US Noble Energy reported discovering between 141 billion to 226 billion cubic metres in Cyprus’s first attempt to find natural resources offshore in December 2011. Noble`s find was after being granted the country`s first offshore exploration license. As part of the second offshore exploration licensing round, launched by the Cypriot government in 2012, Italy`s ENI…
The Late Payments in Commercial Transactions Law, Law 123(I) of 2012, published on the 27.12.2012, repeals the previous legislation regarding late payments in commercial transactions. The purpose of this new legislation is to give legal effect to Directive 2011/07/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 on combating late payment…
New guidelines have been issued by the Ministry of Interior concerning the accelerated procedure for granting Immigration Permit to applicants who are third country nationals and intend to invest in the Republic of Cyprus. The relevant parts of the announcement are as follows: 1. According to the provisions of Regulation 6(2) of the Aliens…
A recent ruling in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has clarified that, irrespective of whether the sickness commenced before or during the period of scheduled annual leave, an employee whose illness coincides with their annual leave is entitled to rearrange their annual leave to a later date. In Asociación Nacional de…
Cyprus has concluded numerous Double Tax Agreements whilst certain other agreements are pending enforcement. The main purpose of these treaties is the avoidance of double taxation on income earned in any of these countries. Under these agreements, a credit is usually allowed against the tax levied by the country in which the taxpayer resides for…
The Cyprus Parliament unanimously passed a bill on the 3.11.2011 suspending the payment of property transfer fees on properties subject to VAT for a period of 6 months. The bill also provided that the property transfer fee for purchases not subject to VAT will be reduced by 50% of the current level for the same…
A 35% income tax rate has been introduced for taxable income in excess of €60,000. The tax bands and rates are therefore now as follows: ChargeableIncomeEUR € TaxRates% TaxAmountEUR € CumulativeTaxEUR € 0-19.500 0 _ _ 19.501-28.000 20 1.700 1.700 28.001-36.300 25 2.075 3.775 36.301 – €60,000 30 7.110 10.885 over €60,001 35 …
On the 26 August 2011 the House of Representatives approved legislation aimed at stimulating the local property market. The legislation passed provides that eligible persons will be subject to a lower VAT rate of 5% on the purchase or construction of a first residence. The rate will apply for the first 200 square meters of…
On 14.12.2010, following a consultation process, the European Commission published a draft revised (recast) Brussels Regulation. The key areas addressed in the Commission’s legislative proposal are as follows: New rules concerning third state (non-EU) matters and defendants The Brussels Regulation provides jurisdiction rules mainly with respect to defendants domiciled in the EU Member States. The Commission proposes to extend…
On the 19th July 2011, Luxembourg’s Finance Minister Luc Frieden conducted an official visit to Cyprus. According to the Luxembourg government Mr Frieden exchanged views with his Cypriot counterpart Charilaos Stavrakis, on recent developments in their respective financial sectors and on European and national legislation in this area. Within this context, Cyprus and Luxembourg agreed…