Your 2025 Cyprus personal tax return is due on 31 October 2026, payment included. Who must file, what Non-Doms declare, the new penalty and a calm checklist.
Status as of 9 October 2026: the deadline for filing the 2025 personal income tax return and paying any balance without interest or penalties is 31 October 2026, set by Council of Ministers Decree K.D.P. 260/2026. The late filing penalty is now €150. We will update this guide if the Tax Department announces any further extension.
You moved to Cyprus, set up your life, perhaps registered as Non-Dom. Then one morning someone in a Larnaca café mentions "the October deadline" and you realise you have never filed a Cypriot tax return. This guide is for that moment.
A tax return is not a confession and not a favour to the state. It is the paperwork that turns your residence into a documented fact. Filed well, it is the strongest piece of evidence you own that your tax home is Cyprus and that your Non-Dom position is used correctly. Filed late or carelessly, it creates friction you did not need. Below: who must file for 2025, what changes from next year, what a Non-Dom actually declares, the costs of missing the date and a step-by-step checklist.
What is new this autumn
Three things changed in the last weeks, and together they make October 2026 different from previous years.
The deadline moved. The standard date for an individual's return is 31 July of the following year. For tax year 2025, Decree K.D.P. 260/2026 extended both filing and payment to 31 October 2026.
The late filing penalty went up. Under Article 50A(a) of the Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law (No. 4/1978), as amended by the 2026 reform, a late 2025 return costs a fixed €150, up from €100.
Bank details changed channel. Since 5 October 2026, the Tax Department accepts requests to register or change the IBAN on your tax file only through the Tax For All (TFA) portal with CY Login, using Form T.F. 2008 and a bank IBAN certificate. Requests by email are rejected. If you expect a refund, this matters.
The pace is also worth knowing. According to Tax Commissioner Sotiris Markides, speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on 28 September, 144,800 returns for 2025 had been submitted in final form by 25 September, compared with 337,400 final returns for the whole of 2024. Most people file late in the window, and the portals slow down in the final days.
Who must file a 2025 return
For tax year 2025, the filing obligation applies to employees, pensioners and self-employed individuals whose gross income in 2025 exceeded €19,500 (Decree K.D.P. 52/2025). Self-employed people who must prepare audited accounts follow a separate, later calendar.
In practice, three groups of newcomers are often surprised:
People who arrived during 2025. If you became Cyprus tax resident for 2025 under the 183-day rule or the 60-day rule, Cyprus generally looks at your worldwide income for the whole of 2025, because it has no split-year rule. Income from before your move may also be taxed or credited in your former country, so map both sides before you file. The threshold is about gross income, not tax payable.
Directors of their own Cyprus company. Salary, director's fees and dividends all count toward the picture. Your company's return is separate from yours.
Non-Doms living from dividends or interest. A lower salary does not mean you can skip the return. The Non-Dom position is applied through the return, not instead of it.
Even below the threshold, filing voluntarily can be wise. A clean, accepted return is the document banks, foreign tax offices and your former home country ask for when they question whether you really left. If you have read our guide to the Cyprus 60-day tax residency rule, you know how much rests on evidence.
What changes from tax year 2026
The 2026 reform broadens the obligation. From tax year 2026, with the first such returns due in 2027, every Cyprus tax resident aged 25 to 70 (25 completed and 71 not yet reached by 31 December) files a return even with low or no income, and anyone with gross income files at any age. The regular deadline for tax year 2026 returns reverts to 31 July 2027. Treat 2025 as your rehearsal: whatever you set up now (CY Login, TFA access, a document folder) you will use every year.
What a Non-Dom actually declares
Here is where most confusion lives. Being domiciled outside Cyprus for Special Defence Contribution purposes changes how certain income is treated. It does not hide income from the return.
For a Non-Dom tax resident individual, the position is:
0% SDC on dividends and interest for Non-Dom. Dividends and interest are still entered in the return. The Non-Dom status is what removes the Special Defence Contribution on them.
GESY at 2.65% applies to dividends, interest and rental income, and it is capped. TAXISnet calculates income tax, GESY and SDC automatically once the inputs are right.
Employment and self-employment income go through the normal personal income tax scale and the usual contributions.
The point is simple: the return is where your Non-Dom position becomes visible and documented. A Non-Dom who never files has an unused status and an evidence gap. If you are still unsure whether the status fits you at all, our article on Cyprus tax residency and Non-Dom walks through it.
A worked example
Take a founder who moved from Bucharest to Larnaca in February 2025, spent 240 days in Cyprus, registered as Non-Dom, and received in 2025:
€24,000 gross salary from his Cyprus company,
€60,000 in dividends from the same company,
€1,200 interest on savings.
His gross income passes €19,500, so he must file by 31 October 2026. In the return he enters the salary (taxed under the personal scale, with the employer's withholding already credited), the dividends and the interest. As a Non-Dom, the SDC line on dividends and interest is 0%. GESY at 2.65% applies to the dividends and interest within the cap. Whatever balance TAXISnet shows is transferred to the Tax Portal and paid electronically by the same date.
