Cyprus Capital Gains Tax on Property: 2026 Guide

The Short Answer

Cyprus levies a 20% capital gains tax (CGT) on gains from the disposal of immovable property located in Cyprus, and on gains from the disposal of shares in companies that own such property where the company is not listed on a recognised stock exchange. The tax applies to the net gain after allowable deductions, not the full sale price. Lifetime exemptions exist for your primary residence and for agricultural land sales, and they are generous enough that a large share of residential transactions produce no CGT liability at all. The rules around what counts as your primary residence, how the base cost is indexed, and what happens when you own property through a company contain enough complexity that two sellers in identical circumstances can end up with very different bills.

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How the Tax Is Calculated

The taxable gain is the difference between the disposal proceeds and the indexed acquisition cost. Cyprus uses an inflation-adjustment factor published by the Cyprus Tax Department to rebase the original purchase price to today's money. You then deduct allowable costs, legal fees paid on acquisition, transfer fees paid to the Land Registry, and the cost of any capital improvements you can document. The result is the net gain, and CGT is 20% of that figure.

The Cyprus Tax Department publishes the indexation table and the relevant forms on its official site at https://www.mof.gov.cy/mof/tax/taxdep.nsf/index_en/index_en. You submit a self-assessment return, and payment is due within 30 days of the disposal contract being deposited at the Land Registry.

What counts as a disposal

A disposal includes an outright sale, a gift, and an exchange. It also includes the granting of a long lease in certain circumstances. Transferring property to a spouse or a family member is not automatically exempt, the transfer is still a disposal and CGT is assessed on the market value at the time, not the consideration actually paid. This catches people who assume a family transfer is a non-event.

Shares in a private company that owns Cypriot land are treated as if you sold the land directly. This rule exists to prevent the common structure of buying and selling Cyprus real estate through a special-purpose vehicle and escaping CGT entirely. If the company is listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange or another recognised exchange, the exemption applies and the gain is outside the scope of CGT.

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The Lifetime Exemptions

Three lifetime exemptions reduce the CGT bill for most individuals selling residential property.

The primary residence exemption is €85,430. If you have lived in the property as your main home for at least five years immediately before the sale, you can deduct €85,430 from the gain. The five-year requirement is strict. A property you rented out for two of the last seven years, or a holiday home you used intermittently, does not qualify unless you can demonstrate genuine main-residence use for the full five years.

The agricultural land exemption allows a deduction of €25,629 when you sell agricultural land that has been used for farming. This applies to the seller, not the buyer, and you need to demonstrate active agricultural use.

The general lifetime exemption of €17,086 is available to every individual regardless of property type or use, and it is applied after the other two. These figures have been in place for some years and are set in the Capital Gains Tax Law (Law 52/1980 as amended). The Land Registry and Tax Department both confirm them as current. You can view the current exemption schedule on the Cyprus Tax Department's CGT guidance pages.

The three exemptions are cumulative across your lifetime, not per transaction. Once you have used your €85,430 primary residence exemption on a sale, it is gone. A second property sold later gets only the €17,086 general exemption unless you have built up a new primary residence qualifying period.

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Common Scenarios and Where Things Go Wrong

Selling an apartment you bought 10 years ago

Suppose you bought a flat in Limassol in 2015 for €150,000 and you sell it in 2026 for €280,000. After indexation, your adjusted acquisition cost might be around €165,000 depending on the factor for that year. Your gain before deductions is roughly €115,000. You add documented improvement costs and legal fees, say €8,000, giving a net gain of €107,000. If this was your primary residence for five consecutive years immediately before sale, you deduct €85,430, leaving €21,570. The general €17,086 exemption reduces that to €4,484. CGT at 20% is about €897. If it was not your primary residence, the only exemption available is €17,086, and your bill is €17,983.

The difference between having and not having the primary residence exemption is the single biggest variable in a typical residential sale.

Non-residents selling Cyprus property

Cyprus CGT applies to the property's location, not the seller's residence. A Swedish national who bought a villa in Paphos and later moved back to Stockholm still owes Cyprus CGT on a gain when they sell. Their liability is calculated the same way as a Cyprus resident's. They do not get access to Swedish exit tax treatment in Cyprus, each country taxes what falls within its jurisdiction. For anyone coming from a country with its own capital gains rules, the interaction between the two systems matters. The Moving to Cyprus from Sweden (2026): 30% Capital Tax, the Ten-Year Rule and Non-Dom guide covers the Swedish side of that picture.

Property held through a company

If a Cyprus-registered company holds the property and you sell the shares, CGT applies as noted above. The gain is calculated on the company's property value, not on your share acquisition price. The mechanics are set out in the same Capital Gains Tax Law and require a valuation of the underlying property at the time of the share disposal. Many buyers acquired Cyprus property through a company in the 2000s and 2010s, often on legal advice at the time. Selling through a share transfer is no longer a straightforward CGT exemption.

