, serious bodily injury or death; someone whose total income, interest included, is at most €12,000 a year can reclaim what was withheld above 3%. A non-dom pays none of it.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025, Official Gazette No. 5070 · Tax Department, presentation on the Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025 (06.03.2026)
Disguised and deemed dividends. From 2026 a 10% contribution falls, with exceptions, on a disguised dividend from a Cyprus tax-resident company — a shareholder using a company asset, or buying one below market value — only where the shareholder is tax resident and domiciled. On 2024 and 2025 profits a company is deemed to have paid out, the 17% falls only on the part belonging, directly or indirectly, to people tax resident and domiciled on the deemed distribution date.
Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025, Official Gazette No. 5070 · Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw)
Rent. Since 1 January 2026 no one pays the defence contribution on rent, so non-dom no longer makes a difference to it; rent still carries income tax and GESY.
Tax Department, explanatory guide on the 2026 reform for tax-resident individuals
Capital gains tax. 20% on the gain from disposing of property as the Capital Gains Tax Law defines it, subject to that law's exemptions; its charge names neither residence nor domicile, and the Tax Department lists non-dom's consequences under the defence contribution alone.
Capital Gains Tax Law 52/1980, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility
GESY: the ceiling, and who is exempt. GESY counts a person's pay, pensions and other income up to €180,000 a year combined, in that order: pay first, then pensions, then income such as dividends, interest and rent; so if your pay and pensions already reach €180,000, no GESY is due on your dividends or interest. The Tax Department says people insured in another EEA country or Switzerland, for example with an S1 or A1 form, may be exempt.
General Healthcare System Law 89(I)/2001, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, exemption for the payment of GeSY contribution
Are you non-dom if you move to Cyprus?
If your domicile of origin isn't Cyprus, yes, until the 17-of-20 limit in the next section. Domicile of origin is fixed at birth: as a rule it is your father's domicile when you were born, not his nationality and not where you were born. If yours is Cyprus, you are domiciled here, with narrow exceptions that each need at least 20 years in a row of not being tax resident here (details below).
The detailsfather's or mother's · a Cyprus domicile of origin and years abroad · domicile and tax residence · couples where one is domiciled
Father's or mother's. For a child born to married parents in the father's lifetime, domicile of origin is the father's domicile at the birth; for a child born outside marriage or after the father's death, the mother's. It is kept until a domicile of choice is actually acquired — in the Tax Department's words, settling in a country with the intention of living there permanently or indefinitely; a domicile of choice given up gives way to a new one or to the domicile of origin. For the defence contribution, the SDC Law's test starts from domicile of origin.
Wills and Succession Law, Cap. 195, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility · Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw)
A Cyprus domicile of origin, and 20 years away before 2015. You are not domiciled if you were not tax resident in Cyprus for at least 20 consecutive years immediately before the rule came in, which the Tax Department dates to 16 July 2015. The 17-of-20 rule applies to you as to anyone.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility
A Cyprus domicile of origin, and a domicile of choice abroad. The law also excludes someone who has acquired and keeps a domicile of choice outside Cyprus and was not tax resident here for any period of at least 20 consecutive years before the tax year; the Tax Department's page words it as 20 consecutive years immediately before the tax year. If you have already been tax resident here for a year or more since your 20 years away, the two wordings can give different answers: have an adviser look at your case before you rely on either.
Domicile and tax residence. Domicile and tax residence are separate: you can be tax resident here without being domiciled here. The defence contribution on your dividends and interest falls only on people who are both (one exception, for assets moved from a domiciled spouse or relative, is below), so in a year you are not tax resident it does not reach them, whatever your domicile.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw)
Couples where one is domiciled. If someone domiciled in Cyprus transfers assets to a spouse, or to a relative of either of them up to the third degree, who is not domiciled, and the Tax Commissioner judges that avoiding the defence contribution was the main purpose or one of the main purposes, the income from those assets is charged anyway, collectable from either of them.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw)
When do you stop being non-dom?
You count as domiciled for the defence contribution in the first tax year in which you have been tax resident here for at least 17 of the 20 years before it. If you have been resident every year since you arrived, that is your 18th tax year. Leaving doesn't reset the clock: if you count as domiciled from 2026 on, you stay that way until you have spent 20 tax years non-resident, which the Tax Department says need not be in a row.
