What form is a Cyprus non dom application?

Form TD38, filed with the Tax Department, together with the domicile questionnaires TD038QA and TD038QB. Those questionnaires are where your domicile position is actually assessed.

Can I claim non-dom status before I am tax resident?

The claim only produces a result for a year in which you are Cyprus tax resident, because the defence contribution it removes is charged on residents. So residency comes first, in the same calendar year.

Do I need a Cyprus tax number first?

Yes, registration for a tax identification number comes before anything else. The form commonly cited for this is TD2001; we have that from adviser guidance rather than from a government page, so we flag it as unconfirmed.

How do I prove to my old country that I left?

With a Cyprus tax residence certificate, issued by the Tax Department for EUR 80 in fee stamps, and only for countries Cyprus has a tax treaty with. It is a separate application from the non-dom claim.

Cyprus non dom application: form TD38 and the order of it

The forms, the sequence, and the one piece of timing that decides whether a year counts.

Last verified 2026-10-22Next review 2027-01-223 official sources

Whether Cyprus works for you depends on how you earnTalk it through

Cyprus non dom application on form TD38 at the Tax Department

Cyprus non dom application is form TD38, filed with the Tax Department together with the domicile questionnaires TD038QA and TD038QB. The form itself is short. What decides whether it produces anything is the order the steps happen in, and the order is fixed by the calendar year.

Why the order decides the outcome

Non-dom status removes a tax that is charged on Cyprus tax residents. If you are not resident for a given tax year, there is nothing for the status to remove and the claim does nothing for that year. Cyprus tax years are calendar years, so everything has to land inside the same one.

That is the whole trap. People arrive in October, incorporate in November, claim non-dom in December and expect the year to count. It does not, because the residency test for that year was not met.

Cyprus non dom application: the sequence we work in

Tax identification number. Registration with the Tax Department comes first; nothing else can be filed without it.
The residency facts, in place and dated. For the 60-day rule: at least 60 days in Cyprus, not more than 183 days in any one other state, a business, employment or directorship in a Cyprus tax-resident company at some point in the year and not terminated during it, and a permanent home in Cyprus you own or rent.
Form TD38 with TD038QA and TD038QB. The domicile claim itself.
The annual return. Dividends and interest are declared; the result shows up as nothing payable under the defence contribution.
Tax residence certificate, if you need to prove it abroad. EUR 80 in fee stamps, for treaty countries only.

What the domicile questionnaires are getting at

Domicile under Cyprus law is the common-law concept, not residence. A Cyprus domicile of origin generally makes you domiciled, with two escapes: a domicile of choice abroad together with twenty consecutive years of non-residence, or twenty or more years abroad before 16 July 2015. The questionnaires are asking where your domicile of origin was and whether anything has changed it.

For most people moving from elsewhere the answer is straightforward. For someone born in Cyprus, or with a Cypriot parent, it is not, and that is the case to get advice on before filing rather than after.

Cyprus non dom program: what changed for 2026

Two changes matter when you apply now rather than before.

First, the 60-day rule lost a condition. Up to 2025 you also had to not be tax resident in any other state. That requirement is gone from the replaced definition, so the test is now about days in other states rather than about other countries' conclusions. The Tax Department's own page states the four remaining conditions and the termination proviso.

One loose end worth knowing about. The tax residence certificate form we found is the 2022 edition of TD126, which still asks the applicant to declare they are not tax resident elsewhere, based on a 2022 circular that the 2026 law has overtaken. How the Department handles that in practice is something we have not confirmed, so expect the question to be asked even though the statute no longer requires it.

Second, there is now an end-stage option. When deemed domicile arrives after 17 of 20 resident years, a person without a Cyprus domicile of origin may elect a flat EUR 50,000 a year, paid as a single EUR 250,000 payment for five years, on a prescribed form by 30 June of the first year, for up to two periods. That is a decision for year 17, not for year one, but it is the reason the regime now has a defined shape rather than a cliff.

What you should be keeping records of from day one

Days in and out of Cyprus, with boarding passes or stamps. Days in each other country, separately, because the 183-day limit is per state and not a total. The lease or title deed for your Cyprus home, covering the whole year. And the date your Cyprus directorship or business started, because the proviso bites if the office is terminated during the same year it was relied on.

Common questions

What form is a Cyprus non dom application?: Form TD38, filed with the Tax Department, together with the domicile questionnaires TD038QA and TD038QB. Those questionnaires are where your domicile position is actually assessed.
Can I claim non-dom status before I am tax resident?: The claim only produces a result for a year in which you are Cyprus tax resident, because the defence contribution it removes is charged on residents. So residency comes first, in the same calendar year.
Do I need a Cyprus tax number first?: Yes, registration for a tax identification number comes before anything else. The form commonly cited for this is TD2001; we have that from adviser guidance rather than from a government page, so we flag it as unconfirmed.
How do I prove to my old country that I left?: With a Cyprus tax residence certificate, issued by the Tax Department for EUR 80 in fee stamps, and only for countries Cyprus has a tax treaty with. It is a separate application from the non-dom claim.

Whether Cyprus works for you depends on how you earn

Where you live is only half of it. We can walk through your position with you, including the cases where Cyprus tax residency does not give the result people expect. This is general information, not tax advice for your circumstances.

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Sources

Every legal, fee and procedural statement on this page is taken from the sources below and was checked on 2026-10-22. Where they change, this page changes.

Tax Department: Tax Residency / Domicility (gov.cy) — The 183-day and 60-day rules and non-dom status
Law 244(I)/2025 amending the Income Tax Law, Official Gazette No. 5070 of 31 December 2025 (cylaw.org) — 15% corporate tax, the 2026 60-day rule, personal tax bands and the 8% crypto rate, from 1 January 2026
Law 245(I)/2025 amending the Special Contribution for the Defence Law (cylaw.org) — Deemed domicile after 17 of 20 years, dividend SDC rates and the EUR 250,000 lump-sum option

This page is general information about Cyprus rules as published by the authorities named above. It is not legal or tax advice for your circumstances, and immigration outcomes depend on your nationality, documents and individual case. See our legal and tax information disclaimer.