Skip to main content

Move from Italy to Cyprus, rule by rule.

A Cyprus company pays 15%, and with non-dom status you pay no tax on dividends. Cyprus is off Italy's black list and there's no exit tax on you personally. The real risk is a company still run from Italy, so we plan the order first.

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

The gap, in euros.

Italy taxes company profit twice, nationally and regionally, then takes 26% of the dividend. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Italy
Corporate tax
−€55,800
Tax on dividends
−€37,492
You keep
€106,708
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

More in your pocket+€58,787every year

More in your pocket +€58,787 every year

Italy: 24% corporate tax (IRES) plus 3.9% regional business tax (IRAP), together 27.9%, then a final 26% on dividends. While you stay Italian resident, a yearly tax of 0.2% on assets abroad (IVAFE) also applies to what a Cyprus holding is worth.

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 Italy keeps hold of.

The black list and the exit tax worry people most, and neither bites. Where you live and where the company is run do. Settle these with an Italian adviser before anything is filed.

  • Cyprus is off the black list

    Italy presumes citizens who move to a black-listed country are still resident until they prove otherwise. Cyprus left that list in 2010, so the presumption doesn't apply. Italy has to prove you never left.

  • No exit tax on you personally

    Italy's exit tax applies to businesses. It taxes a company that moves abroad as if it sold its assets at market value, payable in five yearly instalments within the EU. A founder who emigrates and keeps the shares isn't caught.

  • A company run from Italy is Italian

    A company is Italian if its strategic decisions or its day-to-day running happen in Italy. A Cyprus holding above an Italian S.r.l., controlled by Italian residents, is presumed Italian, and you must prove otherwise. Directors and decisions in Cyprus are the defence.

  • Registering abroad settles nothing alone

    Register with AIRE, the register of Italians abroad, within 90 days of moving, or pay €200 to €1,000 a year. Even then, living in Italy, keeping your family life mainly there or spending 183 days there, part days counted, each keeps you resident.

  • Report the holding while you're resident

    Every year you stay Italian resident, report your Cyprus shares in your tax return (quadro RW), whatever their value, and pay the yearly 0.2% tax on assets abroad. Leaving them out costs 3% to 15% of the undeclared amount, even when no tax is owed.

  • Your pension record stays

    Your Italian pension contributions stay where they are and count towards your pension under EU rules. Skip the A1 posting certificate, which says your real work is still Italian.

What Cyprus simplifies.

One 15% rate with no regional business tax on top, 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 an Italian citizen you're an EU citizen, so you register with the Yellow Slip, which we file with you. No visa, no permit.
  • The 60-day rule's limit of 183 days in any other country lines up with Italy's 183-day test, so one honest day count answers both.
  • Running your own Cyprus company, with real decisions taken here, counts towards the 60-day rule and helps show the company is run from Cyprus.
  • Under the tax treaty, a later share sale is taxed where you live. Its cap on Italian tax on dividends is 15%, not the 5% many pages quote.

How the move comes together.

Timelines depend on your facts. Read this as a shape, not a schedule.

Book a free call
  1. First

    Plan the departure and the S.r.l.

    An Italian tax adviser looks at your departure date and your S.r.l., settles the structure with you and maps your day count for the year you leave. 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 directorship

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

  4. Month 1 to 3

    Register with AIRE

    Your adviser files the AIRE declaration within 90 days of the move. Miss it and a fine runs for every year.

  5. Month 3 to 6

    A home and the daily running

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs. Move invoicing, hiring and supplier decisions to Cyprus, because Italy checks where the company is run day to day.

  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.

  7. From month 12

    Close out the Italian reporting

    Your adviser reports the Cyprus holding in your Italian return (quadro RW) for any year you were still Italian 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.

What Italian founders ask first.

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

WhatsApp us

Not on you personally. Italy's exit tax applies to businesses. It taxes a company that moves abroad as if it sold what it owns at market value, payable in five yearly instalments within the EU. A founder who emigrates and keeps the shares isn't caught. Moving the S.r.l. itself is a different matter. Have an Italian adviser confirm this on your own facts.

No. Cyprus came off it in 2010 and hasn't been put back. For black-listed countries, Italy presumes an emigrating citizen is still resident until they prove otherwise. For Cyprus that presumption doesn't apply, so the burden stays with Italy. Italy can still argue you never really left, so the residence tests below still matter.

When none of four tests applies for most of the year. Registering with AIRE, the register of Italians abroad, takes care of only one, the resident register. You also mustn't live in Italy, have your personal and family life mainly there, or spend 183 days there, counting part days. Working remotely from Italy counts as being there.

No. A company is Italian if its strategic decisions or its day-to-day running happen in Italy for most of the year. If Italy wins that argument, it taxes the company's worldwide profit for every open year, with penalties. Living in Italy, you'd also report the shares every year and pay 0.2% of their value in tax, profit or not.

You have three options. Keep it on its own beside your Cyprus company, which works while there's real Italian business. Put a Cyprus holding on top, and Italy presumes the holding is Italian if Italian residents control it or fill most of its board. Or move it to Cyprus or close it. Moving it triggers the company exit tax, so closing it and starting fresh is often cleaner.

You can, but it counts against you. When both countries claim you, the tax treaty looks first at where you have a home available. A flat kept in Italy also supports the argument that your life is still there, and the days you spend in it count towards 183. Decide what it's for before you leave.

Your pension record stays yours. Contributions paid into INPS stay there and count under EU rules, with Italy paying its share from your Italian record. Once you really work in Cyprus, you normally join Cyprus social insurance. Avoid the A1 certificate that keeps you in INPS as a posted worker, because it says your real work is still Italian.

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 can visit Italy, but count every part day, because Italy counts them too.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. Settle your residence, your S.r.l. and anything else in Italy with an Italian 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.

Book a free callStart my Cyprus company

What can we help with?

30 minutes, by video, free.