Car owners have three compulsory payments: road tax (due by 11 March each year), MOT and insurance. Road tax can only be paid with a valid MOT and insurance.
Road tax
- Pay on the rtd.mcw.gov.cy portal (which replaced JCC for this service), and also at post offices, RTD offices and KEP centres.
- The deadline is 11 March each year. In 2026 it was extended once to 31 March because the site went down.
- Late payment: €10 plus 10% of the amount. If it goes unpaid for more than a year and 70 days, the registration is cancelled.
- You can pay for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months — instalments cost about 10% more.
How it is calculated
| CO2 emissions | Rate |
|---|---|
| up to 120 g/km | €0.50 per gram |
| 121–150 g/km | €3 per gram |
| 151–180 g/km | €5 per gram |
| over 180 g/km | €10 per gram |
| Electric vehicles | €0 |
Cars first registered before 2014 are charged by engine size: 1,400 cc is around €60, 1,600 cc around €96. For a car emitting 200 g/km the tax reaches €500 a year.
The MOT
- The first is due 4 years after first registration, then every 2 years. It takes 20–30 minutes.
- Tests are done at private IKTEO centres or state KEMO ones.
- The fee is €35 at private centres and €40 at state ones; a rise to €43/€46 was discussed but the position as of September 2026 is unsettled.
- A retest after a failure costs €10.
- The fine for driving without an MOT is €150, and your insurer may refuse to pay out.
Insurance
| Type of cover | Roughly per year |
|---|---|
| Third party only (TPL) | €207–299 |
| TPL plus fire and theft | €255–487 |
| Fully comprehensive | €357–753 |
- Young drivers pay up to 3.6 times more. Limassol is about a third more expensive than Paphos.
- Without proof of a no-claims record the loading is around 80% — many insurers accept a no-claims certificate from your country of origin.
- A Cypriot policy covers the EU and EEA. For other countries you need a Green Card, accepted in electronic form since 2025.
- A Cypriot policy is not valid in Northern Cyprus — insurance is bought at the crossing.
An accident with an uninsured vehicle
In that case the Motor Insurers' Fund pays compensation, but only if you are not at fault and have taken every step:
- Call the police and be sure to tell them the other vehicle is uninsured.
- Notify the fund itself and let it inspect the damage before any repair begins.
- Submit the claim on the prescribed form, attaching the vehicle registration certificate and the insurance certificate in force on the date of the accident.