Skip to main content

Leave Ireland for Cyprus for the right reasons.

Ireland's 12.5% trading rate beats Cyprus's 15%. The saving is on what you take out. Ireland taxes it at up to about 52%, while a Cyprus non-dom pays only a capped health contribution. Ireland's claim on you lasts up to five years.

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

Ireland wins one line. Cyprus wins the total.

Ireland charges less on the company's profit, then up to about 52% when you take it out. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Ireland
Corporate tax
−€25,000
Tax on dividends
−€91,350
You keep
€83,650
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€81,845every year

More in your pocket +€81,845 every year

Ireland: 12.5% corporation tax on trading income, then about 52.2% at the top rate on what you take out, made of 40% income tax, the 8% Universal Social Charge (USC) and 4.2% social insurance (PRSI). PRSI rises to 4.35% on 1 October 2026, and non-trading income pays 25% corporation tax.

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.

Ireland's exit is paid in years.

There's no bill on the day you leave. There are two clocks instead, of three years and five, and a clean exit runs past both. Plan them with an Irish adviser first.

  • No exit tax on you

    Ireland doesn't tax your shares when you stop being resident, so they leave with you untaxed. The cost of leaving is time instead, set by the two rules below.

  • Three more years of ordinary residence

    Three resident tax years in a row make you ordinarily resident, a status that lasts three tax years after you leave. During them, foreign investment income over €3,810, your Cyprus dividends included, is taxed in Ireland in full, not just the part above. Plan dividends around it.

  • Selling shares within five years

    If Ireland was your permanent home before you left, and you sell 5% or more of a company, or shares worth over €500,000, then become taxable in Ireland again within five years, Ireland taxes the gain at 33%. Five full years away avoids it.

  • The year you leave can still count

    Ireland makes you resident at 183 days in a tax year, or 280 days over this year and last together. Leave mid-year after a full year in Ireland and the combined count can keep you resident for the year you go. Plan the date.

  • Moving the Irish company costs tax

    Moving your Irish company to Cyprus taxes its assets at 12.5% as if sold, or 33% if the move is a step towards selling them. Because Cyprus is in the EU, the company can pay in five yearly instalments.

  • Foreign company rules charge companies only

    Irish rules that tax a foreign company's profit at home only charge Irish companies, not people. A Cyprus company you own yourself sits outside them, though other Irish rules still apply while you live in Ireland.

Where Cyprus beats Ireland.

Cyprus loses on the trading rate. It wins on the money you take out and the wealth you pass on.

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 an Irish 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 has no inheritance tax. Ireland charges 33% above €400,000 for a child, before Business Relief, which an Irish adviser should assess.
  • The old tax treaty between Ireland and Cyprus has no rule to settle where you belong if both countries claim you. Clearing Ireland's own day counts is what protects you.
  • A holding, rental or investment company pays 25% in Ireland and 15% in Cyprus.

Two clocks, one plan.

Three years for ordinary residence, five for a share sale. The steps run inside both.

Book a free call
  1. First

    Map the two clocks

    An Irish adviser checks your ordinary residence, any share sale you plan, inheritance tax reliefs on your assets and the day count for the year you leave. They also request your PRSI record. We can recommend an adviser if you need one.

  2. Month 1We do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES, and open your books the day you order.

  3. Month 1 to 3We do this

    Yellow Slip and a directorship

    We apply for your Yellow Slip with you. You become a director of your Cyprus company, which the 60-day rule builds on.

  4. Month 3 to 6

    Move in, move the decisions

    Take the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs and take the company's decisions here. Your adviser winds down, keeps or moves the Irish company.

  5. From month 12We do this

    Tax residency and non-dom

    We register your Cyprus tax residency and non-dom status, then keep the day counts and filings in order.

  6. Years 1 to 5

    Run out the Irish clocks

    With your adviser, time dividends and any share sale around the three years of ordinary residence and the five-year share sale rule.

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 Irish founders ask.

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

WhatsApp us

Not on trading income. Ireland charges 12.5% on trading profit, two and a half points below Cyprus's 15%. Cyprus wins where Ireland charges 25%, on non-trading income such as rent and investment returns, and on certain trades Ireland excludes from 12.5%. If your company is a holding, licensing or investment company, Cyprus is ahead. If it trades, the saving is on what you take out personally.

No. Ireland has no exit tax on individuals, so your shares leave with you untaxed. Two rules follow you instead. For three tax years you stay ordinarily resident, and for five years a big share sale can be taxed if you become taxable in Ireland again. Moving your Irish company abroad is different, and taxes its assets at 12.5%.

When you spend fewer than 183 days in Ireland in a tax year and fewer than 280 across that year and the one before. In a year with 30 days or fewer, the 280-day count doesn't apply. Even then, after three resident years you stay ordinarily resident for three more tax years, and Ireland taxes foreign investment income above €3,810 in full.

Yes, but the timing matters. If Ireland was your permanent home before you left, and you sell 5% or more of a company, or shares worth over €500,000, then become taxable in Ireland again within five years, Ireland taxes the gain at 33%. It treats the sale as if you made it on your last day as a resident. Five full years of real absence avoids it.

You can wind it down, keep it or move it to Cyprus, with your Irish adviser. Moving it taxes its assets at 12.5% as if sold, payable in five yearly instalments because Cyprus is in the EU, or 33% if the move is a step towards a sale. If you keep it and draw dividends, Irish companies withhold 25% tax, so ask about exemptions before you move.

Cyprus has no inheritance tax. Ireland charges 33% above €400,000 for a child, €40,000 for a grandchild, sibling, niece or nephew, and €20,000 for anyone else. For many families that gap is the biggest number in the move. But Business Relief can cut the Irish value of a trading business a lot. This page doesn't assess it, so have an Irish adviser check your assets first.

Your Irish contributions stay on your record when you stop paying PRSI. Ireland and Cyprus are both in the EU, so EU rules coordinate the contributions you pay in each country. Ask the Department of Social Protection for your contribution record before you leave, and get advice on whether anything is worth doing about it.

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, job or directorship in Cyprus, and no more than 183 days in any other country. Running your own Cyprus company can count. But Cyprus residency doesn't prove you've left Ireland. The Irish day counts have to work on their own.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. For ordinary residence, a share sale, inheritance tax reliefs and your Irish company, work with an Irish 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.

Book a free callStart my Cyprus company

What can we help with?

30 minutes, by video, free.