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Leave Canada for Cyprus knowing the cost.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. Canada taxes you as if you sold most of what you own the day you leave, so we work out that cost first and then build the Cyprus side.

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

Federal rates, side by side.

Canada builds its company tax in layers, then taxes dividends with a credit for the tax the company already paid. These are federal figures only. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Canada
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Tax on dividends
−€42,500
You keep
€127,500
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€37,995every year

More in your pocket +€37,995 every year

Canada, federal only: the 15% general rate, which is the 38% basic rate less reductions of 10 and 13 points, then 25% on an eligible dividend in the top 33% bracket, after the 38% gross-up and the dividend tax credit. Provincial tax comes on top of both, and a small business pays 9% federally on its first $500,000 of active business income.

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 leaving Canada costs.

Canada charges you to leave, and some rules reach you while you still live there. Settle these with a Canadian tax adviser first.

  • Departure tax on what you own

    Canada treats you as selling everything you own at market value just before you leave, and taxes the gain on your return for that year. Half of the gain is taxable. Shares in your own company, investments outside registered plans and foreign property are caught.

  • Registered plans and options are spared

    Registered plans like RRSPs and TFSAs, pensions, CPP and OAS, stock options and Canadian real estate are left out. If you lived in Canada for five years or less of the last ten, what you owned when you arrived is left out too.

  • You can pay later, not less

    You can choose to pay when you actually sell, if you give security above a set amount. The tax stays fixed at the value on the day you left, even if your company loses value afterwards.

  • The $25,000 property list

    If what you own after leaving is worth more than $25,000, you must file a list of it by your tax filing deadline. It's a list, not a tax, so people miss it.

  • Canadian tax on a Cyprus company

    While you live in Canada, the passive income of a Cyprus company you control is taxed to you as it's earned. Escaping that takes more than five full-time employees, which most holding companies lack. You also file a yearly form, the T1134, within 10 months of the year end.

  • Keeping the Canadian corporation

    The tax treaty decides a company's home by where it was incorporated, before where it's run. A Canadian corporation run from Cyprus stays Canadian, so most founders wind it down and start fresh in Cyprus.

What Cyprus gives a Canadian.

One flat rate with no provincial tax on top, 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.
  • Canada 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.
  • Running your own Cyprus company counts towards the 60-day rule, so the company and your residency are one project.
  • If both countries claim you, the 1984 tax treaty looks first at where your permanent home is. After a clean move, most gains are taxed only where you live.
  • An online shop sells into the EU from inside its VAT system, with a VAT number buyers can check and one VAT return for consumer sales across the EU.

The move, step by step.

Your timings will differ. The order holds, because the departure tax is fixed on the day you leave.

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  1. First

    Value your shares

    A Canadian tax adviser values your shares, decides with you whether to pay the departure tax later, and checks the five-years-in-ten rule and your OAS record. 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. Take the company's real decisions in Cyprus while your adviser winds down or restructures the Canadian corporation.

  5. From month 12

    The departure return

    Your Canadian adviser files the return for the year you left, with the departure tax and the list of what you own. Any T1134 is due within 10 months of the year end.

  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.

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.

Questions from Canadian founders.

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

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Yes. Canada treats you as selling everything you own at market value just before you leave, and taxes the gain on your return for that year, though nothing is sold. Half of the gain is taxable. A plan to tax two thirds was announced but never became law. Canadian real estate, registered plans and stock options are left out. Shares in your own company are not.

Yes. You can choose to pay when you actually sell, if you give security. Up to a set amount, Canada treats the security as already given, so a smaller bill needs none. Paying later doesn't lower the tax. It's fixed at the value on the day you left, even if your company loses value afterwards.

When your ties to Canada are really cut. No number of days makes you non-resident, but 183 days or more in Canada in a year makes you resident for that whole year. A home kept ready for you, or a spouse who stays behind, usually means Canada still sees you as resident. You can ask the Canada Revenue Agency for an opinion, but it isn't binding.

Most founders wind it down and start fresh in Cyprus. Keeping it and running it from Cyprus looks cheapest but works worst, because the tax treaty treats a company as Canadian if it was incorporated there. Moving the corporation itself out of Canada has its own Canadian tax consequences. Plan it with your Canadian adviser before anything is filed.

Not usefully. While you live in Canada, the passive income of a Cyprus company you control is taxed to you as it's earned, with no dividend needed. Escaping that takes more than five full-time employees, and four Canadians with 25% each count as controlling it together. The Cyprus benefits start once you've really left, and leaving is what triggers the departure tax.

Yes, signed in 1984 and never updated. If both countries claim you, it looks at your permanent home first, then where your life is centred. After a clean move, gains on most property are taxed only where you live. It doesn't help with the departure tax, which falls just before you become Cyprus resident.

Registered plans, pensions, CPP and OAS stay outside the departure tax. OAS stops after six months in a row abroad, unless you lived in Canada for at least 20 years after turning 18. CPP rests on the contributions you've already made, but check your own record before you leave.

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. Canada still judges your residence on your ties, not your days.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. For the departure tax, paying it later and anything else in Canada, work with a Canadian 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?

All countries

Your move, one partner.

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

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What can we help with?

30 minutes, by video, free.