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20% or EUR8,550 exemption

Article 8 (21) provides that the tax exemption of €8.550 and 20% (whichever is the lower) of the remuneration from any employment exercised in Cyprus by an individual who was resident outside Cyprus the tax year before the year of commencement of employment in Cyprus is exempt from income tax.

On 15^th December 2020, an amendment of the article was put in force.

The purpose of the amendment is to extend the application of the 20% tax exemption for expats working in Cyprus. The amendment of the article applies until the tax year 2030.

Prior to this extension, only those commencing employment in Cyprus from 2012 and onwards were qualified for this exemption. Individuals were able to claim the exemption for a period of 5 years up to tax year 2020.

The extension of the tax benefit now allows individuals to apply for a 5-year period given that the commencement of their employment is between 2012 and 2030.

For more information on the extension of the 20% tax benefit for expats contact Fairfax, a GRS Group Company.

Explore the benefits of engaging the Fairfax team to assist your personnel through this process by contacting them on +357 25558025 or at accounts@fairfaxyeaman.com

Fairfax is recognized for their complete outsourced payroll solution, bookkeeping and accounting services and offers a cost-effective strategy that saves companies’ time, staff and infrastructure costs. With years of experience, Fairfax have built their expertise working with leading organisations across the globe who appoint and trust them as their experienced and professional outsourced partner.

In addition to their outsourced Payroll Solutions, Fairfax will now be offering “Payroll Consultations” to those who run their payroll in-house. Payroll is known to be a task that can be time consuming if not done efficiently. Fairfax are offering a Consultation to ensure that if your payroll is carried out in house, that it is compliant with both existing and new legislations.

Each company has different needs when it comes to their payroll depending on the amount of employees they have and the complexity of the renumeration paid to their employees. Fairfax can offer a 360 appraisal of an in -house payroll process no matter what the size or complexity of the payroll.   The team at Fairfax draw on a combined expertise of over 30 years in payroll and having a background from the Top Four they are used to working with large global multinational companies as well as more traditional local companies

The Fairfax Consultations are a flexible resource and can be used on an annual or quarterly basis depending on each client requirements.

The clients of Fairfax receive confidentiality, efficiency and compliance.  Payroll requires sensitive information about personnel and in the current world with GDPR it is crucial that your payroll processes are compliant with Data Protection and GDPR.  Fines imposed for non -compliance with GDPR can run into the tens of thousands and as an EU wide legislation it is being enforced.

If you would like to speak to one of our team  to find out more about our Payroll Consultations please call Nicoletta Demetriou, Director 00357 25558025 or email Nicoletta directly Nicoletta@fairfaxyeaman.com

 

The taxation system in Cyprus is one of the more beneficial in comparison to other countries, making it an attractive destination to both companies and individuals.

As an expat living in Cyprus, you can benefit from the following exemptions:

20% or MAX of €8,550 exemption

The Tax Relief entitlement was due to expire on 31/12/2020, however according to our sources, the government is now in discussions regarding the extension of this 20% tax benefit for expats for five more years since they have seen an influx in people from abroad coming to Cyprus for employment as a result of this program. By the end of 2020, we should have an official announcement from the government on whether or not this will continue.

For someone who was not residing in Cyprus prior to taking up employment in Cyprus is exempted from tax and this would apply from January 1s from the year following the year of the beginning of employment. The lower of 20% on the annual emoluments or EUR 8,550 (whichever is lower) is the amount that is exempt for the aforementioned individuals.

This exemption can only be benefited from for a maximum of 5 years until the year 2020. It is now under review to be extended and we should have an announcement soon.

50% exemption:

When an individual’s income exceeds EUR100,000 per annum starting from the actual start date of employment and 12 months onwards and was not a tax resident in Cyprus prior to the commencement of their employment, 50% of the gross emoluments are eligible to be deducted from taxable income.

This exemption can only be benefited from for a period of 10 years from the year of employment.

It is important to emphasize that no individual is entitled to both exemptions simultaneously.

When submitting your tax returns, it is important to be able to distinguish whether or not you are considered a resident of Cyprus or not as it makes a significant difference in terms of your claims.

