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Relocate from Germany to Cyprus, properly.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. If you own shares, Germany taxes you on the way out, so we work out that cost first and then build the Cyprus side for you.

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  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side
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What you keep, side by side.

Germany taxes a company's profit three ways before you see it, then taxes the dividend. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Germany
Corporate tax
−€60,260
Tax on dividends
−€36,856
You keep
€102,884
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€62,611every year

More in your pocket +€62,611 every year

Germany: 15% corporate tax, the 5.5% solidarity surcharge on it and trade tax at the national average rate, together 30.13%, then 26.375% on dividends (the 25% flat tax plus the surcharge). Germany's corporate rate falls a point a year from 2028 to 10% in 2032, so the gap narrows.

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 costs you.

Germany doesn't let go when you board the plane. Settle these with a German tax adviser before anything is filed.

  • Exit tax on your shares

    Germany taxes your shares as if you sold them the day you leave, even though no money comes in. It applies if you owned 1% or more of a company in the last five years and lived in Germany for seven of the last twelve.

  • You can spread it, not skip it

    Since 2022 you can't defer the exit tax just because you move within the EU. You can pay it in seven yearly instalments, usually with security. Take out a large dividend and the rest can fall due at once.

  • German income can follow you

    For up to ten years, Germany can keep taxing a German citizen's German income after a move to a low-tax country. If you leave cleanly, with little income left in Germany, it doesn't apply.

  • The company must really be run from Cyprus

    A company is taxed where its real decisions are taken. A Cyprus company run from your desk in Germany pays German tax. Real people and decisions in Cyprus also keep you clear of the rules that tax a foreign company's profit at home.

  • Inheritance tax for five more years

    German citizens stay inside German inheritance and gift tax for five years after leaving. Cyprus has no inheritance tax at all.

  • Your pension stays yours

    Five years of contributions secure your German state pension, and it's paid to a Cyprus account. You can keep paying in voluntarily from abroad.

What Cyprus gives you.

One flat rate with no trade tax, 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 German 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.
  • Running your own Cyprus company counts towards the 60-day rule, so the company and your residency are one project.
  • Under the tax treaty between Germany and Cyprus, selling your shares later is taxed where you live, once that's Cyprus.
  • An online shop keeps selling across the EU, with a Cyprus VAT number and one VAT return for consumer sales in other countries.

How the move runs.

The timings depend on your situation. The order doesn't.

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  1. First

    Work out the exit tax

    A German tax adviser values your shares, checks whether the exit tax applies to you and plans any instalments. 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

    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.

  4. Month 2 to 4

    Give up the flat, then deregister

    Give up your German home properly first. Then deregister your address (Abmeldung) within two weeks of moving out. Deregistering alone doesn't end your German tax residency.

  5. Month 3 to 6

    Run the company from Cyprus

    Take the company's decisions in Cyprus and record them here, while your adviser winds down or restructures the GmbH.

  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 German founders ask.

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Only if you own shares. Germany taxes the growth in their value as if you'd sold them, if you owned 1% or more of a company in the last five years and lived in Germany for seven of the last twelve. You can pay in seven yearly instalments, usually with security.

When you no longer have a home in Germany that you could use, and you don't stay there for more than six months. Deregistering your address is required, but it doesn't end tax residency on its own. Keeping a flat for visits usually does keep you resident.

No. A company is taxed where it's run, so a Cyprus company managed from Germany pays German tax. And because the treaty only credits Cyprus tax against German tax, you'd end up paying the German rate anyway.

You can keep it, move its management to Cyprus, or wind it down and start fresh in Cyprus. For most founders a fresh Cyprus company is simplest, but the timing matters, because the exit tax values your shares on the day you leave. Plan it with your German adviser before anything is filed.

It can be. Germany treats a foreign company taxed below 15% as low-taxed, and 15% sits right on that line. The way out is real activity in Cyprus, with people and decisions here, which German rules accept because Cyprus is in the EU.

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.

You keep it. Five years of contributions secure a German state pension, and it can be paid to a Cyprus account. If you're short of five years, you can make voluntary payments from abroad.

Yes. It registers your residence in Cyprus as an EU citizen, and we file it with you. Tax residency and non-dom status are a separate step, which we handle together as one service.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. Settle the exit tax, inheritance tax and anything else in Germany with a German 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.