Do UK citizens pay tax in Cyprus?

Yes, if they're Cyprus tax resident: Cyprus taxes worldwide income, with credit for UK tax the treaty allows. UK citizens who aren't Cyprus resident only pay Cyprus tax on Cyprus income.

Will my UK pension be taxed in Cyprus or the UK?

Private, workplace and State Pensions are taxed only in Cyprus once you're Cyprus resident and have claimed treaty relief. Government service pensions stay taxable only in the UK unless you're a Cypriot national.

Does becoming Cyprus tax resident end my UK residency?

No. HMRC's Statutory Residence Test decides UK residency. You can be resident in both, and the treaty tie-breaker then decides which country has primary taxing rights.

How many days can I spend in the UK after moving to Cyprus?

Fewer than 16 days guarantees non-residence if you were recently UK resident. Above that, it depends on your ties: with two ties you can spend up to 90 days, with one tie up to 120.

Do I still pay tax on UK rental income?

Yes. The UK taxes rent from UK property. Cyprus also taxes it as worldwide income but gives credit for the UK tax, and there's no longer Cyprus SDC on rent from 2026.

What happened to the government pension election?

A 2019 protocol let UK government pensioners choose the old 1974 treaty treatment for up to five years. That option ended on 31 December 2024, so these pensions are now taxed only in the UK.

Do I pay UK tax if I live in Cyprus?

Once you're non-UK resident, only on UK income the treaty leaves to the UK: rent from UK property, government service pensions, gains on UK land and director's fees from UK companies. Private and State Pensions, UK interest and most UK dividends are taxed only in Cyprus.

Does Cyprus give credit for UK tax?

Yes. Cyprus gives a credit equal to the lower of the UK tax and the Cyprus tax on the same income, either under the treaty or under Cyprus's own unilateral relief. It never refunds UK tax that is higher than the Cyprus tax.

What are the tax pros and cons of retiring to Cyprus from the UK?

The main gains are the 5% pension option, a €22,000 tax-free band, no inheritance tax and no SDC for non-doms. The costs are 2.65% GESY, UK tax on government pensions and UK rent, and UK inheritance tax that can follow you for up to 10 years.

Aircraft window view of the Paphos coastline on approach

Leaving the UK

UK to Cyprus Tax: Leaving HMRC and Using the UK Cyprus Double Tax Treaty

Moving to Cyprus doesn't end your UK tax residency: HMRC's Statutory Residence Test does. Once you're non-resident, the UK–Cyprus double tax treaty decides who taxes what. Most UK private and State Pensions become taxable only in Cyprus, while UK rent and government service pensions stay taxable in the UK.

Check my tax route Get a UK-to-Cyprus tax advisor

The short version

Two separate tests. Cyprus decides Cyprus residency by days in the calendar year. HMRC decides UK residency with the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) for each 6 April–5 April year.

Leavers need few UK days. If you were UK resident in any of the last three years, fewer than 16 days in the UK makes you non-resident automatically. Between 16 and 182 days, your UK ties decide.

The treaty: signed 22 March 2018, in force for UK income tax from 6 April 2019. Private and State Pensions are taxed only in Cyprus; government service pensions only in the UK.

UK rent stays taxable in the UK, with credit in Cyprus. UK inheritance tax can follow you for 3–10 years.

Paperwork: tell HMRC you're leaving, then claim treaty relief with the Cyprus-certified DT-Individual form so UK pension payers stop deducting UK tax.

UK to Cyprus tax guides

Balcony table with coffee and laptop overlooking the sea in Paphos

Pensions

UK pensions in Cyprus

The 5% option, State Pension, lump sums and government pensions.

Explore

Suitcase by the balcony door of a sunny Paphos apartment overlooking the sea

Residency

Cyprus 60-day rule

Cyprus residency with 60 days, and why it doesn't end UK residency.

Explore

Couple walking along the Paphos coastal path at sunset

Residency

Cyprus 183-day rule

The standard day count and the first-year trap.

Explore

Laptop and coffee on a shaded terrace overlooking the Paphos coast

Dividends

Cyprus non-dom

0% SDC on dividends and interest for UK-born movers.

Explore

Person working on a laptop on a shaded terrace overlooking the sea near Paphos

Business owners

Running a UK company from Cyprus

Where the company is resident when you move.

Explore

Shaded terrace with two chairs and a folder on the table, looking over hills to the sea near Paphos

Get help

UK pension tax advice

Introductions to advisors who handle UK pensions for Cyprus residents.