At Fairfax , our team of experts can access whether the benefit is applicable in your case.  To simplify the procedure, contact the Fairfax team to assist your personnel by contacting them on +357 25558025 or at accounts@fairfaxyeaman

Individuals are now able to complete their tax returns for 2019 online through the Taxisnet portal. The deadline for all individual taxpayers to fill out the online forms is October 30, 2020.

If Individuals have not already done so from last year, they must register with the Tax Department and proceed accordingly with the completion of their tax return.

The following Personal income tax rates apply to individuals:

Bracket	Annual Chargeable Income	Rate        Accumulated tax
1	up to €19 500	0%                NIL
2	€19 501 – €28 000	20%             €1700
3	€28 001 – €36 300	25%             €3775
4	€36 301 – €60 000	30%             €10885
5	€60,001 and above	35%

 

In the case that the calculations come out to you having overpaid your taxes after submitting your form, a tax refund will be processed by the Tax Department in due time.

Please ensure that your IBAN number and Swift code of your Bank are properly included on the relevant field on the return.

In the case that the calculations conclude to a tax payable, you will need to proceed with the settlement via the Tax portal.

Important Note : According to Circular 46 of Income Tax Legislation (dd 20/08/2020) as of 2020 any individual with any income is obliged to submit personal Income Tax Return revising via taxisnet by the due date , which going forward will be the 31^st of July following the year of the assessment.

At Fairfax, we can simplify this process for you and your staff.

Explore the benefits of engaging our team to assist your personnel through this process by contacting us on +357 25558025 or at accounts@fairfaxyeaman.

 

A new public transport system was recently launched in Cyprus to expand the Bus network across Cyprus and bring it up to European standards. The newly created Cyprus Public Transport was established by the MLKP consortium comprising of Malta Public Transport and Kapnos Airport Shuttle Ltd and is serving routes in Nicosia and Larnaca as of 4^th July 2020. The contract for the services was awarded by the Cyprus Ministry of Transport and is for the next ten years.

Malta Public Transport Chairman, Felipe Cosmen, commented on the launch of operating a public transport service in Cyprus: “Thanks to our success in Malta we just launched a similar bus service in Cyprus which started to operate last weekend. We have managed to export the successful public transport model from Malta to another European country.”

GRS Group the leading recruitment, payroll and Outsourcing company in Cyprus, was selected for its high-quality service and experience with large Outsourcing projects in the Energy, Retail, Banking, and Construction sectors. Lorraine Piggott Brown, Senior Operations Manager said ‘having worked in a number of industry horizontals in Cyprus we were delighted to be partnering with CPT as it was our first Outsourced Project in the Transport sector in Cyprus’.

The project began just before lockdown and involved the transfer of over 650 employees to the new company which involved face to face meeting across Cyprus. However, as the pandemic spread and became more serious, face to face meetings had to be replaced; innovation and technology took over.  Project Manager Annita Paliou said ‘it happened very quickly, and we had to think on our feet as the Health & Safety of the CPT & GRS staff was off paramount importance. As things developed, we realised that we would have to replace the face to face meetings and use a blend of technology including What’s App, Viber, Zoom and Microsoft Teams’. Organization on the project was key to ensure the 4^th July deadline was met  and all the information and paperwork for each staff member had been gathered, recorded and processed  to ensure a seamless transition for the employees to the new company Cyprus Public Transport.

With the 4^th July target achieved successfully and the employees on-boarded by GRS it was the then over to Fairfax, a member of the GRS Group to take over, as they were selected as the outsourced payroll provider to run and manage payroll for the new company and its employees.

The CEO of GRS Group, Steve Slocombe, commented on the partnering with CPT “We are extremely pleased to be offering our expertise and services to such a premium client. With the advent of Covid we faced some unprecedented challenges with the project but due to our organised and agile approach we turned the project into a success. This of course was all down to the project team and I would personally like to thank them all: Lorraine, Annita, Christiana, Laura S and Laura C for their outstanding performance and resilience in such a strange and difficult time.”

If you would like to learn more about how your business can benefit from our Outsourcing Services please contact Steve Slocombe /Lorraine Piggott Brown at : steve@grsrecruitment.com lorraine@grsrecruitment.com Limassol 00357 25342720 Nicosia 00357 22769369