What he should have ready: his Yellow Slip or residence document, the Non-Dom confirmation, his employer's annual salary certificate (IR63), dividend vouchers and board minutes, bank interest certificates, and a simple day-count calendar. The figures in this example are illustrative, not advice for your file.
What it costs to miss the date
Late filing: a fixed €150 administrative penalty for the 2025 return.
Late payment: interest on the unpaid balance at a rate set each year by decree (3.5% a year for 2026), plus a 5% surcharge on the unpaid tax and a further 5% if it is still unpaid two months later. File and pay together by 31 October 2026 and none of this applies.
Indirect costs: a refund delayed, a tax residence certificate harder to obtain, and a weaker position if your former country asks where you lived.
None of this is dramatic. It is simply avoidable.
Pros and cons of the Cypriot filing system
What works well
One online return covers income tax, GESY and SDC, calculated automatically.
The Non-Dom position is applied in the same form, so the logic is transparent.
Digital payment through the Tax Portal, no queues.
A filed return is a strong, official proof of residence that you control.
What takes patience
TAXISnet and the newer Tax For All portal run in parallel, and some functions move between them.
CY Login registration needs identity verification, which can take days.
Forms and guidance appear first in Greek, with English versions sometimes later.
Pre-filled data from employers or banks is not always complete, and you remain responsible for the final figures.
Who this does not suit
This guide, and a do-it-yourself approach to the return, are not the right fit if:
You are still tax resident in Romania, Germany or elsewhere. A Cyprus return does not end your obligations at home. If you have not yet exited properly, the order of steps matters more than any form. See our cost of living in Cyprus guide for the practical side of the move itself.
You have audited self-employment accounts or complex foreign income (trusts, foreign rentals, capital gains on property, crypto at scale). These need a licensed Cyprus tax adviser, not a checklist.
You were tax resident in two countries in 2025 and rely on a treaty tie-breaker. That analysis has to come before the return, not after.
You hope the return will fix a residence that did not exist. It documents facts; it does not create them.
A calm checklist for the next three weeks
Get CY Login and TFA access now, not on 30 October.
Confirm your residence basis for 2025: 183 days, or the 60-day conditions. Keep your day-count calendar with flight records.
Collect documents: salary certificates, dividend vouchers, interest certificates, rental contracts, proof of foreign tax paid.
Check your Non-Dom confirmation is on file with the Tax Department.
Register or update your IBAN through TFA if you expect a refund.
Fill, review, submit in final form. A "Temporarily Received" return still counts as outstanding.
Pay the balance through the Tax Portal by 31 October 2026.
Save the PDF of the submitted return and the payment receipt in your residence evidence folder.
A word on law and conscience
Filing is a legal duty, and order has value in itself. Whether every tax a state levies is just is a separate question, and a free person is entitled to ask it. The answer is not to ignore the law but to plan within it: choose the jurisdiction, the residence and the structure that leave more of what you earn with your family, and then document it cleanly. A well-filed Cypriot return is part of that structure, not a concession.
FAQ
When is the 2025 Cyprus personal tax return due?
By 31 October 2026, for both filing and payment of any balance, under Decree K.D.P. 260/2026.
Who has to file for tax year 2025?
Employees, pensioners and self-employed individuals with gross 2025 income above €19,500. From tax year 2026, every Cyprus tax resident aged 25 to 70 files regardless of income, and anyone with gross income files at any age.
Does a Non-Dom still need to file?
Yes. Non-Dom status gives 0% SDC on dividends and interest, but you still declare that income in the return. GESY at 2.65%, capped, still applies.
What is the penalty for filing late?
A fixed €150 for the 2025 return, plus interest and surcharges on any tax paid after the deadline.
Can I send my bank details for a refund by email?
No. Since 5 October 2026, IBAN registrations and changes go only through the Tax For All portal with CY Login.
Is a filed return proof of tax residence?
It is strong supporting evidence and the basis for a tax residence certificate, but your residence still depends on meeting the 183-day or 60-day conditions.
Sources
Deloitte Cyprus, Cyprus Tax News Issue 6/2026, "2025 Personal Income Tax Return due by 31 October 2026", 22 June 2026.
Politis / Cyprus News Agency, "49% of Cyprus Tax Returns Processed as October Deadline Approaches", 28 September 2026.
Mondaq / CYAUSE, "From 5 October, Your IBAN With The Cyprus Tax Department Changes Only Through Tax For All", 8 October 2026.
Almanova Law, "Tax Return Filing Has Started in Cyprus: New Deadlines and Penalties", 2026.
Cyprus Tax Department, TAXISnet Individual Income Tax Return 2025 guidance, mof.gov.cy/tax.
Assessment and Collection of Taxes Law No. 4/1978, Article 50A(a), as amended.
More guides in English: all articles on the blog.
If you want your Cyprus residence and filings set up in the right order, you can reach us here.
