Moving guides
From Netherlands to Cyprus
What changes in tax when you move from Netherlands to Cyprus: what you pay today, what you would pay there and the rules Netherlands applies when you leave.
What you would save
With €150,000 a year in dividends or foreign income, compared as a genuine resident of each country.
Leaving Netherlands
- Facts and circumstances (article 4 AWR). There is no day count. Residence depends on durable personal ties (and to a lesser extent economic ties): where your home, family, work, registration, bank accounts and assets are, and how long you intend to stay.
- Return within one year. If you leave and come back within one year without having lived in another country, you are treated as having stayed resident the whole time.
Rules that can follow you after leaving
- Residence fiction on return within 1 year (article 2.2 Wet IB 2001). Leaving and returning within a year without living elsewhere keeps you resident. It does not apply if you prove you were taxed as resident in an EU/EEA state, Switzerland or a designated treaty state.
- Dutch nationals stay in Dutch inheritance and gift tax for 10 years. Dutch nationals who lived in the Netherlands are treated as resident for inheritance and gift tax for 10 years after emigrating (1 year for gift tax for non-nationals).
Exit tax in Netherlands
Conservatory assessment (conserverende aanslag) on emigration
- Substantial interest: you (with partner or close relatives) hold at least 5% of the shares, or a class of shares, of a company.
- Also applies to Dutch pension rights and annuities where premiums were tax-deductible, and some home-related savings products.
On emigration the substantial interest shares are deemed sold; the gain is taxed in box 2 (24.5% up to EUR 68,843, 31% above in 2026) and a conservatory assessment is issued instead of immediate payment.
Arriving in Cyprus
Personal income: 0% div. · Company tax: 15%
EU citizens: simple residence registration. 60-day rule with a home and activity in Cyprus.
60 days a year with a home and activity in Cyprus, or 183.
Non-dom: 0% on dividends and interest for 17 years, extendable twice by 5 years for €250,000 per extension. The 2.65% health contribution, capped, still applies. Company tax 15% from 2026.
Living there
Steps to residency
- 3 weeksRegister Cyprus company and open bank account
- 4 weeksApply for Business Activities Facilitation Unit approval or category F permit
- 2 weeksSubmit residence application to Civil Registry and Migration Department
- 10 weeksBiometrics and residence permit issued
About 19 weeks in total
Official websites: Tax authority · Immigration
Approximate figures that change often; check them before deciding.