The total cost of buying property in Cyprus

The price in the advertisement is not the cost of buying. In 2026 the large items are either Land Registry transfer fees or VAT, and almost never both on the same transfer. Stamp duty, which used to sit on every contract, is gone for a document that nobody signed before 1 January 2026. Around those taxes sit the lawyer, the search, the deposit of the contract, and the deposits the utility companies ask for. This page separates what is fixed by a published scale from what is a private fee.

The fork: VAT or transfer fees

Gov.cy describes two rules. If the transfer relates to a transaction that is subject to VAT, transfer fees are not charged. If the transaction is not subject to VAT, the legislation provides an exemption of 50 per cent of the transfer fees. The Department of Lands and Surveys publishes the full scale that the 50 per cent is applied to: 3 per cent from €0.01 to €85,000, 5 per cent from €85,001 to €170,000, and 8 per cent above €170,000. The bands are slices of the value, not a single rate on the whole price.

On an accepted value of €200,000 with one buyer and no VAT, the full scale is €2,550 plus €4,250 plus €2,400, which is €9,200, and half of that is €4,600. Two equal buyers are assessed on €100,000 each, which is a smaller bill, because more of the value sits in the lower bands. The calculator on this site does that split. It is not a discount for being a couple. It is the scale applied to each share. Unequal shares are not “half and half”. Run them separately.

The 50 per cent reduction is refused where the seller acquired the property through a forced sale under Parts VI and VIA of the Transfer and Mortgage Law 9/1965. The Director can also reject the contract price and charge fees on a market value instead. If you disagree, the Department’s note says you still pay the assessed fee, record your objection, and the valuation is reconsidered. Budget for the assessed figure, not for the hope that the objection will win before completion.

Where VAT was charged, take the VAT Department’s certificate to the transfer. Without it, the Land Registry has no basis for the exemption. A new home is the usual VAT case. A resale of a home that was already lived in is the usual transfer-fee case. A plot of land is often outside VAT, but not always, and the contract should say which regime the seller is applying.

VAT at 19 per cent, or 5 per cent on part

The standard rate is 19 per cent of the price before VAT. The 5 per cent rate is not a general new-build rate. It is for a primary and permanent residence, on the first 130 square metres and up to €350,000, and only if the whole buildable area is not over 190 square metres and the whole value is not over €475,000. Between the inner and outer limits, only the qualifying portion is at 5 per cent and the rest is at 19. Over either outer limit, the reduced rate is not available at all.

A buyer who wants a holiday apartment, or who will let the flat from the start, should budget 19 per cent. The Tax Department can recover the difference if a 5 per cent home stops being the primary residence during the statutory period. Persons with disabilities have a wider area rule, described on the VAT calculator page. There is also a transitional route for some projects whose planning application was in by 31 October 2023, but the window for filing the reduced-rate application under that route ran to 15 June 2026. This site does not treat that route as still open.

On a €300,000 new home that does not qualify, VAT is €57,000. On the same price, 100 square metres, used as a qualifying primary home, VAT is €15,000. The gap is the point of reading the conditions before you reserve a unit.

Stamp duty in 2026

Law 239(I)/2025 repealed the stamp duty laws from 1 January 2026. A contract drawn up and signed by at least one party on or after that date is not stamped. A contract that a party signed on or before 31 December 2025 is still under the old scale: nothing on the first €5,000, then €1.50 per €1,000 or part up to €170,000, then €2 per €1,000 or part, and never more than €20,000 on one document. On €300,000 that old bill is €507.50. It is small next to VAT. It is large enough that an outdated checklist will still ask for it.

The Ministry of Interior’s permit checklist still refers to stamp duty on the contract. That page has not been rewritten for the repeal. For a 2026 signature, say so when you file COMM 145, and follow whatever the District Administration currently asks to see.

Costs that are not a tax rate

The Department of Lands and Surveys charges a fee to deposit the contract of sale. Practitioner notes that follow the Department’s form put that fee at €50. Confirm it at the counter. A search certificate is a separate small fee and is the document that shows mortgages and other charges. If you miss the six-month deposit window, the Department’s own leaflet says the transfer fee is increased by 10 per cent. That 10 per cent is a reason to diary the deposit, not a reason to guess a higher fee “just in case” on a contract you will deposit on time.

Legal fees are a private arrangement. This site does not publish a typical percentage, because there is no official scale that binds every firm, and quoting one would be an invented number. Ask for a written scope: the search, the contract, the deposit at the Land Registry, the VAT or transfer-fee filing, and attendance at transfer. Estate-agent commission, if an agent is instructed, is also contractual. In a developer sale the buyer often does not pay the agent. Do not assume that. Read the reservation form.

Utility companies ask for a deposit to open an account. Municipalities charge their own annual fees for refuse, street lighting and, where it exists, sewerage. Those amounts differ by town and are not on the Tax Department’s property pages. Ask the municipality for the current charge on that sheet and plot before you compare two apartments only on the asking price.

A worked shape, not a quote

For a resale at €250,000, one buyer, VAT not charged, contract deposited on time, and no forced-sale history, the transfer fee on the published scale is half of €13,200, which is €6,600, plus the deposit fee and whatever your lawyer bills. For a new home at the same net price that does not qualify for 5 per cent, VAT is €47,500 and the transfer fee is nil if the certificate is accepted. Those two numbers are not interchangeable, and neither includes the furniture, the connection deposits or the first year’s local fees.

Use the calculators for the tax line. Add the private fees from written quotes. If a seller’s agent gives you a single “all-in” figure, ask which of these lines are inside it.