VAT in Cyprus in 2026

Consultoria EHERO

8 minutos de lectura

In Cyprus, VAT is called Φόρος Προστιθέμενης Αξίας, or ΦΠΑ for short. It has a standard rate of 19% and three reduced rates: 9%, 5%, and 3%. The standard rate is set by Article 17 of the VAT Law, 95(I)/2000, and has been 19% since 13 January 2014; before that, from 14 January 2013 to 12 January 2014, it was 18%. The 3% rate is the newest: it was created by Law 75(I)/2023, published on 21 July 2023.

And there is a fourth rate that many tables do not include: a temporary 0% on basic necessities — infant milk, nappies, feminine hygiene products, fresh fruit and vegetables — which the Cypriot Council of Ministers renews by decree. In 2026 it runs until 31 December, except for meat and fish, which leave 0% on 30 September 2026.

Rate	Percentage	Applies to
Standard (κανονικός συντελεστής)	19%	Everything not included in the reduced-rate lists: clothing, footwear, electronics, cosmetics, household goods, alcoholic beverages, and also soft drinks, which are excluded from the 5% food rate
Reduced (μειωμένος συντελεστής)	9%	Restaurant and catering services, accommodation in hotels and other tourist establishments, urban, intercity and rural taxis, tourist and intercity buses, and goods and services for care homes for the elderly
Reduced (μειωμένος συντελεστής)	5%	Food and beverages, except alcohol, beer, wine and soft drinks, and except anything temporarily covered by 0%; water; medicines and vaccines; contraceptives; medical equipment for persons with disabilities; child car seats; fertilisers, insecticides, animal feed and seeds; liquefied gas in cylinders; electricity under tariff 08; hairdressing; school canteens; passenger transport by urban and rural bus; services of writers, composers and performers and their rights; tickets to shows, circus, fairs and amusement parks, concerts, museums, zoos, cinemas and exhibitions; sporting events and facilities; works of art sold by the artist themselves or by a gallery
Reduced (μειωμένος συντελεστής)	3%	Books, newspapers and magazines, including in electronic format; audiobooks for persons with disabilities; wheelchairs, orthopaedic devices, prostheses, hearing aids and lifting devices; street cleaning, rubbish collection and waste treatment when not provided by the State, a local authority or a public law body; sewage disposal and treatment and septic tank emptying; and admission only to the premiere of theatre, music and dance works or classical works
Temporary zero (μηδενικός συντελεστής)	0%	Infant milk, baby and adult nappies, feminine hygiene products, fresh or chilled vegetables and fresh fruit, from 1 January to 31 December 2026; fresh, chilled or frozen meat and fish, only from 6 April to 30 September 2026

Rates verified on 12 September 2026 against the “Συντελεστές Φ.Π.Α.” page of the Τμήμα Φορολογίας, the Cyprus Tax Department (gov.cy).

The 0% rate on the basic basket, with two different expiry dates

Since 2023, Cyprus has been removing VAT from basic necessities, and it does so by decree of the Council of Ministers amending the annexes to the VAT law, not by an Act of Parliament. The current decree is Κ.Δ.Π. 337/2025 (Official Gazette ΙΙΙ(Ι), No. 5981, of 21 November 2025): from 1 January to 31 December 2026, 0% applies to infant milk (liquid and powdered), baby and adult nappies, feminine hygiene products — tampons, sanitary pads and incontinence pads — fresh or chilled vegetables (potato, tomato, onion, lettuce, carrot, cucumber, fresh legumes, aubergine, pepper, mushroom…) and fresh fruit (banana, fig, avocado, citrus fruit, grapes, melon and watermelon, apple and pear, apricot, peach, cherry, nectarine, plum, strawberry and kiwi). Each product is identified by its Combined Nomenclature code.

