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Zero tax in Qatar. Europe in Cyprus.

A wholly Qatari-owned company pays no tax and you pay none personally, so Cyprus at 15% costs more. You move for an EU company and the European market. Leaving can also cost your Qatari company its exemption, so we check that first.

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  • Eligibility checked before you pay
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Cyprus can't beat zero.

For a Qatari-owned company the comparison is 0% against 15%. The slider shows what Cyprus costs, so the reasons to move have to lie elsewhere.

€200,000
In Qatar
Corporate tax
−€0
Tax on dividends
−€0
You keep
€200,000
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

Qatar: 0%, because a resident company wholly owned by Qatari or other GCC nationals is exempt from income tax, and Qatar taxes neither individuals nor dividends. A wholly foreign-owned company pays 10%, and a company 51% Qatari and 49% foreign pays an effective 4.9%.

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.

Leaving can cost the exemption.

Qatar charges nothing for leaving, but leaving can change what your company pays. Settle these with an adviser in Doha first.

  • The exemption needs you in Qatar

    Your company's 0% depends on its Qatari owners living in Qatar for the whole accounting period. Move to Cyprus and keep the company, and it can owe 10% on that whole period's profit, not just from the day you left.

  • Run from Cyprus, it stops being Qatari

    A company is tax resident in Qatar only if it is set up there and really managed there. Run it from Cyprus and it can lose that status and the exemptions that go with it, and Cyprus can tax it. Keep management in Doha, or close it.

  • Qatari nationals stay resident

    Under Qatari law, nationality alone keeps a Qatari national tax resident, wherever they live. The tax treaty then decides. Get a tax residency certificate for your last full year while you still live there. It's much harder to get afterwards.

  • Close the company in order

    Tell the tax authority within 30 days of stopping, settle the tax, get its no-objection certificate, then cancel the commercial registration. Returns and penalties keep building until the authority is told. A Qatar Financial Centre company follows its own rules.

  • Selling on the way out

    If the company sells its business or assets as you leave, a capital gains return is due within 30 days of the contract, not of payment. Seller and buyer both stay liable for the tax until the authority is told. Shares you hold personally are exempt.

  • No exit tax, no rules that follow you

    Qatar has no exit tax, no wealth or inheritance tax, and no rules that tax a foreign company's profit at home. Nothing pulls your Cyprus company's profit back onto a Qatari tax return.

What Cyprus adds.

Cyprus won't beat Qatar's rate. It gives you membership of the EU, which no Qatari company has.

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.
  • An EU VAT number European business customers can check, so they buy from you the usual EU way instead of treating you as a supplier from outside the EU.
  • Euro payments through SEPA, the EU's payment system, and an EU IBAN. The riyal is tied to the dollar, so your European revenue carries currency risk today.
  • Since 2026 the 60-day rule works even while Qatar counts a Qatari national as resident. The Yellow Slip is for EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, so with a Qatari or other non-EU passport you need the Pink Slip, the residence permit for non-EU citizens. We check which route fits you and file it with you.
  • A foreign-owned Qatari company pays 10%. Cyprus beats that only on qualifying intellectual property income, such as your own software, at an effective 3% under the IP Box.

The move, one step at a time.

The pace depends on your shareholding, your licence and your filing history. The order doesn't.

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  1. First

    Check who owns the company

    Have a tax adviser in Doha confirm who owns the Qatari company and whether its ownership exemption applies. That decides what the move costs you. We can recommend an adviser if you need one.

  2. While you qualify

    Get your residency certificate

    Your adviser gets a Qatari tax residency certificate for your last full year through the tax portal (Dhareeba). It's much harder to get afterwards.

  3. Month 1We do this

    Form the Cyprus company

    We register it with tax, VAT and VIES, then prepare your Pink Slip application and file it with you. Your books open the day you order.

  4. Month 3 to 6

    Move your home and decisions

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs. Then take the company's real decisions in Cyprus and record them here.

  5. Month 3 to 6

    Keep or close the Qatari company

    Keep it with real management in Doha, or tell the tax authority, settle the tax and get the no-objection certificate before you cancel the registration. Your Doha adviser handles this side.

  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 founders in Qatar ask.

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

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Not if your company is Qatari-owned. A resident company wholly owned by Qatari or other GCC nationals pays nothing, and Qatar has no personal income tax, so Cyprus at 15% costs more. A wholly foreign-owned Qatari company pays 10%. Even then, Cyprus wins only on income from your own intellectual property, such as software, which pays an effective 3% under the Cyprus IP Box.

No. Qatar has no exit tax, no tax on individuals and no wealth or inheritance tax, and you need no tax clearance to leave. What leaving can change is your company's tax, because its exemption depends on its Qatari owners living in Qatar. And if you sell the business on the way out, a capital gains return is due within 30 days of the contract.

It can. The exemption needs the Qatari owners to live in Qatar, to be the real owners and to hold all the shares for the whole accounting period. Move to Cyprus and keep the company, and it can owe 10% on the whole period's profit, not just from the day you left. Nobody sends a letter when it happens. It shows up when the return is checked.

For an expat, once you no longer have a permanent home there and spend 183 days or fewer a year there. A Qatari national stays resident under Qatari law by nationality alone. The tax treaty then decides, looking first at your permanent home, then at where your life is centred. Get a residency certificate for your last full year before you go.

Yes, if it really stays Qatari, with its management and daily decisions in Doha, taken by people who are there. Run it from Cyprus and it can lose its Qatari status and exemption, and Cyprus can tax it. Whether a Qatari company can move to Cyprus as it is remains unclear, so ask the registries in both countries in writing before you plan around it.

An expat has no Qatari state pension to move, because the state scheme covers Qatari nationals. Instead, an employee with a year or more of service is owed end-of-service pay of at least three weeks' basic wage per year. If the employer is your own company, budget for it when you close. An owner who took profits rather than a salary is owed none. GCC nationals should ask their own country's social insurance authority.

Generally not. Workers under the Labour Law have the right to leave. An employer can name up to 5% of its staff who need its approval first, and a worker stopped from leaving can appeal to a committee that decides within three working days. When a residence permit ends, you and your family can be given up to 90 days to leave.

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 works even if Qatar still counts you as resident, which matters to Qatari nationals. With a non-EU passport you also need the Pink Slip to live here, which we file with you.

Yes. It was signed in 2008 and has been in force since 20 March 2009. Dividends and interest are taxed only where you live, royalties at most 5% where they arise, and gains on shares where the seller lives. Its biggest job in the year you move is deciding which country you're resident in, since Qatar keeps counting a Qatari national as resident.

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

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