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Leave Australia for Cyprus on the right date.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. Australia taxes your gains on the day you leave, and its 50% capital gains discount ends on 1 July 2027, so your leaving date comes first.

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  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side

What you keep, with both layers counted.

In Australia, the tax your company pays counts towards your own tax on the dividend. So 30% against 15% is the wrong comparison. This one counts both layers. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Australia
Corporate tax
−€60,000
Tax on dividends
−€34,020
You keep
€105,980
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€59,515every year

More in your pocket +€59,515 every year

Australia: 30% company tax, then 24.3% on the cash dividend. That is the 45% top rate plus the 2% Medicare levy, charged on the dividend plus the company tax already paid on it, less that tax. Together that makes 47%, and a company that qualifies for the 25% rate lands on the same 47%.

Headline rates for a founder who takes the profit out as dividends and has become Cyprus tax resident with non-dom status. Your own figures will differ. This is an illustration, not tax advice.

What Australia takes as you go.

Nothing in Australian law is called an exit tax, but leaving still costs. Settle these with an Australian tax adviser before you set a date.

  • Tax on what you own, the day you leave

    When you stop being resident, Australia treats almost everything you own as sold at market value and taxes the gain. Nothing is sold and no cash comes in. Your company shares are included. Australian real estate is left out, because Australia taxes it when you sell.

  • You can put it off, all or nothing

    You can choose to pay nothing when you leave. The choice covers every asset or none. Australia then taxes the full gain when you sell, including the growth while you live in Cyprus.

  • The 50% discount ends on 1 July 2027

    The 50% capital gains discount only applies to assets sold, or treated as sold, before 1 July 2027, and a new 30% minimum rate applies to some gains. Leaving counts as a sale, so your date can change the bill. Have your adviser confirm it for your move.

  • Franking credits stop counting

    Franking credits, the credit for company tax already paid, only work for Australian residents. Leave, and a large franking balance in your company is worth nothing to you. A fully franked dividend paid to you abroad is generally not taxed again. Price your balance before you go.

  • Australian tax on a Cyprus company

    While you live in Australia, it can tax you on the income of a Cyprus company you control, as the company earns it. Holding 40% can count as control. Only a real business run from an office in Cyprus, with passive income under 5% of its income, escapes it.

  • Your super stays in Australia

    Citizens and permanent residents can't cash out super when they leave. That payout is only for former temporary residents. Your balance stays in Australia, under Australian rules, until the normal conditions let you take it out.

What Cyprus offers an Australian.

One flat 15% rate with no turnover or passive income test, and no tax on dividends for 17 years with non-dom status.

Corporate tax
15%
One flat rate, with no local surcharges.
Tax on dividends
0%
As a non-dom, for up to 17 years.
Days a year for tax residency
60
Under the 60-day rule, with a home and a business here.
Wealth or inheritance tax
0
Cyprus has neither.
  • Australia isn't in the EU, so the Yellow Slip for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens isn't your route. You need the Pink Slip, the residence permit for non-EU citizens. We check which route fits you and file it with you, with a lawyer for complex cases.
  • There's no tax treaty, so Australia and Cyprus can both tax you as resident. A Cyprus home and a sold or let Australian house are your proof.
  • Running your own Cyprus company counts towards the 60-day rule, and it shows Australia where your life is now.
  • Income from qualifying intellectual property can be taxed at an effective 3% under the IP Box. In Australia, licensing income can push a company up to the 30% rate.

The move, in order.

The timings depend on your situation. The order matters more, because your leaving date sets the capital gains bill.

Book a free call
  1. First

    Value your shares, pick the date

    An Australian tax adviser values your shares, decides with you whether to put off the tax on leaving, checks your date against 1 July 2027 and works out what your franking balance is worth. We can recommend one if you need it.

  2. Month 1We do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES. Your books open the day you order.

  3. Month 1 to 3We do this

    Pink Slip and directorship

    We check which Pink Slip route fits you, prepare the application and file it with you, with a lawyer for complex cases. You become a director of the Cyprus company, which counts for the 60-day rule.

  4. Month 3 to 6

    A Cyprus home and the decisions

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs, and sell or let the Australian one. Take the company's decisions in Cyprus and record them here. Your Australian adviser deals with your Australian company.

  5. From month 12

    The return for the year you left

    Your Australian adviser files the tax return for the year you left, with the tax on leaving or your choice to put it off.

  6. From month 12We do this

    Tax residency and non-dom

    We register your Cyprus tax residency and non-dom status, then keep your day counts and Cyprus filings in order. With no treaty, that record is your proof.

The Cyprus side, done for you.

Fixed prices, excl. VAT, agreed before you start. Government fees are charged at cost, on top of our fee, once your application is approved.

What Australian founders ask.

Still unsure? Talk to a person on WhatsApp, or book a free call below.

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Yes, in effect. When you stop being resident, Australia treats almost everything you own as sold at market value and taxes the gain, though nothing is sold. Australian real estate is left out, and so are assets bought before 20 September 1985. You can choose to pay nothing on leaving instead. That choice covers all your assets or none, and Australia then taxes the full gain when you sell.

Yes. The 50% capital gains discount only applies to assets sold, or treated as sold, before 1 July 2027. After that there's generally no discount, though you can adjust your cost for inflation instead, and a new 30% minimum rate applies to some gains. Leaving counts as a sale, so your date looks decisive. That's our reading of the law, so have an Australian adviser confirm it for your move.

When you fail all four of Australia's residency tests. For most Australians the hard one asks whether your permanent home is now outside Australia. A lease in Cyprus, your family here and your Australian house sold or properly let show that. A house kept ready for you works against you, and staying under 183 days isn't enough. Australia announced a simpler 183-day test in 2021, but it isn't law.

Not usefully. While you're Australian resident, Australia can tax you on the income of a Cyprus company you control as the company earns it, and holding 40% can count as control. Only a real business in Cyprus, with an office there and almost no passive income, escapes it. The Cyprus benefits are real once you've genuinely left Australia, not while you run things from Sydney.

No. Australia has tax treaties with 47 countries, and Cyprus isn't one of them. So if both countries treat you as resident, both can tax you, there's no lower withholding tax on payments from Australia, and there's no formal way for the two tax offices to resolve a dispute. You prove you've left on Australia's own tests alone.

Your shares in it are caught by the tax on leaving. Australia values them on the day you go and taxes the gain, unless you choose to put that off. The company's franking credits stop being worth anything to you, though a fully franked dividend paid to you in Cyprus is generally not taxed again. Your Australian adviser deals with the company on their own timetable, and we keep the Cyprus side in step.

No, not as a citizen or permanent resident. The payout people mention when leaving Australia is for former temporary residents whose visas have ended. Your super stays in Australia, under Australian rules, until the normal conditions let you take it out. Treat it as an Australian asset you manage from abroad.

No. Under the 60-day rule you can be Cyprus tax resident with 60 days a year here, a home you rent or own, a business or job in Cyprus, and no more than 183 days in any other country. Running your own Cyprus company can count as the business. Australia's own tests still decide when it lets you go, so plan your time there with your adviser.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. For the tax on leaving, franking credits, super and anything else in Australia, work with an Australian tax adviser. We can recommend one if you need it.

Plan your move with us.

Tell us what you own and when you'd like to move. We'll tell you what applies, what it costs, and what to do first.

  • Which rules at home affect you
  • The order to do things in
  • A fixed price for the Cyprus side

30 minutes, by video, free

Moving from somewhere else?

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Your move, one partner.

We form your company, apply for your residency with you and keep your books.

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