A second decree, Κ.Δ.Π. 168/2026 (Official Gazette ΙΙΙ(Ι), No. 6012, of 27 March 2026), brought meat and fish into the 0% rate, but on a different timetable: only from 6 April to 30 September 2026. It covers beef, pork, lamb and goat, edible offal, poultry, rabbit and hare, fish, cuttlefish, squid and octopus, fresh, chilled or frozen. Processed products remain at 5%: marinated, smoked, sausages, burgers, nuggets, prepared stews, canned fish and breaded fish. As of 12 September 2026, no extension has been published, so on 1 October those products return to 5%.

Watch out for two traps. First: the Tax Department’s own rates page summarises both measures in a single line and dates them all “until 30/9/2026”, and it does not mention feminine hygiene; what matters are the decrees, and for nappies, infant milk, pads, fruit and vegetables the 0% rate runs until 31 December 2026. Second: when the 0% rate expires, not everything goes back to the same rate. The decrees do not create a new category; they remove those products from the food paragraph of the Fifth Annex to the law, which is at 5%; so infant milk, fruit and vegetables will return to 5%, just like meat and fish on 1 October. Nappies and feminine hygiene are not food and do not appear in any reduced-rate list: those do return to 19%.

Which VAT you charge customers in Cyprus if you sell from another EU country

This is the part no rate table covers, and usually the real question. The rate you charge does not depend only on the destination: it depends on how much you sell to consumers in other EU countries.

Below €10,000 a year in distance sales to the rest of the EU — added up across all countries, not country by country — you charge your own country’s VAT.
Above that €10,000 you charge the destination VAT: 19% as the standard rate in Cyprus, or the reduced rate that applies to the product. You declare it through the One Stop Shop (OSS) in your own country, with no need to register in the destination country.

The threshold adds up all your B2C sales to other EU countries plus digital services, and the switch does not wait for next year: the very sale that crosses the threshold already carries the destination rate.

Selling to a business with a valid EU VAT number is a different story: the sale goes without VAT because the customer accounts for it in their own country, but you have to check that number in VIES and keep proof of the check.

How to set this up in WooCommerce

WooCommerce includes country rates, but it does not distinguish rates within a country by product class or monitor the threshold for you. There are three things you need to set up:

A tax class for each rate you use, assigned product by product and not at store level.
VAT number validation at checkout against VIES for business customers, so VAT is not charged when the transaction is under reverse charge.
A €10,000 threshold control, because the day it is exceeded the rates change at once across all countries.

All three are covered by EHERO Woo VAT, which we built precisely because these are the three points that break stores selling to the rest of the European Union.

Two quick checks: check the customer’s VAT number in VIES before invoicing without VAT, and use the EU VAT calculator to see which rate to charge on each sale.

Selling to other EU countries from WooCommerce?

EHERO Woo VAT applies each country’s rate product by product, checks VAT numbers against VIES at checkout and keeps an eye on the €10,000 threshold for you.

See EHERO Woo VAT →

Frequently asked questions

What is the standard VAT rate in Cyprus in 2026?

19%, in force since 13 January 2014 under Article 17 of Law 95(I)/2000. Below that there are three reduced rates: 9% for restaurants, accommodation and taxis; 5% for food, medicines, water and tickets to shows; and 3% for books, newspapers and orthopaedic products. In addition, a temporary 0% rate remains in force for the basic basket.

Why does Cyprus have a 3% rate?

Because Law 75(I)/2023, published on 21 July 2023, took advantage of the room provided by Directive (EU) 2022/542 to create a rate below 5%. It applies to books, newspapers and magazines — including digital —, audiobooks for persons with disabilities, wheelchairs, orthopaedics and hearing aids, waste and wastewater treatment, and admission to the premiere of a theatre, music or dance work.

I sell to Cyprus from another EU country — which VAT do I charge?

Your own country’s VAT while your distance sales to the whole EU stay below €10,000 a year. Once you cross that threshold, the destination VAT (19% standard rate), declared through the One Stop Shop.

Do I have to register for VAT in Cyprus?

Not if you only ship from your own country: that is what the One Stop Shop is for. You do if you store goods there — for example with Amazon’s fulfilment network — because stock held in the country creates a registration obligation regardless of how much you sell.