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Pick the right route out of Belgium.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. Since 2026 Belgium taxes you for leaving, often lightly, and moving your company itself abroad is taxed twice. Your route decides most of the bill.

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  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side
Lees in het Nederlands

What stays in your pocket.

Belgium taxes company profit, then withholds tax on every dividend. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Belgium
Corporate tax
−€50,000
Tax on dividends
−€45,000
You keep
€105,000
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€60,495every year

More in your pocket +€60,495 every year

Belgium: 25% corporate tax, then 30% withholding tax on dividends, an effective 47.5%. A small company can pay 20% on its first €100,000, and VVPRbis shares, which a small company issues for new cash, pay 18% on dividends, about 34% combined.

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 Belgium charges on the way out.

Belgium rewrote its exit rules in 2026. Settle these with a Belgian adviser before you pick a route.

  • An exit tax since 2026

    Belgium now treats moving abroad as selling your shares and other financial assets at market value. For assets you held before 2026, only growth since 31 December 2025 counts. With 20% or more of your company, the first €1 million of gain is tax-free and the rate starts at 1.25%.

  • The deferral has conditions

    Because Cyprus is in the EU, you can defer paying. Pledge or pass on the shares within 24 months, for example as security for a funding round, and the tax falls due. Move back within 24 months and it's cancelled.

  • Your household decides where you live

    If you're married or legally cohabiting, Belgium puts your tax home where your household lives. If your family stays behind, you haven't left, and Belgium keeps taxing your worldwide income. Plan to move together.

  • Moving the company costs twice

    Move your Belgian company itself to Cyprus and Belgium taxes it as if it were wound up. Since July 2025 Belgium also taxes you on the same value as a dividend. A new Cyprus company, or leaving the Belgian one in place, avoids both.

  • Get your end-2025 value on record

    Without better evidence, Belgium values unlisted shares at equity plus four times EBITDA, the yearly profit before interest, tax and depreciation. That can hurt a high-margin service company. Evidence of what your company was worth on 31 December 2025 saves real money, and gets harder to gather every month.

  • Inheritance tax stays behind

    The five-year rule people quote only decides which Belgian region taxes an estate. Once you've really left, only property in Belgium stays in the Belgian net. Cyprus has no inheritance tax.

What Cyprus offers you.

One flat rate with no salary test, and dividends free of tax 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.
  • As a Belgian citizen you're an EU citizen, so you don't need a visa. You register with the Yellow Slip, and we file it with you.
  • Cyprus is in the EEA. Sell your Belgian shares to a Cyprus company and you keep the low rates that start at 1.25%. A buyer outside the EEA means 16.5%.
  • Under the tax treaty, a dividend from your Belgian company to you in Cyprus is taxed at most 15% in Belgium, not 30%. Royalties are taxed only where you live.
  • Belgium's lower company rate needs a €51,000 director's salary and perks under 20% of that pay. Cyprus has no such conditions. You decide what to pay yourself.

First the household, then the rest.

The timings depend on your file. The order matters more than the dates.

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  1. First

    Settle the household

    If you're married or legally cohabiting, your household moves with you, or Belgium treats you as never having left. Settle this before anything else.

  2. Before you go

    Choose your route

    A Belgian tax adviser helps you choose between moving the company, starting a new one or moving only yourself. They also record what your shares were worth on 31 December 2025. We can recommend an adviser if you need one.

  3. Month 1We do this

    Company and Yellow Slip

    We register the Cyprus company with tax, VAT and VIES, and apply for your Yellow Slip with you. Your books open the day you order.

  4. Month 1 to 3

    Move your everyday life

    Deregister at your municipality. Then move your doctor, insurance, schools and memberships. That list is what decides where you live.

  5. Month 3 to 6

    A home and real decisions

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs. Take the company's decisions in Cyprus, with real people, and record them here.

  6. Month 6 to 12

    The Belgian tax return

    Your Belgian adviser files the return for the year you left, and the exit tax and its deferral follow from it. For 24 months, don't pledge or pass on your shares without checking first.

  7. Month 6 to 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.

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 Belgian founders ask us.

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

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Possibly, since 1 January 2026. Belgium now treats moving abroad as selling your financial assets, including your shares, at market value. You can defer paying, because Cyprus is in the EU and shares tax information with Belgium. Pages written before 2026 say Belgium has no exit tax. That's no longer true.

Often far less than the name suggests. For shares you held before 2026, only growth since 31 December 2025 counts. With 20% or more of your company, the first €1 million of that gain is tax-free, then the rate starts at 1.25% and rises to 10% above €10 million. Below 20%, the rate is 10%. Even a small charge still has to be reported.

Usually not the company itself. Moving it abroad is taxed as if the company were wound up, and since July 2025 you're also taxed on the same value as a dividend. Two charges on one move. Starting a new Cyprus company, or leaving the Belgian one in place and moving only yourself, avoids that.

Almost certainly not. If you're married or legally cohabiting, Belgium sets your tax home where your household lives, and unlike the national register rule, the law doesn't say you can prove otherwise. So you'd stay Belgian resident, taxed on your worldwide income, and no exit would happen at all. The only exception is a real separation, and it applies from the year after.

When your home is no longer in Belgium and, if you're married or legally cohabiting, your household has moved too. Belgium assumes you live where the national register says, so deregister at your municipality. Then move your doctor, insurance, schools and memberships. With no home in Belgium, it can still look at where your wealth is managed from.

No. The VVPRbis rate, for shares a small company issues for new cash, went up from 15% to 18% on 1 July 2026, with no protection for older shares. A founder who put cash into the company in 2015 now pays 18% on dividends granted from that date. The low rate on the liquidation reserve also rose, from 6.5% to 9.8%, or 20% if you take it out within three years.

Not if it's a real business. Belgium's rule catches a company you control that pays less than about 12.5%, and exempts one with real staff, equipment and premises. A trading company paying 15% with people in Cyprus is fine. A Cyprus company that only holds your investments can be caught by a separate look-through tax.

Not the way people fear. The five-year rule often quoted only decides which Belgian region taxes an estate. While you live in Flanders, duty for children reaches 27% on each share above €250,000. Once you've really left, only property you own in Belgium stays taxable there. Cyprus has no inheritance tax.

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.

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?

All countries

Your move, one partner.

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

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