Explore

Step one: stop being UK tax resident

HMRC's Statutory Residence Test decides whether you are UK resident for each UK tax year. It ignores what Cyprus says; the Cyprus side is covered in our Cyprus tax residency hub. Work through it in this order.

1. Automatic overseas tests

You are non-resident for the year if any of these apply:

you were UK resident in one or more of the previous three tax years and spend fewer than 16 days in the UK
you were UK resident in none of the previous three tax years and spend fewer than 46 days in the UK
you work full-time abroad, spend fewer than 91 days in the UK, and work more than three hours on fewer than 31 of those UK days

Couple with coffee cups on a new apartment balcony in Kato Paphos overlooking palms and sea — First morning in the new place

2. Automatic UK tests

If none of those apply, you are UK resident if you spend 183 days or more in the UK, or your only home is in the UK (for at least 91 days, with 30 days' presence), or you work full-time in the UK.

3. Sufficient ties test

Otherwise, your UK days are weighed against your UK ties. HMRC counts a day if you are in the UK at midnight.

Sufficient ties test for people leaving the UK

If you were UK resident in any of the previous three tax years, this is how many UK ties make you UK resident.

Days in the UK in the tax year	Ties that make you UK resident
Fewer than 16	Always non-resident (automatic overseas test)
16 – 45	4 or more
46 – 90	3 or more
91 – 120	2 or more
121 – 182	1 or more
183 or more	Always UK resident

The five ties: family (spouse or minor child UK resident), accommodation (a UK home available for 91+ days that you use), work (40+ days of 3+ hours' work in the UK), 90-day (90+ UK days in either of the last two tax years) and country (more midnights in the UK than in any other single country). Source: HMRC RDR3, updated June 2026.

Watch out

Why 60 days in Cyprus isn't enough

A British director using the Cyprus 60-day rule can easily spend 100 days a year in the UK. With a spouse still in the UK (family tie) and the family home available (accommodation tie), two ties at 91–120 days keeps them UK resident.

Cyprus has dropped its "not resident elsewhere" condition, so you can now be resident in both. The treaty then decides, and it looks first at where you have a permanent home.

Split-year treatment in the year you leave

The UK tax year rarely lines up with your moving date. Split-year treatment divides the year you leave into a UK part and an overseas part, so income arising after you go is treated as overseas income. It applies only if you are UK resident for that year and fit one of HMRC's cases.

Narrow lane in Paphos old town with pastel houses, blue shutters and bougainvillea — Bougainvillea in the lanes of Ktima, the old town

The leaving cases cover three situations: you start full-time work abroad, you go abroad with a partner who does, or you cease to have a UK home and set up life overseas. Each case has its own conditions about UK days and homes after departure, set out in RDR3.

Cyprus has no split year. Its tax year runs 1 January to 31 December, so a move in, say, September leaves you UK resident until departure, then non-resident in the UK, and possibly not resident anywhere for the rest of that calendar year if you haven't met a Cyprus test. See the 183-day rule for the first-year trap.

Tell HMRC you're leaving. If you have a job, form P85 is the usual route; if you file Self Assessment, report your departure on the return.

Which Cyprus tax route fits your move?

Answer a few questions about your income, travel and UK ties to see which Cyprus rule to plan around.

Free toolCyprus tax route finder

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How many days will you spend in Cyprus this calendar year?

Arrival day counts as a day in Cyprus; departure day counts as a day outside.

Sources: Cyprus Tax Department: Tax residency · Cyprus Tax Department: Form TD126 (60-day rule declaration) · Cyprus Tax Department: Form TD38 (non-dom declaration) · PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Cyprus individual residence (reviewed 4 Aug 2026) · PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Cyprus individual income determination · KPMG Cyprus: Tax residency and non-dom rules (April 2026) · Health Insurance Organisation: GHS financing and contributions · HMRC: RDR3 Statutory Residence Test guidance · GOV.UK: Tax if you leave the UK to live abroad (P85) · GOV.UK: Cyprus tax treaties (2018 convention and 2019 protocol)

How the UK Cyprus double tax treaty works

The current UK–Cyprus double tax treaty was signed in Nicosia on 22 March 2018 and replaced the 1974 treaty. It is law in the UK as S.I. 2018/839. It has effect in the UK for income tax and capital gains tax from 6 April 2019, and in Cyprus from 1 January 2019.

A tax treaty doesn't create new taxes. It decides which country may tax each type of income, and how the other country gives credit so you're not taxed twice. You usually have to claim the treaty relief.