Tax years of residence, out of the 20 before a tax year, that make you domiciled in it
Of non-residence before a domicile gained this way ends
Close to your first domiciled year? The Tax Department wants the first period of the fixed charge applied for by 30 June of that year: After year 17
The detailsthe Tax Department's example · leaving and coming back · years as a child · what changed in 2026
The Tax Department's example. Someone first tax resident in 2010 and resident every year up to 2026 completes 17 years in 2026, counts as domiciled from 2027, and in 2027 pays the defence contribution or may choose the fixed charge.
Leaving and coming back. In the department's example, someone whose domicile of origin is not Cyprus completes 17 years of residence in 2026, lives elsewhere from 2027 to 2030 and is tax resident here again in 2031. That year they had been resident for only 16 of the last 20 years, yet they count as domiciled, because since 2026 they had been non-resident for 4 years instead of 20. While you are not tax resident here, the defence contribution does not reach you, domiciled or not.
Tax Department, presentation on the Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025 (06.03.2026) · Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw)
Years as a child count. In the department's example, a child who arrived aged 1 at the start of 2008 and was tax resident from 2008 to 2024 left to study at the end of 2024; they count as domiciled from 2025, and if they stay non-resident from 2025 to 2044, 2045 is the first year they no longer do.
What changed in 2026. As written in 2015, the rule had no such retention; the Tax Department presents it as part of the 2026 change to the definition, and says non-dom status itself is kept.
Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025, Official Gazette No. 5070 · Tax Department, presentation on the Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025 (06.03.2026)
Can you pay to extend non-dom after 17 years here?
Yes, generally, if the 17-of-20 rule made you domiciled and your domicile of origin isn't Cyprus: you can apply to pay the defence contribution as a fixed €50,000 a year instead, whatever your income. It comes in five-year periods, two at most, and each period's €250,000 is paid in one sum and not refunded for any reason, even if you leave. The catch is timing: the Tax Department's circular accepts a first period only if it starts in your first domiciled year and you apply by 30 June of that year (details below).
A year, whatever your income, in place of the contribution on it
Paid in one sum for each five-year period
Five-year periods at most
Counted from arrival, for someone tax resident every year
- Tax years 1 to 17
Non-dom
No defence contribution on your dividends or interest.
- 1 January, year 16
Earliest application
You can apply up to two years before your first domiciled year begins.
- 30 June, year 18
Last day for the first period
The period runs from year 18 to year 22, and the €250,000 is due by the end of the month after the department accepts.
- Years 23 to 27
A second period, if you want it
Only straight after the first, applied for by 30 June of year 23; after it, you pay the contribution on your dividends and interest while you are tax resident here.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Circular 2/2026: alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution (29 May 2026)
The detailswhat the Tax Department calls it · who cannot apply · what to send, and when · paying · if you miss the deadline · €50,000 against the normal contribution
What the Tax Department calls it. The Tax Department calls this an extension of non-dom: two more five-year periods at €250,000 each. In the law it is a fixed defence contribution, whatever your income, and paying it settles your defence contribution for the five years it covers. For those years the department treats you like a non-dom for the contribution: none on dividends or interest from any payer, in Cyprus or not, none on disguised dividends, and Cyprus companies you hold shares in pay none on your share of their 2024 and 2025 profits deemed distributed.
Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility · Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Circular 2/2026: alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution (29 May 2026)
Who cannot apply. The Tax Department will not accept an application from anyone whose domicile of origin is Cyprus, under any circumstances, or from anyone the rule made domiciled in 2023 or earlier; those made domiciled in 2024 or 2025 had until 30 June 2026 to apply for 2026 to 2030. It also refuses applicants with a criminal record, convictions it judges serious or international sanctions, or where it judges that accepting could harm the Republic's reputation or the public interest.
What to send, and when. Form TD 631, filled in electronically, printed, signed, scanned and sent as a message through Tax For All. The circular asks for it to come with questionnaire T.D.38Qa and clean criminal record certificates from Cyprus and from each country whose citizen you are, officially translated into Greek and with an Apostille; the form's own list of required documents is longer. You can apply up to two years ahead: someone who will be domiciled from 2029 can apply for 2029 to 2033 between 1 January 2027 and 30 June 2029. Late applications are refused.
