Salary vs Dividends Optimiser
Compare the total tax cost of different pay structures for a Cyprus company director. Includes income tax, social insurance, GESY, SDC, and corporation tax.
How to read this
Why salary matters: Salary is a deductible expense for the company, reducing taxable profit and corporation tax. But it triggers income tax and social insurance, which can be steep.
€22,000 salary: This is the income tax exemption threshold in Cyprus from 2026 (raised from €19,500) - you pay 0% income tax on the first €22,000. Taking a salary up to this amount is usually tax-efficient.
Non-Dom advantage: Non-domiciled residents pay 0% SDC on dividends (vs 5% for domiciled residents from 2026, down from 17%). For high-dividend scenarios, this is still a saving.
Social insurance ceiling: SI contributions are capped at €68,904 of annual salary for 2026. Above this ceiling, additional salary doesn't increase SI costs.
GESY ceiling: GESY is charged on a maximum base of €180,000 of income per person per year, counted across salary and dividends together rather than separately, so €4,770 is the most you can owe. Two caveats on how this tool shows it. It applies the base to salary first and then to dividends, which is a modelling choice made so the figures add up, not a rule about which income is counted first. And in real life each payer withholds without knowing what the others withheld, so contributions above the base are not stopped automatically: you reclaim the excess from the Health Insurance Organisation by application, within three years.