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The Cypriot government has approved a plan to offer tax breaks to citizens working abroad in a bid to reverse the country’s “brain drain,” a government spokesperson said Wednesday.
The Cabinet authorized the finance minister to submit a bill to Parliament that would grant a 25% income tax exemption, capped at €25,000, to Cypriot professionals and scientists who return after working abroad for at least seven years following their studies, spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said.
The move is part of a broader Talent Repatriation Action Plan, which will be officially unveiled in London on May 21 under the auspices of President Nikos Christodoulides.
Letymbiotis said the bill also includes more flexible eligibility criteria to ease the return of professionals who can contribute immediately to innovation, productivity, and competitiveness in Cyprus.
“This is another decisive step toward achieving a strategic national goal: reversing the brain drain and transitioning to a new era of brain gain,” he said after a Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace.
The initiative, Letymbiotis added, involves no immediate fiscal cost because it targets only new taxpayers. Over time, it is expected to broaden the tax base and support long-term fiscal stability. A five-year review clause will allow the government to adjust the program in response to changing social and economic conditions.
He described the tax break not just as a recruitment tool but as “a clear political message: Cyprus invests in its people and is actively seeking the return of its skilled citizens.”
Letymbiotis noted that Cyprus’ strong economic performance and favorable macroeconomic indicators make now an ideal time to attract citizens back home.
“With decisions like today’s, the government is showing it does not accept the loss of talent as inevitable,” he said. “Instead, it is acting with purpose and vision to bring back the people who can shape the country’s future.”