Form TD 631 → Tax Department
Tax Department, Form TD 631 (2026): application for the alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution · Tax Department, Circular 2/2026: alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution (29 May 2026)
Paying. The €250,000 is due by the end of the month after the month your application is accepted, and must be paid in money: it cannot be set off against tax refunds owed to you. Contribution withheld or paid by the date your application is accepted, on income of the five years applied for, is refunded to you, separately from the €250,000. Paid late, the acceptance lapses, it cannot be paid afterwards even with interest, and the contribution falls on your income. No credit for foreign tax is given against the fixed charge. Once it is paid, the Tax Department issues a certificate you can show wherever needed, so that the contribution is not withheld.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Tax Department, Circular 2/2026: alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution (29 May 2026)
In the Tax Department's own example, someone applied in May 2026 for 2028 to 2032, paid in July 2026, moved back to their home country for good in February 2027, and got nothing back.
If you miss the deadline. The Tax Department's own documents do not agree on whether a later application is possible after a missed deadline. Its circular of May 2026 refuses late applications and accepts a first period only if it starts in your first domiciled year. Missing 30 June of that year may close the option for good; have an adviser look at your dates well before it.
€50,000 against the normal contribution. At the 5% dividend rate, €50,000 is the contribution on €1,000,000 of dividends a year; at 17% (interest, and some Cyprus dividends until 2031), on about €294,000. Foreign tax paid on that income reduces the normal contribution, and gives no credit against the fixed one.
Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002, consolidated text (CyLaw) · Special Defence Contribution (Amending) (No. 4) Law 245(I)/2025, Official Gazette No. 5070
Do you have to apply to be non-dom?
The Tax Department asks you to: form T.D.38, to its office in your district, in the first year you receive dividends or interest you claim the exemption for. So that a Cyprus bank or company doesn't deduct the contribution before paying you, you also hand form T.D.624/NP to that payer. Both are declarations, and a false one is a criminal offence.
What to file, and where
- Form T.D.38, to the Tax Department's office in your districtIn the first year you receive dividends or interest you claim the exemption for.
- Questionnaires T.D.38Qa and T.D.38Qb, attached to T.D.38T.D.38Qa always; T.D.38Qb too if you rely on a domicile of choice abroad.
- Form T.D.38 again, every three yearsIf your domicile of origin is Cyprus and you rely on a domicile of choice abroad.
- Form T.D.624/NP, to each Cyprus bank or company that pays you interest or dividendsSo that the contribution is not deducted before you are paid.
- Your tax return: declare your dividends and interestIf you filed T.D.38: fill in the exemption years and clear them from the defence contribution calculation.
Sources (4)
Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility · Tax Department, Form T.D.38 (2016): declaration of individual for exemption as non-domiciled · Tax Department, Form T.D.624/NP (2017): declaration for exemption from the deduction of defence contribution · Tax Department, guide for the completion of the income tax return for individuals 2025
The fixed charge after year 17 has its own form, TD 631, and its own deadline: After year 17
The detailsevidence the department may ask for · old forms, new rules · all five forms
Evidence the department may ask for. The Tax Department can ask for evidence of where you lived and of your domicile, such as rental agreements, passport stamps or travel tickets.
Old forms, new rules. T.D.38 dates from 2016 and T.D.624/NP from 2017; both still list rents, which carry no defence contribution since 2026.
Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility · Tax Department, explanatory guide on the 2026 reform for tax-resident individuals
All five forms. The Tax Department's residency page lists the five forms on domicile: T.D.38, the questionnaires T.D.38Qa and T.D.38Qb, T.D.624/NP and TD 631. Each goes its own way: T.D.38 to your district office, T.D.624/NP to the payer, TD 631 as a message through Tax For All, questionnaire T.D.38Qa with T.D.38 or TD 631, and T.D.38Qb with T.D.38 if you rely on a domicile of choice abroad.
The forms → Tax Department
Sources (4)
Tax Department, Tax Residency/Domicility · Tax Department, Form T.D.38 (2016): declaration of individual for exemption as non-domiciled · Tax Department, Form T.D.624/NP (2017): declaration for exemption from the deduction of defence contribution · Tax Department, Form TD 631 (2026): application for the alternative method of imposing the Special Defence Contribution
Check where you stand before you rely on non-dom
Whether you are non-dom turns on your domicile of origin and your years here, and the Tax Department takes applications for the first period of the fixed charge only up to 30 June of your first domiciled year. A licensed adviser can look at your case before you rely on non-dom or the fixed charge.
- Tell us your situation — a few questions.
- The founder reads it and passes it on only to a licensed adviser.
- The rest is between you and the adviser. There is no obligation.