If both countries treat you as resident, the treaty's tie-breaker picks one, in this order: where you have a permanent home, then your centre of vital interests (family, work, social ties), then where you habitually live, then your nationality. For most families who sell or let the UK house and move into a Paphos home, the answer is Cyprus.

Two cyclists on the coast road north of Paphos with spring wildflowers and the sea — The coast road north towards Coral Bay

Who taxes what under the UK–Cyprus treaty

For a Cyprus tax resident who is non-resident in the UK.

Income	Taxed in	Notes
UK private and workplace pensions	Cyprus only	Cyprus lets you elect 5% on the amount above €5,000
UK State Pension	Cyprus only	Paid without UK tax deducted; declare it on your Cyprus return
UK government service pensions (civil service, armed forces, police and similar)	UK only	Unless you are a Cypriot national. The pre-2019 election ended on 31 December 2024
Rent from UK property	UK first	Cyprus taxes it too but credits the UK tax
Gains on UK property	UK	UK non-resident capital gains tax applies to UK land
Salary for work done in Cyprus	Cyprus	UK days worked can create UK tax
Dividends from UK companies (Article 10)	Cyprus	Exempt in the UK, except 15% on distributions from UK property investment vehicles. Non-doms pay no Cyprus SDC, only 2.65% GESY
UK bank and bond interest (Article 11)	Cyprus only	Non-doms pay no SDC; 2.65% GESY applies
Royalties (Article 12)	Cyprus only	Claim relief so the payer doesn't deduct UK tax
Director's fees from a UK company (Article 15)	UK may tax	Cyprus taxes them too and credits the UK tax
Gains on shares in UK property-rich companies (Article 13)	UK may tax	Where more than 50% of the value comes from UK land

Sources: 2018 Convention text on gov.uk (Articles 10–17), UK–Cyprus Double Taxation Order (S.I. 2018/839), the 2019 Protocol explanatory memorandum, gov.uk Cyprus tax treaties page. Check your own pension type with an advisor.

How the Cyprus tax credit works: a worked example

Cyprus gives a credit for UK tax on income the UK is allowed to tax, but the credit is the lower of the UK tax and the Cyprus tax on that same income. It never creates a refund. That rule catches a lot of landlords.

Example: a retired couple in Paphos let their old house in Kent. The rent is €20,000 a year, and say HMRC charges €1,800 on it after expenses and the personal allowance. He also has a €30,000 UK workplace pension and elects the flat 5% rate on it.

Older couple eating grilled fish at a waterfront taverna in Latchi harbour at golden hour — Fresh fish by the harbour at Latchi

	Amount	Cyprus tax
Workplace pension at 5% on the amount above €5,000	€30,000	€1,250
UK rent, less Cyprus's 20% deduction for buildings	€16,000 taxable	€0 (inside the €22,000 tax-free band)
Credit for the €1,800 UK tax		€0 (capped at the Cyprus tax, which is nil)

The UK's €1,800 is their final cost on the rent, and Cyprus adds nothing on top except 2.65% GESY. If the rent pushed them into a Cyprus band, the credit would cover the overlap up to the Cyprus figure. The same credit mechanism applies to director's fees and gains on UK property.

Getting your UK pension paid without UK tax

UK pension providers deduct UK tax through PAYE until HMRC tells them to stop. To get that instruction:

Become Cyprus tax resident and register with the Cyprus Tax Department.
Complete HMRC's DT-Individual form (the Cyprus version) and have the Cyprus Tax Department certify that you're resident.
Send it to HMRC, which issues a no-tax code to your pension payer.
Declare the pension on your Cyprus TD1 return and choose the flat 5% rate or the normal bands each year.

The 5% option applies to the amount above €5,000 a year (it was €3,420 up to 2025). On a €30,000 pension that's €1,250 of Cyprus tax, plus 2.65% GESY. UK State Pension claims from abroad go through the International Pension Centre. The full detail is in UK pensions in Cyprus.

Free introduction

Plan your UK exit before you book the flights

Your leaving date, UK ties and pension claims decide the tax for your first two years. We'll introduce you to a vetted advisor who works on both sides. The introduction is free; the advisor quotes their fee.

SRT and split-year review for your leaving year
DT-Individual claim for UK pensions
Dividend and gain timing around the move

Founder-led. Replies within one working day.

UK rules that follow you to Cyprus

Three UK rules keep reaching you after you leave.

