Property taxes in Cyprus: what you actually pay

Cyprus has no annual national property tax. The Immovable Property Tax was abolished on 1 January 2017, and the general stamp duty that used to touch property documents was abolished from 1 January 2026. What remains is a set of one-off and local costs that people lump together as “property tax” but that behave very differently. This page separates them: buying, holding and selling.

Buying: VAT or transfer fees — not both

The single biggest cost on acquisition depends on whether the sale carries VAT.

New property (first sale) — VAT applies. The standard VAT rate is 19%. A reduced 5% rate applies to a home bought as a primary and permanent residence, within limits:

• The 5% rate covers the first 130 m² of buildable area, for property value up to €350,000.
• Where the area is between 130 m² and 190 m², and/or the value is up to €475,000, the 5% rate applies proportionally to the first 130 m² and first €350,000, with the remainder at 19%.
• Above 190 m² or above €475,000, the reduced rate is not available at all.
• For a person with a disability, the 5% rate covers the first 190 m² regardless of total area.

Resale property — no VAT, transfer fees instead. The Land Registry charges transfer fees on a sliding scale:

Two reliefs matter. Where the purchase is not subject to VAT, transfer fees are reduced by 50%. Where VAT is charged (new property), no transfer fees are payable at all. So a buyer pays VAT or transfer fees, never both — which is why the VAT-versus-resale question drives the real cost.

Holding: no annual tax, but local charges remain

Since the Immovable Property Tax was scrapped in 2017, owning property in Cyprus carries no central government annual tax. What is left is local:

• Municipal or community charges for refuse collection, street lighting and similar services, set by the local authority.
• Sewerage board charges, based on the property’s assessed value.
• Communal or management fees where the property sits in a shared development.

These are service charges rather than a wealth tax, and they are modest compared with the abolished IPT. Amounts are set locally and vary by property, so they are quoted per property rather than as a national rate.

Stamp duty: gone from 2026

The general stamp duty that applied to many documents — including property-related contracts — was abolished from 1 January 2026 as part of the tax reform. Documents executed up to 31 December 2025 remain under the old rules; from 2026 the charge is simply not there. That removes a small but fiddly cost and filing step from property transactions.

Selling: capital gains tax, not property tax

The tax on selling is not a property tax at all — it is capital gains tax at 20% on the gain from Cyprus real estate, after an indexed base cost and lifetime exemptions. We cover it in full on the capital gains tax page. For most owners this is the number that actually matters at exit, and it is worth modelling before you buy, not after.

Where this sits in a wider plan

Property is often held through a company — for privacy, succession or financing reasons — and that changes the analysis: transfer of shares versus transfer of the property, and the indirect-CGT rule that from 2026 catches share deals where 20% or more of value is Cyprus real estate. If you are buying property as part of setting up in Cyprus, it connects to company formation and to the overall tax picture. We map the structure to the purpose rather than defaulting to a company for its own sake.