Selling property in Cyprus: taxes, process and fees

Capital Gains Tax: the seller's main tax

The principal tax a seller pays in Cyprus is Capital Gains Tax (CGT), charged at a flat 20% on the net gain from disposing of immovable property in Cyprus, or of shares in a company that holds such property. It applies to individuals and companies alike, whether or not they are resident in Cyprus. CGT is not a tax on the sale price — it is a tax on the profit, so the way the gain is calculated, and the reliefs you can claim, usually matter far more than the headline rate.

The 2026 lifetime exemptions

Every individual has lifetime CGT exemptions that reduce the taxable gain, and these were raised with effect from 1 January 2026. The general exemption, available on any disposal, is now €30,000 (up from €17,086 before 2026); the exemption for a principal private residence is €150,000 (up from €85,430), where the owner has used the home as their own residence, generally for at least five years, on land not exceeding 1,500 m²; and a professional farmer disposing of agricultural land has €50,000 (up from €25,629). The exemptions are per individual, not per property, and the combined amount a person can claim over a lifetime is capped at €150,000. Any unused balance carries forward, so timing a sale and knowing how much of your allowance remains can change the tax materially.

How the gain is computed and what you can deduct

The taxable gain is the sale price less the acquisition cost and allowable deductions. The acquisition cost is indexed for inflation using the Cyprus consumer price index from the later of the date of acquisition or 1 January 1980, which can reduce the gain substantially on a long-held property. Deductible items include the cost of additions and permitted structural improvements (supported by invoices), transfer fees paid when you bought, interest on a loan used to acquire the property, legal fees, and commission paid to a licensed estate agent. Routine maintenance, furniture and redecoration are not deductible. A number of transfers fall outside CGT entirely — among them transfers on death, gifts between close relatives, transfers on divorce, and qualifying company reorganisations.

Stamp duty, transfer fees and the 0.4% levy

Stamp duty on the sale contract is now €0. The Stamp Duty Laws were repealed by Law 239(I)/2025 for documents signed on or after 1 January 2026, so a sale agreement entered into in 2026 is no longer stamped — the old sliding scale (0.15% to 0.20%, capped at €20,000) applies only to contracts signed up to 31 December 2025. Title transfer fees at the Department of Lands and Surveys (3% up to €85,000, 5% to €170,000 and 8% above) are a buyer cost, not a seller cost; they are reduced by half on resales not subject to VAT and are not charged at all where VAT applied to the sale, so we note them only as context for the buyer side of your transaction. The one transaction tax that falls on the seller is the 0.4% levy on the sale price, payable to the Central Agency for the Equal Distribution of Burdens, which remains in force in 2026.

VAT on a resale

The resale of a previously used property is outside the scope of VAT, so an ordinary seller has no VAT to charge on a second-hand home. VAT at the standard 19% (or the reduced 5% on a qualifying first residence) arises on new builds and is a buyer-side cost; it is worth knowing only so that a resale is not confused with a VAT-able new-build sale.

Clearances before the title can transfer

Before the District Lands Office will register the transfer, the seller must be clear with the authorities. In practice the Cyprus Tax Department computes the CGT and the 0.4% levy and issues a tax clearance certificate; the Land Registry will not complete the transfer until that clearance is in place, which operates as the real gate rather than any withholding of the price. You will also need municipal and community clearances (local tax, sewerage and refuse charges), settled utility accounts, any communal-expense balance cleared, and the release of any mortgage or charge over the property. National immovable property tax was abolished in 2017, although unpaid amounts for 2014 to 2016 can still arise. An Energy Performance Certificate must be available to the buyer before the contract is signed. Once the contract is signed, the buyer's lawyer lodges it at the Land Registry for specific performance, after which you cannot resell or further encumber the property.