Stamp duty in Cyprus
Stamp duty in Cyprus was a tax on written documents, such as contracts of sale and leases. Law 239(I)/2025 repealed the Stamp Duty Laws of 1963 to 2025 from 1 January 2026, so a document that no party signed before that date pays no stamp duty. A document signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 is still subject to stamp duty under the old law. The rest of this page covers those documents.
Key takeaways
- A document that no party signed before 1 January 2026 pays no stamp duty.
- A document signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 remains subject to stamp duty under the Stamp Duty Law 19/1963.
- Old rates for a contract that states a fixed amount: nil up to €5,000, €1.50 for each €1,000 or part from €5,001 to €170,000, and €2 for each €1,000 or part above €170,000, at most €20,000. Most contracts with no fixed amount paid €35, with some exceptions.
- Since 1 April 2026, such a document is submitted through the Tax For All (TFA) portal. Once the Tax Department has examined it and the duty is paid, the original is stamped at a district office of the Tax Department.
What is stamp duty?
Stamp duty in Cyprus was a tax on the documents listed in the First Schedule of the Stamp Duty Law. In real estate, the most common were contracts of sale and leases. Many other documents paid it too, such as wills, powers of attorney, letters of credit and insurance policies.
General rule
Under section 4(1) of the old law, and subject to the exemptions in that law, in its First Schedule or in any other law, a document listed in the First Schedule was liable to the duty the Schedule sets for it, wherever it was signed, when it related to:
- an asset located in Cyprus, or
- matters or things to be carried out or done in Cyprus.
Applicable law
The law for a document signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 is the Stamp Duty Law 19/1963, as amended. Law 239(I)/2025 repealed it from 1 January 2026. Section numbers on this page refer to Law 19/1963.
The First Schedule of the law sets the duty for each listed type of document and some exemptions. The sections of the law set further exemptions, who pays, the deadlines for stamping and the surcharges for late stamping.
Payable stamp duty
For real estate transactions, the relevant rates were based on the value specified in each contract. Contracts to buy and sell real estate come under this general rule.
Stamp duty rates for documents signed before 2026
For a contract that states a fixed amount, item 3 of the First Schedule set these rates:
- For contracts up to €5,000, there is no stamp duty.
- For values from €5,001 to €170,000, it is €1.50 for each €1,000 or part thereof.
- For values over €170,000, stamp duty is €2 for each €1,000 or part thereof.
- The maximum stamp duty paid on any contract is €20,000.
- Contracts with no specified amount have a €35 stamp duty (with exceptions).
Stamp duty on leases signed before 2026
A lease or sublease with a fixed rent paid stamp duty at the contract rates above, on this value:
- A lease for a fixed term: the rent for the whole term, plus any premium, an amount paid in advance on top of the agreed rent.
- A lease for an indefinite term: the rent for one hundred years, plus any such premium.
Specific cases and exemptions
A power of attorney paid €2 when its only purpose was to authorise one person to act in one transaction, and €6 in other cases, with some exceptions.
A mortgage of immovable property, and any other document relating to it, paid no contract duty when the mortgage was set up on the same day, after an existing mortgage was cancelled, on the same property and for the same purpose, in favour of the same lender or another one.
Who is liable to pay stamp duty in Cyprus?
Where the parties had not agreed otherwise, section 29 of the old law put the duty on these people, for a document signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025:
- In a contract or memorandum of sale: the buyer.
- In a lease or agreement for a lease: the tenant, or the person named as tenant.
- In an insurance policy: the insured person.
- In a contract for building or technical works carried out by a contractor (Greek: οικοδομικό ή τεχνικό έργο): the contractor.
Read more about other property taxes in Cyprus.
Deadlines and late stamping
Note: This section covers documents signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025.
A document signed in Cyprus had to be stamped at or before signing (section 19). Stamped within 30 days of its first signature, it paid the duty alone.
Stamped later, within six months of the first signature, it pays a surcharge on the unpaid duty: €2 where that duty is up to €2, an amount equal to it where it is over €2 and up to €35, and €35 plus €0.10 for each euro or part of a euro above €35 where it is higher. After six months, the surcharge doubles.
Except in criminal proceedings, and subject to what section 35 lets a court allow, a document subject to stamp duty that is not duly stamped is not accepted as evidence and has no effect for any purpose (section 36).
Working out the duty
The Tax Department examines the document before the duty is paid. For a contract that states a fixed amount, start from the rates above. A document first signed in Cyprus by 31 December 2025 and still unstamped is more than six months past its first signature, so the doubled surcharge is added to the duty.
How an older document is stamped since 1 April 2026
Since 1 April 2026, a document signed by at least one party by 31 December 2025 is submitted through the Tax For All (TFA) portal and stamped at a district office of the Tax Department. Any person with a tax identification number and an active TFA account can submit it, whether or not they are a party to the document.
Steps
- Submit the document through the Tax For All (TFA) portal.
- Wait for the Tax Department to examine it.
- Pay the duty due and any late-stamping surcharge.
- Take the original document to the district office of the Tax Department, where it is stamped.
Documents signed outside Cyprus
Under section 21 of the old law, a document first signed outside Cyprus and not duly stamped counts as first signed on the day it is received in Cyprus. It can be stamped at any time within 30 days of that day by paying the duty alone; after that, the surcharges count from the day of receipt.
Apart from the instruments in section 22, such as bills of exchange and cheques, a document signed abroad does not count as made or valid in Cyprus until it is duly stamped under Cyprus law, whatever its stamping abroad.
For a document signed abroad in 2025 and received in Cyprus in 2026, ask the Tax Department which side of the cut-off it falls on.