Author: fairfaxwebmaster

Last year, new foreign company legislation was passed known as ‘deoffshorisation.’ This legislation, which came into effect from 1^st January 2015, meant that countless offshore company structures established in Cyprus needed to make adjustments to their offshore entities in order to be compliant with the new law.

The legislation affirms that any individual or company with a 25% or more ownership in a foreign company or organisation must be categorised as a ‘controlling entity,’ meaning that changes to their legal form must be made – primarily in the form of greater substance within an offshore organisation.

Since the legislation was implemented, countless offshore structures have adjusted their operations and built up substance in their structures by establishing operational offices in Cyprus and by directly appointing physical persons to their structure.

Substance in Cyprus is essential in order to support Cyprus tax residency status, support transfer pricing challenges, defend beneficial ownership challenges and exchange information transparently and confidently. The increase in substance has also led to an increase in employment, the attraction of more talent and a boost to the economy.

Cyprus’ strategic location combined with its developed legal system, full EU membership, competitive corporate tax rate of 12.5%, business-friendly environment and low operational costs make it the ideal location for establishing substance in.

However businesses cannot increase substance without the support of a reliable and knowledgeable agency to assist them throughout the procedure.

How can Fairfax assist?

Fairfax works hard to support its clients with a wide range of services designed to assist with increasing substance in Cyprus. Their team of specialists can assist you with the following services:

Providing assistance to companies or special purpose vehicles to legally obtain transparency, ‘substance’ and comply with the Cypriot Legal System in addition to the supply of qualified personnel and exec and non-executive directors that are screened and supplied via Fairfax’s group company, GRS Global Recruitment Solutions (Cyprus).
Providing tailor-made administration, bookkeeping, payroll, immigration and secretarial services

Fairfax’s founders and directors, Nicoletta Demetriou, Donna Stephenson and Steve Slocombe possess industry specific, in-depth knowledge along with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry, thus enabling them to provide the highest-quality, bespoke services delivered in a prompt and responsive manner.

Heading the team is Fairfax’s Director of Accounts and Payroll, Nicoletta Demetriou, who is responsible for overseeing complex and technical services to local and international companies with a presence in Cyprus. Nicoletta is an FCCA qualified accountant with more than a decades’ worth of experience in running payroll and accounting services for local and international businesses with a presence in Cyprus. Together with the team, she works persistently and efficiently to ensure the needs of her clients are met accurately and professionally.

Further to supporting its clients and assisting them with increasing substance in Cyprus, this highly established firm also offers a wealth of additional services including outsourced payroll services, immigration, registration of personnel with the local authorities and Cyprus employment contract provision. Such a broad spectrum of services ensures that all business’ needs are met in a cost-effective, reliable and specialised way, thus enabling Fairfax to provide greater value to its international clientele.

Fairfax is simply unrivalled in terms of quality of service, knowledge and delivery. By investing carefully in their team and technology, they are able to offer the highest quality services and a fast turnaround whilst never compromising on quality.

For further information please contact a member of the team on +357 25 55 80 25 or email accounts@fairfaxyeaman.com

Cyprus has become an even more attractive business base for non-Europeans thanks to a recently revised Cypriot Citizenship scheme.

The new scheme, which was issued by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus and came into effect on 13^th September 2016, sees the abolishment of the €12 million collective investment scheme in favour of a reduced investment amount of €2 million, with the intention of making a Cyprus/EU Citizenship investment more attractive to investors.

The reduction to €2 million for the threshold of investment will further boost the economy of Cyprus as foreign investments continue to rise. The scheme also offers non-EU Citizens a fast track procedure while the same rights given to investors as with European Citizens.

In order to be eligible, the investor must purchase a residence worth at least €500,000 as their main investment. In the event that the main investment is not in housing properties then an investment of €2 million plus a residential unit of €500,000 will be required.

