Before you leave Austria and Switzerland
Deregistration
Austria: Abmeldung within three days of giving up your main residence, at the municipality of that residence; give your new address or at least the country you are moving to. Switzerland: deregister with your commune if you leave for more than three months.
Exit tax
Austria treats a move abroad as a sale of capital assets such as shares and funds; for a move to an EU country like Cyprus, the tax is assessed but not collected until you actually sell, if you apply. The deferral ends if you later move on to a country outside the EU and EEA. Switzerland does not tax gains on private movable assets.
Double tax treaties
Cyprus has a treaty with Austria signed in 1990 and amended by a protocol in force since 1 April 2013, and one with Switzerland signed in 2014, in force since 15 October 2015 and amended by a 2020 protocol. They decide which country taxes pensions, dividends and gains.
Pensions
Austria: under EU coordination your Austrian contributions still count, and the pension is paid into your bank account in Cyprus. Switzerland: once you leave, you are no longer in compulsory AHV/AVS, and voluntary AHV/AVS is only open to people living outside the EU and EFTA, so not in Cyprus. Ordinary Swiss pensions are paid wherever you live.
Health cover
Moving to GESY or private insurance. An Austrian pensioner with no income in Cyprus asks the Austrian insurer for an S1 form and registers it in Cyprus; Swiss pensioners living in the EU usually stay in Swiss compulsory health insurance.
Registration
Yellow Slip for EU and Swiss citizens.