Who pays how much
| Who | Rate |
|---|---|
| Employees | 2.65 % |
| Employers, on the salary | 2.90 % |
| Self-employed | 4.00 % |
| Pensioners and other income | 2.65 % |
| The state | 4.70 % |
The base is income up to €180,000 a year. For an employee that means a maximum contribution of €4,770.
The point that surprises almost everyone
GHS also falls on dividends.
That is surprising because dividends are otherwise treated favourably in Cyprus:
| Levy on a dividend | Non-dom | Without non-dom |
|---|---|---|
| Income tax | 0 % | 0 % |
| Special defence contribution | 0 % | 5 % |
| GHS | 2.65 % | 2.65 % |
In practice: anyone distributing €50,000 from their Cyprus company pays €1,325 of GHS on it, with non-dom status too. What that means for the choice between salary and dividend is in the comparison of salary and dividend.
The ceiling is not the social insurance one
Two figures, two systems, and they are constantly confused.
| Ceiling 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Social insurance | €68,904 a year |
| GHS | €180,000 a year |
The consequence shows in the salary band between them: above €68,904 every further euro of salary still carries GHS and income tax but no more social insurance. The marginal deduction visibly falls at that point without the tax rate changing.
The social insurance ceiling rose from €66,612 on 1 January 2026. The GHS ceiling stayed at €180,000. Anyone taking both figures from the same overview may be taking one of them wrongly.
What the 2026 reform did not change
About GHS: nothing. Neither the rates nor the ceiling.
What changed were the income tax bands and the social insurance ceiling. That is exactly why GHS often drops out of sight in a recalculation: you update the new figures and overlook that one item has stayed the same and still applies.
What we could not substantiate
- Whether the €180,000 ceiling applies per income type or across all together. Most sources read it as taken together, one reads it per income type. For somebody with salary, rents and dividends that is the difference between one maximum contribution and several.
- The rate for the self-employed. 4.00 % in most sources, 4.70 % in one. That is €7,200 or €8,460 of maximum contribution.
- The official source. The rates appear consistently in several presentations; we did not inspect a page from the Health Insurance Organisation itself on this.
- Whether GHS falls within the one-fifth cap on deductible contributions. The sources contradict each other; on salary alone it has no effect, because the cap does not bite there anyway.
Anyone with several types of income should have the ceiling question clarified before calculating: Cyprus setup from one place.
Bookkeeping: GHS appears in two places
The contribution appears in the payroll and again on the withdrawal. Anyone keeping payroll and withdrawals separately records it twice by halves.
In Volk Accountant both run in the same books, and the reports show them for the same period. The tax estimate calculates with the ceilings that apply, and the employees sit under team.
The full payroll calculation is in the guide to gross and net, and social insurance alongside it in the guide to hiring your first employee.