The protocol to the 2018 tax treaty between Cyprus and the United Kingdom entered into force on 2 October 2019. The protocol, signed 19 December 2018, is the first to amend the treaty and provides a grandfathering period that allows individuals to choose which basis of taxation they want to apply to their government service pensions, i.e., taxed in accordance with the 1974 Cyprus-UK treaty or the 2018 treaty. It applies in Cyprus from 1 January 2019 and in the UK from 1 January 2019 in respect of withholding taxes and from 6 April 2019 in respect of income tax.