Costas Markides: "For those who choose to leave the UK, Cyprus is an option as it features a very competitive non-dom regime"

Following the UK government's decisoion to abolish the nom-dom tax regime from April 2025 and introduce a new scheme, experts in Cyprus suggest the island could be a viable option for those choosing to leave the UK as a result of the change.

The change was announced by the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, as she presented the UK’s budget for 2025 earlier this week.

Asked to comment, Costas Markides, Board Member, International Business Unit, Head of International Tax and Transfer Pricing Services at KPMG Limited, talked to CBN about how he anticpates the move will impact Cyprus.

"The abolition of the non-Dom regime in the United Kingdom was in the pipeline for a while and has been largely digested by non-doms residing in the UK by the time it was announced by the current Labour Government.

The logic behind the non-dom regime’s abolition after careful analysis of statistical information of anonymous non-dom personal tax return data, is basically based on the anticipation that such an abolition will not lead to a mass exodus of non-doms from the UK," Markides said.

He continued that, "On the contrary, it is expected that levelling the field between doms and non-doms will contribute additional tax revenue to the UK budget. For those who choose to leave, Cyprus is an option as it features a very competitive non-dom regime. Greece and Italy are also well placed to attract those non-doms that choose to exit the UK."

As Markides noted, "The UK non-dom regime will be substituted as from April of 2025 with a residency based regime which within a period of just 4 years of residency in the UK, will trigger taxation in the UK of worldwide income and gains. After 10 years of residency in the UK, global assets will be in scope of UK inheritance tax which can be as high as 40%."

He concluded, "My expectation is that although currently a mass exodus of non-doms is not anticipated, a friendlier jurisdiction in terms of inheritance tax will be sought after, before this 10 year period expires. Cyprus has no inheritance taxes and will definitely be on the short list of possible jurisdictions to relocate."

Also read: UK to abolish non-dom tax regime – What does this mean for Cyprus?

Non-doms: The Cyprus Private Client Offering Gathering

IMH has organised a specialised conference to a targeted audience of professionals in London presenting the whole range of services and benefits available in Cyprus for HNWIs, their families, companies and employees. 

Taking place in cooperation with Invest Cyprus, the confernece will focus on non-doms as well as related financial topics of particular interest.

Due to take place on 4 December, the confernece is being held at the London Stock Exchange from 9am, UK time.

Click here to learn more.