Grandparents building a sandcastle with a small child on a sandy beach near Paphos — When the grandchildren come to stay

Temporary non-residence. If you were UK resident in at least four of the seven years before leaving and come back within five years, some income and gains made while away (for example large dividends from a close company or capital gains) can be taxed in the UK in the year you return. Plan a return date with this in mind.

Inheritance tax. Since 6 April 2025, UK inheritance tax follows long-term residence, not domicile. If you were UK resident for 10 of the last 20 tax years, your worldwide estate stays within UK IHT for 3 to 10 years after you leave. Cyprus has no inheritance tax, but that doesn't switch UK IHT off.

UK-source income. UK rent is still taxed in the UK. Letting agents deduct basic-rate tax unless HMRC approves you under the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme. British citizens living abroad usually keep the UK personal allowance against UK income.

The UK's old non-dom regime was abolished on 6 April 2025. That doesn't affect Cyprus non-dom status, which depends on Cyprus domicile rules.

UK to Cyprus tax timeline

1
Model your SRT position
6–12 months before
Count UK days and ties for the leaving year and the next two. Decide which split-year case you'll use.
2
Time dividends, gains and pension withdrawals
3–6 months before
Some are better taken before you leave, some after. Check the five-year temporary non-residence rule.
3
Sort your immigration route
3–6 months before
UK-only passport holders need a residence permit to stay more than 90 days in any 180. See the yellow slip guide for the options.
4
Leave and tell HMRC
Departure
File P85 or note departure on your Self Assessment. Keep proof of your leaving date.
5
Register in Cyprus
First months
Register with the Tax Department, claim non-dom on TD38, and send the DT-Individual form to HMRC.
6
File in both countries
Next year
Cyprus TD1 by 31 July. UK Self Assessment by 31 January if you still have UK income such as rent.

Limestone sea caves and clear water on the Peyia coast north of Coral Bay

Retiring to Cyprus from the UK: the tax trade-offs

What works in your favour

Private, workplace and State Pensions taxed only in Cyprus under the treaty

Flat 5% option on foreign pensions above €5,000, or a €22,000 tax-free band

No inheritance, gift or wealth tax in Cyprus

Non-doms pay no SDC on savings interest and dividends

UK interest and most UK dividends taxed only in Cyprus

What to plan around

Civil service, armed forces, police and similar government pensions stay taxable in the UK

UK inheritance tax can follow you for 3 to 10 years

2.65% GESY on pensions and investment income

UK rent still taxed in the UK, and the Cyprus credit can't refund it

A Cyprus tax return every year, plus UK Self Assessment if you keep UK income

UK to Cyprus tax FAQs

Yes. The current treaty was signed on 22 March 2018 and has effect in the UK from 6 April 2019 and in Cyprus from 1 January 2019. It replaced the 1974 treaty.

Two tax systems, one move

Get a UK-to-Cyprus tax advisor on your side

Tell us your moving date and income. We'll introduce you to a vetted advisor who handles the SRT, treaty claims and your first Cyprus return.

Get a UK-to-Cyprus tax advisor Read the tax residency hub

Sources checked for this page

1.HMRC — RDR3 Statutory Residence Test guidance (updated June 2026)Government
2.gov.uk — Cyprus: tax treatiesGovernment
3.legislation.gov.uk — UK–Cyprus Double Taxation Order (S.I. 2018/839)Government
4.legislation.gov.uk — 2019 Protocol explanatory memorandum (government pensions)Government
5.gov.uk — Living in CyprusGovernment
6.gov.uk — Reforming the taxation of non-UK domiciled individualsGovernment
7.gov.uk — State Pension if you retire abroadGovernment
8.Cyprus Tax Department — Foreign pension election formGovernment
9.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Cyprus income determination (pensions, SDC, exemptions)Professional
10.KPMG Cyprus — Tax Residency and Non-Dom Rules (April 2026)Professional
11.Cyprus Tax Department — Individuals (tax residency)Government
12.gov.uk — 2018 UK–Cyprus Double Taxation Convention (in force; effective dates, Articles 4, 14, 17)Government
13.gov.uk — 2018 UK–Cyprus Double Taxation Convention as amended by the 2018 ProtocolGovernment
14.PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Cyprus foreign tax relief and tax treaties (reviewed 4 Aug 2026)Professional

Written by

Jason

Founder, Paphos Advisor

British founder who moved his family from the UK to Paphos in 2025. I write down what I learned doing it properly — the tax, the residency and the living-here detail — and introduce people to the specialists I’d use myself.

How I research and fact-check

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