Cyprus.
Securities gains simply untaxed — and a rewritten code since January.
Price it in your money
Tell me where you live now and what you spend a month, and every cost here becomes your number — the same life, priced country by country, in your own currency.
A guide, not a quote. I move your monthly spend by each country’s official price level (Eurostat and the World Bank, whole-economy, EU-27 = 100) — no exchange rates, so it stays in your own currency. But averages hide rent and the city you pick, and changing country is rarely a straight swap. Read these as the right ballpark, then price the real thing.
EU-27 = 100 · 2025. Living in Cyprus runs about 11% cheaper than the EU average.
Eurostat (prc_ppp_ind) / World Bank, 2025, CC BY 4.0. Whole-economy price level — country averages hide big regional and rent spread.
A €2,500 a month reference life runs about €2,230 a month here — roughly €26,760 a year, and a ×30 number near €803,000.
The reference life the calculators use, scaled by the index above — the same whole-economy figure, a guide not a quote.
Where in Europe
Hot-summer Mediterranean — the sunniest corner of the EU, mild winters.
a roof here, against the EU-27 average
In Cyprus, buy prices are up 51% since 2015 (+4.5% last year); rents up 29% since 2015.
Deloitte's Property Index doesn't price this country, so there's no per-m² tag here — the comparative level and the trend above are the official read.
Read these as the shape, not the price. Housing is the most divergent cost in Europe, and a national average buries the thing that actually decides it — the city, the street, new-build against old. Treat it as a ballpark, then price the real place. Not property or mortgage advice.
Level vs the EU: Eurostat comparative price level for housing (prc_ppp_ind, EU-27 = 100, 2024). Trend: Eurostat house price index and actual-rentals index (2015 = 100, 2025).
The rules that matter for an exit.
Gains on shares, bonds and fund units sit outside Cyprus tax entirely for individuals — capital gains tax touches only Cypriot real estate.
Dividends and interest escape income tax but carry the 'defence contribution' for domiciled residents — while non-doms pay none of it for seventeen years, only a small capped health levy. This is a large part of why Cyprus is where European FIRE movers actually go.
Cyprus rewrote its tax code effective January 2026: the dividend defence contribution fell from 17% to 5% on post-2026 profits, the 60-day residency rule was loosened, and the non-dom window gained a paid extension beyond year seventeen. New law — the details are still settling.
No wealth tax, and no exit tax on private portfolios.
None — estate duty was abolished for deaths after January 2000; only filing duties and the usual transfer fees remain.
The reform is six months old and professionals still argue points of it — the interest rules for individuals especially. Any plan built on Cyprus deserves a local adviser and a current reading.
Can you actually move here?
Hold an EU or EEA passport and the door isn't the question — freedom of movement covers the move itself. The clocks and the tax-residency rules below still run for you.
With your passport, skip the doors — the clocks and the tax-residency rules are what matter for you.
No EU passport means one of the doors on the left — each checked against the authority that issues it.
≈€24,000/yr for a single applicant, +20% for a spouse, +15% per child, routed through a Cyprus account (2026 guides)
€300,000 (plus VAT) into a first-sale home (or commercial property, company shares or funds), plus €50,000 of secure annual income, checked yearly.
permanent residency at 5 yrs · dual allowed · Greek at B1 + a written civics exam
or just 60, under the famous 60-day rule: a home here, ties here, and no 183 days anywhere else
Cyprus runs Europe's most FIRE-shaped tax trigger — the 60-day rule can make you resident with two months and a lease — alongside a modest visitor route and a €300,000 golden visa that survived where others died. The catches: the visitor permit dies after three months away, public health cover waits for permanent residence, and Schengen membership is still a Council vote away.
Keeping the permit: void if you stay outside Cyprus more than three consecutive months
Schengen accession is the one to watch — technically ready and Commission-backed (May 2026), with the unanimous vote floated for December 2026 and 2027 the realistic entry.
Check it yourself: European Commission — Cyprus's citizenship legislation · PwC — Cyprus tax residence (the 60-day rule)
Getting-in rules checked July 2026. They move faster than tax law — confirm the current rule with the authority before you plan a move around it. Education, not immigration advice.
GESY, the universal system, takes third-country nationals only at permanent residence — on the pink slip you're outside it, on mandatory private cover; once in, contributions run 2.65% of income, capped.
Healthcare access checked July 2026. Systems are stable but details shift — confirm before you rely on them. Education, not health-insurance advice.
Common questions
- Do I pay capital gains tax on shares or ETFs in Cyprus?
- No — gains on shares, bonds and fund units sit outside Cyprus tax entirely for individuals. Capital gains tax touches only Cypriot real estate.
- How are dividends taxed in Cyprus, and what is the non-dom deal?
- Dividends and interest escape income tax but carry the 'defence contribution' for domiciled residents — while non-doms pay none of it for seventeen years, only a small capped health levy. It's a large part of why Cyprus is where European FIRE movers actually go.
- What changed in the Cyprus 2026 tax rewrite?
- Effective January 2026, the dividend defence contribution fell from 17% to 5% on post-2026 profits, the 60-day residency rule was loosened, and the non-dom window gained a paid extension beyond year seventeen. It's new law and the details are still settling — professionals still argue points of it.
- Is there a wealth tax or exit tax in Cyprus?
- No wealth tax, and no exit tax on private portfolios.
- Can an American or a Brit retire early in Cyprus?
- Yes — the door is the 'pink slip': an annual visitor permit for living on foreign income — no Cyprus work; the practical figures are law-firm-pinned, not authority-published. The bar is ≈€24,000/yr for a single applicant, +20% for a spouse, +15% per child, routed through a Cyprus account (2026 guides). An EU or EEA passport skips the visa question entirely — freedom of movement covers the move itself. Rules like these move — confirm with the immigration authority before planning around them.
- How long until a Cyprus passport?
- 8 years of legal residence is the general naturalisation rule, with Greek at B1 + a written civics exam. Dual citizenship is allowed. Permanent residency usually comes at 5 years.
Run your own numbers.
The Exit Calculator
Years to your number, at your savings rate.
OpenWhere You Live
What an annual wealth tax does to the maths — illustrative, deliberately.
OpenThe Geoarbitrage Map
The same life, priced across 58 countries.
OpenThe whole system — wrappers, funds, withdrawal, the blank page — is in the guide: The European FIRE guide
None of this is tax or investment advice — it's education, kept deliberately at the level that survives fact-checking. Rules shift with every budget round; the specifics of your situation belong with a licensed adviser in your country. I'm happily not one.
This page was last verified against official sources on 8 July 2026. What's changed on the map
Know a figure here that’s wrong or out of date? Point me to the line and a source — every correction gets checked, and it’s how the map stays right.
Report a correctionBring me a challenge.
The Exit Audit, then ninety minutes: a straight verdict, real alternatives with their pros and cons, and your first move. If you want someone to nod along, I’m the wrong person to pay.
Ninety minutes, online, €600 — the Exit Audit included.