Another amendment to the regulation is that parents of the investor are also allowed to apply for Cyprus/EU Citizenship, provided that they purchase a housing property of at least €500,000 (meaning they will therefore not need to proceed with an additional main investment).

The investor will be eligible for Cyprus/EU citizenship by exception in the event that the following investment options (mentioned below in section A) and requirements (in section B) are fulfilled:

Section A

€2,000,000 (two million euros) investment option:

Investment in real estate:

An investment of at least €2 million must be made for the purchase or construction of a building or for the construction of other land development projects.

OR:

Participation in Cyprus companies:

The applicant must be the shareholder or the ultimate beneficial owner of a company or companies based in Cyprus. The management must be situated in Cyprus and the company where the investment is being made must employ at least five Cypriot or European citizens.

OR:

Investment in Alternative Investment Organisations or in assets or Cypriot companies:

An investment of at least €2 million must be made by the applicant in Alternative Investment Organisations licensed by CySEC or in the assets of Cyprus companies.

OR:

A combination of the above (+ bonds)

An investment of a combination of the above-mentioned options in addition to an investment in government bonds for the amount of up to €500,000.

Section B

Clarifications:

€500, 000 plus VAT residential property:

In the event that the applicant invests in real estate under provision Section A1 then he or she will not need to fulfil the provision of Section B, provided one of the properties purchased is at least €500,000 + VAT and provided that he or she will maintain the property as his or her permanent residence house for life.

Further to the above, the applicant must have a Permanent Residence permit before his or her naturalisation. If the individual does not yet have the permit, then a permanent residence permit application must be submitted.

The investments must have been made by the applicant in the last three years preceding the date of application and he or she must maintain his or her investment for a further three years from the date of obtaining the Cypriot/EU Citizenship.

In the event that the purchase price of the residence property exceeds the required €500,000 then the part of the purchase price that exceeds €500,000 may be used to complete the €2 million requirement of investments under Section A’s requirements.

There is no provision for collective investment.

Applications based on the new amended regulation may be filed beginning 13^th September, 2016.  The timeframe for submission of applications under the previous regulation has been extended to 30^th October 2016.

Fairfax is a leading reputable agency specialising in the outsourcing of payroll, immigration and investment. The company possesses many years of experience in a range of immigration requirements including permanent residence, Cypriot Citizenships, visas and permits.

The team of highly experienced agents at Fairfax remain on hand assist you throughout the entire investment procedure. To learn more, please contact the team today on +357 25558025 or email accounts@fairfaxyeaman.com for more information on how to obtain your EU Citizenship.

Payroll is a complex yet entirely necessary function of any business. Not only is it time-consuming when performed in-house, but if you work in a busy company where new employees are frequently onboarded, it can become extremely overwhelming to remain afloat of every payroll function.

Furthermore, when you manage payroll manually using timesheets, spreadsheets and a calculator, the entire process becomes even more time-consuming and prone to mistakes, which can lead to unnecessary fines and penalties. All in all, payroll is a lengthy and meticulous process that causes countless headaches for busy companies with many obligations.

For this reason, it’s essential that you consider outsourcing payroll.

There are countless benefits of payroll outsourcing. These include:

Expertise:

Payroll and tax legislature are becoming increasingly complex; even one minor error can result in serious implications. By outsourcing all payroll functions to the experts, your company will remain up-to-date with the latest legislative changes and auto software updates while you will also benefits from improved compliance and accuracy.

Payroll companies such as GRS’ group company, Fairfax, specialise in the complexities of payroll. With more than 15 years’ experience in the payroll and accounting industry servicing local and international clients, their team of dedicated payroll processing experts, headed by Nicoletta Demetriou, works tirelessly to deliver professional payroll services to businesses of all levels and sizes.

Efficiency:

Further to the above, when all payroll responsibilities are handled outside of your office, this gives you more time to focus on the important areas of your business, making you and your team much more productive and efficient.

