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Leave Finland for Cyprus, for real.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. Finland has no exit tax on people, but if you're a citizen it taxes you for the year you move and three more, unless you prove you've cut your ties.

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

What you keep, side by side.

Finland taxes the company's profit, then taxes your dividend by a formula tied to the company's net assets. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Finland
Corporate tax
−€40,000
Tax on dividends
−€46,240
You keep
€113,760
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€51,735every year

More in your pocket +€51,735 every year

Finland: 20% corporate tax, then 28.9% on dividends. That's the rate above €150,000 a year, where 85% of the dividend is taxed at 34%. Dividends up to 8% a year of your shares' net asset value and under €150,000 can pay as little as 7.5%, and the part above the 8% line pays more.

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 Finland takes.

Finland won't charge you for leaving. You have to convince it that you've left. Plan these with a Finnish tax adviser before you go.

  • No exit tax on you

    Finland's exit tax applies only to companies that move abroad, not to people. Your shares aren't treated as sold when you leave, so any gain in their value leaves with you.

  • The three-year rule

    A Finnish citizen who moves abroad normally stays taxed in Finland on all their income for the year of the move and three more calendar years. To end it sooner, apply each year and prove you've cut your ties.

  • Your Oy is the strongest tie

    Running a business in Finland is the tie the tax office weighs most. Sell your Oy, wind it down, or hand it to people who run it without you. Decide before you move.

  • Home, family and Kela count too

    Other ties are a home you can still use, a spouse or children under 18 who stay, other property in Finland, and Finnish social security cover. A summer cottage alone doesn't count, unless you rent it out. Keep proof of every tie you cut.

  • The IP Box falls below Finland's line

    While Finland still taxes you as a resident, it taxes your foreign company's profit if you control 25% or more and it pays under 12%. Cyprus's 15% clears that. IP Box income at about 3% doesn't, so that company needs real staff, premises and decisions in Cyprus.

  • Inheritance tax on your company

    Your Oy shares count towards Finnish inheritance tax, at up to 19% for close family and up to 33% for others. Cyprus has no inheritance tax.

Where Cyprus wins.

One flat rate with no 8% formula, 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 Finnish citizen you're an EU citizen, so you register with the Yellow Slip, which we file with you. No visa, no permit.
  • Since 2026 the 60-day rule no longer asks you to prove you're resident nowhere else. That used to clash with Finland's three-year rule.
  • Cyprus doesn't tax gains on shares and other qualifying securities. Finland taxes them at 30% or 34%. That matters most if you plan to sell your company.
  • If both countries claim you, the tax treaty between Finland and Cyprus looks first at where your home is. A Cyprus residence certificate helps. It doesn't replace cutting ties.

The move, in order.

Finland counts calendar years, so the month you move matters. The order matters more.

Book a free call
  1. Before you move

    Decide what happens to your Oy

    Plan the sale, wind-down or handover of your Oy, and the month you move, with a Finnish tax adviser. We can recommend one if you need it. The three-year rule counts calendar years, not months.

  2. Before you moveWe do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES. Your books open the day you order, so the company is trading before you move.

  3. Month 1

    Report the move

    Your adviser reports the move to the population register and tells Kela. The register entry alone doesn't end your Finnish tax, so keep proof of every tie you cut from the first month.

  4. Month 1 to 3We do this

    Yellow Slip and a home

    We apply for your Yellow Slip with you. You rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs, in your own name.

  5. Year 1We do this

    Tax residency and non-dom

    We register your Cyprus tax residency and non-dom status and get your Cyprus tax residence certificate. Then we keep your day counts and Cyprus filings in order.

  6. Years 1 to 4

    Apply for non-resident status

    Each year of the window, your adviser asks the Finnish Tax Administration to treat you as non-resident (rajoitetusti verovelvollinen), with proof your ties are cut and your Cyprus certificate. Skip a year and that year is decided without your evidence.

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 Finnish founders ask.

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

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No. Finland has no exit tax on people. Its exit tax applies only to companies that move abroad. Your shares aren't treated as sold when you leave, so any gain in their value leaves with you. What catches Finnish founders is the three-year rule, which can keep you taxed in Finland for four calendar years.

If you're a Finnish citizen, normally at the end of the third calendar year after the year you move. Until then you're taxed on all your income, unless you apply each year and prove you've cut your ties. After that, the tax office has to show you're still resident, which happens only in exceptional cases. A stay abroad of two to three years with a planned return generally keeps you taxed throughout.

Yes. A summer cottage on its own doesn't count as a tie to Finland. Rent it out and it can count as a tie. A home you could live in counts whatever you call it, so a winterised house by a lake is a home, not a cottage. Keep the cottage as a cottage, not as your Finnish address.

Not if you want to stop being taxed there. A spouse or children under 18 who stay in Finland count as a tie that keeps you taxed. When you apply for non-resident status, proof that your family moved and registered abroad is part of your evidence.

You can, but it usually keeps you taxed in Finland. Running a business there is the tie the tax office weighs most, because it's activity, not just ownership. Sell the Oy, wind it down, or hand it to people who run it without you. If it has to survive, give it its own management, so you look like a shareholder, not its boss.

Not at the normal Cyprus rate. Finland taxes a foreign company's profit at home if you control 25% or more and it pays under 12% tax. Cyprus's 15% clears that. IP Box income at about 3% doesn't, so the company then needs real staff, premises and decisions in Cyprus. And while Finland still taxes you as a resident, these rules apply to you.

Maybe not. A dividend of up to 8% of your shares' net asset value, and under €150,000 a year, is taxed at only 7.5% to 8.5%. With a lot of capital and moderate dividends, Cyprus may save you only about nine points. Cyprus pays off when your company needs little capital and you take out more than €150,000 a year, where Finland's rate jumps to 28.9% or more.

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. Since 2026 the rule no longer asks you to prove you're resident nowhere else.

Most Kela benefits stop on the day you move for more than six months, so tell Kela. Ending Finnish social security cover also helps prove you've left. If Finland stays responsible for your healthcare, Kela gives you an S1 form to register in Cyprus. Most founders join the Cyprus health system through their company and residence. Your earnings-related pension stays yours and is paid abroad.

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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