Moving to Cyprus from Germany.
As an EU citizen you can live and work in Cyprus freely, but German tax rules follow people who leave with company shares or keep ties at home. These are the questions German clients ask us first, answered from the German statutes and the Cyprus authorities.
Updated
The short version
- No permit needed, but the Abmeldung alone does not end German tax residence while you keep a home you can use.
- Holding at least 1% of any company can trigger exit tax when you leave, payable in seven yearly instalments.
- German citizens moving to a low-tax country can stay more widely taxable in Germany for ten years (§2 AStG).
- A Cyprus company run from Germany is taxed in Germany.
- The Germany–Cyprus treaty has applied since 2011, with an anti-abuse protocol since 2021.
Moving and residence
- Do Germans need a visa or permit to live in Cyprus?No. As an EU citizen you can live and work in Cyprus freely. If you stay longer than three months, you register with the Migration Department within four months of arriving and receive the registration certificate known as the yellow slip.
- Do I have to deregister in Germany (Abmeldung) when I move to Cyprus?Yes, if you give up your German home and do not take a new one in Germany: within two weeks after moving out, and at the earliest one week before. But deregistering does not by itself end German tax residence.
Tax
- Do I still pay tax in Germany after moving to Cyprus?On your worldwide income, as long as you keep a home in Germany that you can use, or stay there more than six months. Without either, only German-source income stays taxable in Germany, and the Germany–Cyprus tax treaty decides who taxes what.
- Will Germany keep taxing me for ten years after I move to Cyprus?It can. Under the extended limited tax liability rules (§2 AStG), a German citizen who moves to a low-tax country while keeping substantial economic interests in Germany is taxed more widely there for the year of the move and the ten years after, in each year that income exceeds €16,500.
- Do I pay German exit tax (Wegzugsbesteuerung) when I move to Cyprus?Yes, if you were fully taxable in Germany for at least seven of the last twelve years and held at least 1% of any company, German or foreign, at any time in the last five years. Leaving is taxed as if you had sold the shares at their market value.
- Is there a double tax agreement between Germany and Cyprus?Yes. It was signed in Nicosia on 18 February 2011 and has been in force since 16 December 2011. A protocol signed in 2021, in force since 8 December 2021, added a rule that denies treaty benefits where obtaining them was one of the main purposes of an arrangement.
Your company
- Will Germany tax my Cyprus company's profits under the CFC rules?Only the passive income of a company that people in Germany control (more than half the votes, capital or profit rights) and that is taxed at less than 15%. Cyprus's corporate tax is 15% from 2026, so what matters is the tax actually charged on that income.
- Can I run my Cyprus company from Germany?Not without German tax: a company whose place of management, the centre of its top-level management, is in Germany pays full German corporate tax on all its income, and its management site is a German permanent establishment.
Pensions, health and everyday life
- Is my German pension paid and taxed in Cyprus?The Deutsche Rentenversicherung pays pensions to people living in other EU countries, including Cyprus. A statutory pension stays German-source income, and the treaty lets Germany tax pensions paid under its social security system.
- Do we keep Kindergeld after moving to Cyprus?Usually not, unless you keep a home or habitual abode in Germany, are treated as fully taxable in Germany on application, or still work or draw a pension there. A family living in Cyprus with no German job or pension normally falls under Cypriot family benefits.
Sources
- Migration Department: registration of EU citizens (MEU1) gov.cy
- Bundesmeldegesetz, §17 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Abgabenordnung, §8: Wohnsitz (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Abgabenordnung, §9: gewöhnlicher Aufenthalt (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Einkommensteuergesetz, §1 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Bundestag printed paper 17/6259: the Germany–Cyprus agreement and its text dserver.bundestag.de
- Außensteuergesetz, §2: erweiterte beschränkte Steuerpflicht (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Außensteuergesetz, §6: Wegzugsbesteuerung (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Einkommensteuergesetz, §17 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Außensteuergesetz, §7 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Außensteuergesetz, §8 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Außensteuergesetz, §9 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Abgabenordnung, §10: Geschäftsleitung (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Körperschaftsteuergesetz, §1 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Bundestag printed paper 17/6565 dserver.bundestag.de
- Bundestag printed paper 19/28657: the 2021 protocol dserver.bundestag.de
- Cyprus Ministry of Finance: double tax treaties mof.gov.cy
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung: moving abroad deutsche-rentenversicherung.de
- Einkommensteuergesetz, §49 (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Finanzamt Neubrandenburg: pensioners living abroad finanzamt-rente-im-ausland.de
- Your Europe: health insurance when living abroad europa.eu
- Einkommensteuergesetz, §62: Kindergeld (gesetze-im-internet.de) gesetze-im-internet.de
- Your Europe: family benefits europa.eu
Information, not advice. These answers describe the published rules as they stand on 12 October 2026. Tax and residence rules depend on your own circumstances; check your position with a qualified tax adviser before you act on them.
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