Cyprus capital gains tax property: 20%, and only on Cyprus land
What the 20% actually applies to, what it never applies to, and the 2026 change that widened it.
Last verified 2026-10-22Next review 2027-01-224 official sources
Whether Cyprus works for you depends on how you earnTalk it through
Cyprus capital gains tax property charges apply at 20%, and only to Cyprus land and buildings, plus shares in companies that own them. Everything else people usually mean by capital gains, including listed shares and most business sales, is outside the charge entirely.
Cyprus capital gains tax property charges: what the 20% reaches
- Gains from disposing of immovable property situated in Cyprus.
- Gains from disposing of shares in companies that own Cyprus immovable property.
That second limb is the one that catches people, and from 2026 it catches more of them. The look-through threshold fell from a 50% holding to a 20% holding, so a minority stake in a Cyprus company whose value sits in property is now within scope where it previously was not.
What it never reaches
Gains on securities other than property-related ones are exempt from income tax under section 8(22) of the Income Tax Law. Shares, bonds and most fund units are therefore outside both the income tax and the capital gains charge. A gain on property outside Cyprus is also outside the Cyprus charge, although the country where the property sits will have its own rules and its own treaty position.
Crypto sits in its own box from 2026. Disposals, including selling, swapping, gifting or spending crypto-assets, are taxed at a flat 8%, separately from other income, with losses usable only against crypto gains of the same year and no carry-forward. Mining is excluded from that treatment.
Why this matters on the investor residence route
The permanent residence route under Regulation 6(2) puts EUR 300,000 into Cyprus property for most applicants, and the exit from that investment is a 20% charge on the gain. That is not a reason to avoid the route, but it belongs in the arithmetic alongside the fee and the income test, because the permit also lapses if the investment is sold and not replaced.
The commercial-property and resale category, and the fund category, change the shape of this. A fund holding does not carry the property charge in the same way, and the choice between the four investment categories has a tax consequence most comparisons of them skip.
What non-dom status does here
Nothing. Non-dom status removes the Special Defence Contribution on dividends, interest and rent. Capital gains tax is a separate charge under a separate law and it does not care about your domicile. Someone who moved to Cyprus expecting non-dom status to clear a property gain has misread which tax it switches off.
The 20% rate and the scope of the charge here come from secondary tax summaries rather than from our own reading of the Capital Gains Tax Law, and that law was one of the six amended in the December 2025 reform package. We have read the income tax and defence contribution amendments in the original and not this one, so treat the detail of exemptions, reliefs and lifetime allowances as something to check with an adviser rather than as settled on this page.
Common questions
- What is the Cyprus capital gains tax rate on property?
- 20%, on gains from the disposal of Cyprus immovable property and of shares in companies that own such property.
- Do I pay Cyprus capital gains tax on foreign property?
- No. The charge is on Cyprus immovable property and property-rich Cyprus shareholdings. A gain on a house in Spain is outside it, though Spain will have its own view.
- What changed in 2026?
- The look-through to shares in property-holding companies now starts at a 20% holding rather than 50%, so smaller stakes in property-rich companies are caught.
- Are share gains tax-free in Cyprus?
- Gains on securities other than property-related ones are exempt from income tax under section 8(22). Crypto is handled separately and pays a flat 8% on disposal from 2026.
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.
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.
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Cyprus — The 20% capital gains tax rate and its scope (secondary source)
- EY: Cyprus enacts major tax reform legislation (Global Tax News 2026-0140) — The look-through threshold for property-rich companies falling from 50% to 20% in 2026 (secondary source)
- Income Tax Law 118(I)/2002, consolidated text (cylaw.org) — Tax residency (section 2), dividend exemption (section 8(20)), IP Box (section 9(1)(κ)) and rates
- 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
Related
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.