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Singapore to Cyprus, for the right reasons.

Cyprus won't lower a Singapore founder's tax. It gives you an EU company, with a VAT number EU buyers can check and an effective 3% on qualifying IP income. So the move pays when Europe is where you sell.

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  • Fixed prices
  • Eligibility checked before you pay
  • One team for the Cyprus side

Headline rates, side by side.

Singapore taxes company profit once and never taxes the dividend. On headline rates the two land close together. Move the slider to your own profit.

€200,000
In Singapore
Corporate tax
−€34,000
Tax on dividends
−€0
You keep
€166,000
In Cyprus
Corporate tax
−€30,000
Health contribution (GeSY)
−€4,505
You keep
€165,495

Singapore: the 17% headline rate, and no tax on dividends, because the company's tax is final. Partial exemption takes up to S$102,500 of taxable profit out of tax each year, or S$125,000 for a start-up in its first three years, so a small company pays far less than this shows.

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 Singapore asks before you go.

Singapore has no exit tax. The costs sit in your company, your CPF and your residency. Settle them with a Singapore tax adviser before you set a date.

  • No exit tax, no foreign company rules

    Singapore doesn't tax capital gains, so leaving triggers no tax on your shares. It also has no rules that tax a foreign company's profit at home. But a Cyprus company run from Singapore counts as Singapore resident and is taxed there.

  • A Cyprus company brings a new test

    A Singapore company on its own is outside Singapore's rule on gains from selling foreign assets. Once it's in a group with a Cyprus company, those gains are taxed when received in Singapore, unless it has real staff and an office there. A registered address doesn't count.

  • Your Singapore company loses its tax residence

    A company is taxed where its real decisions are taken. Run your Singapore company from Cyprus and it stops being Singapore tax resident. It stays registered, but loses the benefit of Singapore's tax treaties and the start-up exemption. Decide its future on purpose.

  • CPF stays in Singapore

    Your CPF account only closes once you're no longer a citizen or permanent resident. Moving abroad releases nothing, so the savings stay and come out under the normal rules. Plan on CPF as money that stays in Singapore.

  • No day count for citizens

    A foreigner stops being Singapore resident by counting days. A citizen or permanent resident has no such count, and stays resident while Singapore is still their normal home. A home, family and business kept there work against you, so check your position first.

  • Closing the company takes three months

    There's no published way to move a Singapore company abroad, so plan to close it. Striking it off is free but takes at least three months. Collect any tax credits from the tax office (IRAS) first, or they pass to a public trustee and claiming them back can cost fees.

What an EU base gives you.

Access to the EU market, at a price. Cyprus VAT is 19% against GST at 9%, so the move pays when Europe is where you sell.

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 tax treaty between Singapore and Cyprus has been in force since 2001. Dividends paid between the two countries are taxed only where the owner lives.
  • A Cyprus VAT number lets you invoice EU businesses without VAT and sell to EU consumers through one VAT return. A Singapore GST number gives you neither.
  • Qualifying income from your own IP, such as licensed software, pays an effective 3% in Cyprus, against 17% before exemptions in Singapore. It's where Cyprus is cheaper.
  • Running your own Cyprus company counts towards the 60-day rule. To live here you need a Pink Slip, the residence permit for non-EU citizens, and we file it with you.

The move, in the right order.

Every case runs on its own clock. Start with your residency, because a citizen has no day count to rely on.

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  1. First

    Check your residency

    A Singapore tax adviser checks when you stop being resident, plans your company's future, counts your start-up exemption years and sorts out CPF before 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

    Pink Slip and directorship

    We check which route fits you, prepare your Pink Slip application and file it with you. A lawyer joins complex cases. You become a director of the Cyprus company, which counts for the 60-day rule.

  4. Month 3 to 6

    A Cyprus home and the board

    Rent or buy the Cyprus home the 60-day rule needs. Hold board meetings in Cyprus and stop chairing them from Singapore. Your adviser checks the Singapore company against the foreign gains test while it's still in the group.

  5. Month 6 to 12

    Close the Singapore company

    Your adviser collects any tax credits from IRAS, updates the company's details with the registry and applies to strike the company off. Allow at least three months after approval.

  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 Singaporeans ask.

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

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No. Singapore's rate is 17%, but exemptions take up to S$102,500 of profit out of tax each year, or S$125,000 for a start-up in its first three years, and 2026 brings a 50% rebate capped at S$40,000. Dividends are tax-free and GST is 9%. Cyprus charges 15% flat and 19% VAT. Only income from your own IP is cheaper in Cyprus.

No tax. Singapore doesn't tax capital gains and has no exit tax, so your shares aren't valued or taxed on the way out. Tax clearance (IR21) applies only if you're not a citizen. An employer files it for foreign and permanent resident employees who stop work or leave Singapore for more than three months, and holds back the money it owes them.

It depends on your passport. A foreigner is resident with 183 days in Singapore in a year, or three years in a row, so they can plan their way out. A citizen or permanent resident stays resident while Singapore is still their normal home, apart from temporary trips. Keep a home, family and business there and no number of days abroad settles it.

Not safely. A company is taxed where its real decisions are taken. If at least half the directors who take those decisions, or the chair, are in Singapore during a video board meeting, IRAS generally treats the decisions as made in Singapore. Chair your Cyprus board from a Singapore home office and the company can become Singapore resident.

Plan to close it. There's no published way to move it abroad. Once you run it from Cyprus it stops being Singapore tax resident and loses its treaty benefits and the start-up exemption. Striking it off is free, needs the company to owe nothing and own nothing, and takes at least three months after approval. Collect any tax credits first.

No, not while you're a citizen or permanent resident. CPF only closes accounts for people who are neither. Moving abroad doesn't release the savings, which come out under the normal rules. Giving up citizenship has consequences far beyond tax, so it isn't a step to take for CPF.

Yes, in force since 8 February 2001 and updated in 2020. Dividends paid between the two are taxed only where the owner lives. You already have this protection, so it isn't something the move gives you. If both countries claim your company, the treaty decides by where it's really run.

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. As a citizen, Singapore's own test still decides when it lets you go.

No. We build and run the Cyprus side. For your residency, your Singapore company, CPF and anything else in Singapore, work with a Singapore 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.