Personal Taxation - Residence

The Cyprus tax law does not define the terms "resident" or "ordinarily resident", but defines a "temporary resident" as a person who is in Cyprus for a temporary purpose only, not with any intent to establish his residence here and who does not reside here for an aggregate of more than six months during a tax year. A temporary resident is exempt from tax on income arising abroad but received in Cyprus.

A person is regarded as resident in Cyprus for a given year if he is physically present in the country for at least part of that year and he is not a temporary resident. He will always be resident if he is in Cyprus for more than six months in the year.

Ordinary residence is broadly equivalent to habitual residence. If a person is resident in Cyprus year after year, he is also ordinarily resident. It follows that a person may be resident but not ordinarily resident in Cyprus for a given year, if, for instance, he normally lives outside Cyprus but visits Cyprus in that year for