Fairfax offers superior outsourcing services that are tailored to the needs of each individual client. This prestigious firm has a full team of specialists handling every payroll function, making the entire process quick, seamless and completely accurate. With Nicoletta and the team, you will benefit from a superior quality of service that’s proficient, compliant and extremely prompt.

Reliability:

When you outsource payroll there’s no need to worry about your payroll processing company calling in sick or requesting annual leave during the crucial pay period. Furthermore, confidentiality and risks such as identity theft, tampering with company files or embezzlement of funds will no longer be an issue. By outsourcing the payroll of your workforce to Fairfax , you can ensure that all payroll and reporting will always be processed with absolute confidentiality and reliability.

Technology:

One constant demand for businesses is to have the latest version of their payroll software and spreadsheets, however paying maintenance fees and constantly upgrading software is an ongoing cost. Fairfax use the latest payroll software to handle all of your needs, giving you access to the best payroll technology, without the costs. In addition, they only use the highest-quality systems for storing and protecting data, ensuring absolute safety.

Cost reducing:

An in-house payroll process is costly and requires training as well as the latest hardware, software and supplies. However, when you work with a professional payroll provider, the direct costs of payroll processing can be significantly reduced. An outsourced solution will deliver peace of mind and free up time in your company, enabling you to get back to your core area of business and in turn, reduce unnecessary overheads.

In addition to payroll outsourcing, Fairfax also offers a service of employing temporary workers under GRS, which is the only recruitment consultancy in Cyprus to possess the temporary recruiter license. The license enables Fairfax and GRS to provide temporary workers to its Cyprus-based clients, offering enhanced flexibility and convenience.

If you haven’t considered leveraging the assistance of skilled payroll experts before, maybe now is the time to make the switch. To learn more about the above-mentioned services, please contact Fairfax on +357 25558025 or email accounts@fairfaxyeaman.com

Fairfax provides full payroll outsourcing solutions to accountancy firms in Cyprus from weekly or monthly processing to year-end reporting. Some of the accountancy firms we work with outsource a few Clients to us, others prefer to outsource them all.

Our team is dedicated to payroll outsourcing with a fully staffed payroll processing department headed by Nicoletta Demetriou, FCCA,  member of The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus and ex Payroll Champion of a big 4 firm, who specialises in the complexities of payroll and possesses more than 15 years’ experience in running payroll and accounting services in Cyprus.

Working with you to find the best solution for your client, we treat the accountancy firm as our Client with the end user seamlessly continuing to interact with only you, the accounting firm. Alternatively, we can treat your Client as ours for the purposes of payroll and gather inputs from them directly and provide them with the full service.

Why outsource your client’s payroll?

•Take advantage of Nicoletta’s expertise and dedicated team who are entirely focused on payroll.

•Cost effective allowing your firm to focus on other core service deliverables and higher margin services.

•Remain up to date with the latest legislative changes and auto software updates.

Request a quotation today or contact a member of the Fairfax team to discuss your specific requirements and how we can assist you. Contact: +357 25558025 email: accounts@fairfaxyeaman.com

Social Insurance Contributions for the Employee and Employer

The rate of Social insurance contributions is applied to a maximum level of emoluments. The maximum level of emoluments for 2015 and 2014 is €54.396 (weekly €1.046/monthly €4.533).

The rate of 7,8% applies for both the employer and the employee up to 31 December 2018.

Other employer’s contributions:

Social cohesion fund 2,0 Redundancy fund 1,* Industrial training fund 0,5 Holiday fund (if not exempt) 8,0

Special Contribution  Employee €
First 1500	Νil
From 1501 – to 2500	2,5% (minimum €10)
From 2501 – to 3500	3,0%
Over 3500	3,5%

 

Income Tax
Chargeable income €	Tax rate %	Accumulated tax €
First 19500	Nil	Nil
From 19501 – to 28000	20	1700
From 28001 – to 36300	25	3775
From 36301 – to 60000	30	10885
Οver 60000	35