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Move from India to Cyprus, by the book.

A Cyprus company pays 15% and, with non-dom status, you pay no tax on dividends. India has no exit tax. But owning a Cyprus company is a foreign-exchange question first, with filings due before any money leaves India.

Book a free callStart my Cyprus company
  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side

Your profit, after tax.

India's company rate is moderate. The shareholder rate is where the money goes. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In India
Corporate tax
−€50,336
Tax on dividends
−€53,699
You keep
€95,965
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€69,530every year

More in your pocket +€69,530 every year

India: the 22% concessional company rate, with its 10% surcharge and 4% cess, 25.168% in all, then dividends at the top slab of 30%, with the surcharge capped at 15% and the 4% cess, 35.88%.

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 India asks first.

India lets you leave freely. Its foreign-exchange rules decide how you own and fund the company. Settle these with an Indian chartered accountant before any money moves.

  • No exit tax, no tax on retained profit

    India doesn't tax the rise in value of your shares when you leave, and it has no rules that tax a foreign company's retained profit at home. There's no wealth or inheritance tax either.

  • Owning the shares is a regulated investment

    Shares in a Cyprus company count as Overseas Direct Investment (ODI), however small your stake. Your chartered accountant reports it through your bank and gets an identification number before any money leaves. A certified performance report is then due every year you hold the shares while resident.

  • A yearly cap, and 20% held back

    You can send at most USD 250,000 a year abroad under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme. Above ₹10 lakh, your bank collects 20% tax at source. You get it back against your tax bill, but it ties up cash just when the company needs it.

  • Two layers of companies, no more

    You, a Cyprus company and your Indian company below it make two layers, allowed if the Cyprus company runs a real business. A holding company in between makes three, which isn't. You also can't lend it money, or invest in a financial services company. Check the structure before you sign.

  • Run it from India and it's Indian

    A company whose key decisions are made in India is Indian resident and pays Indian tax on its worldwide income. Run it from India and you also lose the middle tax status that can keep your Cyprus income out of Indian tax. Take the decisions in Cyprus.

  • Declare it while you're resident

    While you're resident, list the Cyprus company in the foreign assets schedule of your return, however small the stake. If your foreign assets other than property exceed ₹20 lakh, missing it can cost ₹10 lakh. India receives Cyprus account data automatically.

What Cyprus makes possible.

One flat rate, dividends free of tax for 17 years with non-dom status, and euro banking inside the EU.

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.
  • The Yellow Slip is for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, so as an Indian 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.
  • Leave India to work for your Cyprus company and only India's 182-day test applies that year. The same directorship counts towards the Cyprus 60-day rule.
  • Once you're not ordinarily resident, Cyprus dividends and salary sit outside Indian tax and the foreign assets schedule drops off, as long as the business is run from Cyprus.
  • Inside the EU and the euro, capital moves without a yearly cap, and an online store sells across the EU from one VAT registration.

The move, one step at a time.

The foreign-exchange step sets the pace. Nothing is funded until it's done.

Book a free call
  1. First

    Plan your days and the money

    An Indian chartered accountant works through your day counts and the investment rules. We can recommend one if you need it. Plan to leave under a job or directorship with the Cyprus company, and budget for the 20% held back.

  2. Month 1We do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES, and your books open the day you order. Nothing goes in until your identification number is allotted.

  3. Month 1

    Report the investment

    Your chartered accountant reports the investment through your bank. The identification number must be allotted before any money leaves India. It's a registration, not an approval.

  4. 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 take up the directorship that counts for the Cyprus 60-day rule and for India's job-abroad rule.

  5. Month 3 to 6

    A home, and the Indian company

    Rent or buy the home the 60-day rule needs, and take the company's decisions in Cyprus. With your chartered accountant, decide whether the Indian company stays as a subsidiary or closes, and check the layer count.

  6. From month 12We do this

    Tax residency and non-dom

    We register your Cyprus tax residency and non-dom status and keep your day counts in order. Your chartered accountant files the yearly performance report and tells you when you become not ordinarily resident.

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.

Indian founders ask us.

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

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No. India has no exit tax, so unrealised gains on your shares, including those in your Indian company, aren't taxed when you leave. India can ask someone domiciled there for a tax clearance certificate before they go, but only with written reasons and a chief commissioner's approval. It's aimed at people with undisclosed foreign assets.

When you fall below both day tests in a tax year. You're resident with 182 days in India, or with 60 days if you spent 365 days there over the previous four years. Leave for a job abroad, such as with your Cyprus company, and only the 182-day test applies that year. On later visits, stay under 120 days if your Indian income is above ₹15 lakh, and under 182 if it isn't.

No. If the key decisions are made in India, India treats the Cyprus company as Indian and taxes its worldwide income. A board in Cyprus that only signs what was decided in India doesn't count. Take the decisions in Cyprus, with the people, the bank account and the contracts there.

Yes, as Overseas Direct Investment, never as a portfolio investment, because a Cyprus private company is unlisted. Report it through your bank and get an identification number before any money moves. Fund it within your USD 250,000 yearly limit, and file a certified performance report every year you hold the shares while resident. Late filing fees grow every year.

You can keep it under the Cyprus company, strike it off or wind it up. Keeping it is often right, because its customers, staff and track record have value. You, then the Cyprus company, then the Indian company is two layers, which is allowed if the Cyprus company runs a real business. Add a holding company in between and it isn't.

It's a middle status between resident and non-resident (RNOR). India then taxes your foreign income only if it comes from a business controlled in India, so Cyprus dividends and salary sit outside. You also skip the foreign assets schedule. Run the business from India and you lose this shelter, and the company counts as Indian too.

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. Being a director of your own Cyprus company can count, and the same role helps your Indian day count in the year you leave.

Yes, while you're resident, in the foreign assets schedule, however small your stake. It runs on the calendar year, not the Indian tax year. ITR-1 and ITR-4 don't include that schedule, so filing one of them makes your return defective. India also receives your Cyprus account data automatically.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. For your residency, the investment filings, your Indian return and your Indian company, work with an Indian chartered accountant. We can recommend one if you need it. Your bank handles the remittance.

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.

Book a free callStart my Cyprus company

What can we help with?

30 minutes, by video, free.