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What Cyprus CGT Does Not Cover

Cyprus CGT applies only to immovable property in Cyprus and the qualifying share disposals described above. It does not apply to gains on shares in listed companies, bonds, cryptocurrency, foreign property, or other financial assets. Those gains are outside the scope of Cypriot CGT entirely under current law.

This is a meaningful contrast to many European jurisdictions. A non-dom resident of Cyprus who makes a large gain on a share portfolio pays no Cypriot CGT on that gain and also pays no Special Defence Contribution on it. The non-dom rules, which also exempt dividend and interest income from SDC, are explained in full on the ClearCyprus | Cyprus Tax and Relocation with the 2026 Numbers homepage and the linked non-dom guide.

For a broader picture of where Cyprus sits as a base for property investment and relocation, the Blog | ClearCyprus archives cover city-by-city property market conditions and the practicalities of buying and registering immovable property.

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Transfer Fees: A Separate Cost

CGT is separate from the Land Registry transfer fee, which is paid by the buyer on registration of the title deed. Transfer fees are calculated on the market value at rates set by the Department of Lands and Surveys. The two costs are often confused because both arise on the same transaction, but they fall on different parties and are administered differently. If you are budgeting a sale, your CGT liability is your concern. The buyer's transfer fee is theirs.

The Where to Live in Cyprus (2026): Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca or Paphos guide contains current data on property values by city, which affects both the gain calculation and the likely buyer transfer fee.

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Confirm the Numbers Before You Sign

The figures in this guide, the 20% rate, the lifetime exemptions, the indexation approach, reflect the Capital Gains Tax Law as amended and confirmed by the Cyprus Tax Department. They are correct as of July 2026. Tax law changes. Before you sign a sale agreement or transfer shares in a property-owning company, confirm the current position with a licensed Cyprus tax adviser or a Cyprus-registered lawyer. The calculation is mechanical once you have the right inputs, but getting the inputs wrong, particularly the primary residence qualifying period and the adjusted base cost, is where most errors occur.

A Cyprus adviser can also tell you whether your sale triggers any reporting obligation in your country of origin, which is a separate question from Cyprus CGT.

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FAQ

Q: Do I pay Cyprus CGT if I am not a Cyprus tax resident? A: Yes. Cyprus CGT applies based on where the property is located, not where you live. If you own a property in Cyprus and sell it at a gain, you owe Cyprus CGT regardless of your tax residency. You file a return with the Cyprus Tax Department and pay within 30 days of the Land Registry deposit.

Q: Can I use the primary residence exemption if I lived in the property for most of the last five years but rented it out for part of that time? A: The five-year period requires continuous use as your main home immediately before the sale. Rental periods within that window generally disqualify the exemption for the proportion of time the property was not your main residence. The exact treatment depends on the specific facts and you should confirm with a Cyprus tax adviser.

Q: Is there CGT when I transfer property to my spouse? A: A transfer to a spouse is still treated as a disposal for CGT purposes, assessed on the market value at the time of transfer, not the price paid. The lifetime exemptions can be applied, but the gain does not disappear simply because no money changed hands.

Q: Do the lifetime exemptions reset between sales? A: No. Each lifetime exemption is a cumulative allowance across all disposals in your lifetime. Once the €85,430 primary residence exemption has been used, it is not available again on a future sale, even if you sell another property that was also your main home.

Q: Does CGT apply to gains on shares in a listed company that owns Cyprus property? A: No. Where the company is listed on a recognised stock exchange, the share disposal falls outside the Cyprus CGT net. The anti-avoidance rule that treats share disposals as property disposals applies only to unlisted companies.

Related reading: Move to Cyprus: The 8-Step Order People Get Wrong.

Common questions

Do I pay Cyprus CGT if I am not a Cyprus tax resident?

Yes. Cyprus CGT applies based on where the property is located, not where you live. If you own a property in Cyprus and sell it at a gain, you owe Cyprus CGT regardless of your tax residency. You file a return with the Cyprus Tax Department and pay within 30 days of the Land Registry deposit.

Can I use the primary residence exemption if I lived in the property for most of the last five years but rented it out for part of that time?

The five-year period requires continuous use as your main home immediately before the sale. Rental periods within that window generally disqualify the exemption for the proportion of time the property was not your main residence. The exact treatment depends on the specific facts and you should confirm with a Cyprus tax adviser.

Is there CGT when I transfer property to my spouse?

A transfer to a spouse is still treated as a disposal for CGT purposes, assessed on the market value at the time of transfer, not the price paid. The lifetime exemptions can be applied, but the gain does not disappear simply because no money changed hands.

Do the lifetime exemptions reset between sales?

No. Each lifetime exemption is a cumulative allowance across all disposals in your lifetime. Once the €85,430 primary residence exemption has been used, it is not available again on a future sale, even if you sell another property that was also your main home.

Does CGT apply to gains on shares in a listed company that owns Cyprus property?

No. Where the company is listed on a recognised stock exchange, the share disposal falls outside the Cyprus CGT net. The anti-avoidance rule that treats share disposals as property disposals applies only to unlisted companies.

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