Does my Cyprus Tenancy Agreement need to be Stamped?
For Tenants - Notarisation
The effective date of the rental agreement must be clearly visible on the document and the document must be signed by both parties to the contract (please note that two witnesses would be required for the signatures if the tenancy exceeds 12 months). Keep in mind that the notarisation process has nothing to do with the content of the agreement, the job of the certifying officer is simply to certify the signatures of the parties that sign the agreement.
After ensuring that you have a valid rental agreement, you need to take an original copy to a certifying officer to sign it in his presence, or acknowledge that the signature is yours so that the certifying officer can perform its notarial act. The cost of this procedure according to section 10 of the law is only €2 (the amount may be increased to €5 if the verification takes place outside the head office). It should also be noted that the heads of local communities (mukhtars) in Cyprus can also carry out this function.
For Landlords or Tenants – Stamp Duty
For a tenancy agreement to be submitted as evidence in court (e.g. when a breach of contract happens), the tenancy agreement needs to be stamped by the Cyprus Tax Department. The Stamp Duty Law (19/1963) requires the payment of a one-off fee in the form of stamp duty to the Cyprus Tax Department for specific types of agreements, which includes tenancy agreements. This is usually an obligation for the tenant, however, the landlord can also complete this requirement. The law states that, in relation to tenancy agreements, the stamp duty paid for agreements at the value of €0 to €5000 is €0, however, for every €1000 (or part of €1000, e.g. €999) after that, a charge of €1.50 is added. For example, if you have an average tenancy agreement for a term of 1 year, which has a monthly rent of €500, a stamp duty of €1.50 (as the total value of the agreement would be €6,000 for 12 months) would be applicable.
You can find more details with the Cyprus Tax Department website that has also a tool that calculates a document’s stamp duty. here: https://www.mof.gov.cy/
Paying the stamp duty and having a tenancy agreement stamped can be particularly beneficial for tenants who intend to submit the tenancy agreement for yellow slip applications or other types of immigration applications, which sometimes have this as a requirement.
The process is outlined by the tax department here.