Accounting Rules

Tax Year: The tax year is the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December.
Accounting Standards: Cypriot accounting practices used International Accounting Standards (IAS) for financial statements preparation. With the European Union membership, the Cypriot companies should adopt IFRS according to EU requirements.
Accounting Regulation Bodies: Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus
Accounting Reports: Annual financial statements including a balance sheet, a profit and loss account and an annex should be prepared in Greek and a company annual return be submitted to the Registrar of Companies.
Publication Requirements: The Company Law requires that a company maintains proper accounting records in accordance with the International Accounting Standards. Financial statements for a 12-month accounting period have to be prepared annually.

The Cypriot companies are required to maintain account books justifying:
- total payments received and expenses incurred
- total sales and purchases of goods
- details of debt and credit.
Professional Accountancy Bodies: ICPAC , The Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus
Certification and Auditing: The companies of Cyprus need to appoint one or many external auditors in order to authenticate the results announced in the Annual General Meeting. The competence of the auditor should be in accordance to those stated in Article 155 (1) of the Company Law. A Cyprus registered auditor is required to be appointed in the cases where the company: is required to prepare consolidated accounts; is a Public Limited company, or fails to meet the small company criteria. You can consult one of the following external auditors:
KPMG, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte.
Accounting News: Information about taxation, auditing, and accounting.
IAS Plus

Tax Rates

Consumption Taxes

Nature of the Tax: Valued Added Tax (VAT)
Tax Rate: 15%
Reduced Tax Rate: The 0% tax rate applies to exports and international transport. The 5% tax rate applies to gas, books, newspapers, food, medicine and the supply of new dwellings. The 8% tax rate applies to Hotel accommodation fees, Rural and private taxi transport services and tourist excursion and long distance bus services.
Rental of immovable property, financial services, insurance and postal services are exempted of VAT.
Other Consumption Taxes: Excise duties are charged on the import of certain products like fuel, vehicles, cigarettes and alcohol. The exhaustive list of the products, on which the excise duties are charged, can be seen on the web site of the Customs Office of Cyprus. An additional tax called "Temporary Refugee Levy" (TRL) is levied on some luxury products like whisky or cookies at a rate of 5 - 6%.
To get further information on VAT rates, please check the list of VAT rates applied within the European Union.
More detailed information on excise duties is available concerning alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, energy products on the European Commission website.

Learn more about Service Providers in Cyprus on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Services.

Corporate Taxes

Company Tax: 0.1
Capital Gains Taxation: Profits from the sale of securities are fully tax exempt. Capital gains tax at the rate of 20% is imposed on gains from the disposal of immovable property situated in Cyprus and on gains from the disposal of shares in an unlisted company that owns immovable property situated in Cyprus.
Main Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: Interest income, dividend income, profit from the disposal of securities, profits from a permanent establishment maintained outside Cyprus are exempted from taxation.
Other Corporate Taxes: Real property tax, stamp duty, social security contributions, transfer fees, tax on banks (0.095% on deposits, excluding foreign deposits).

Individual Taxes

Tax Rate

Income Tax	Progressive tax rates from 0% up to 30%.
CYP 0 -19,500	0%
CYP 19,501 - 28,000	20%
CYP 28,001 - 36,300	25%
CYP more than 36,301	30%

Allowable Deductions and Tax Credit: The most important personal deductions are donations to approved charities, contributions to the social insurance fund and similar contributions paid abroad; premiums for life insurance and contributions to pension plans and medical funds, rental income.
Special Expatriate Tax Regime: A non-resident taking up employment and becoming resident of Cyprus will be given a 20% tax-fee allowance on employment income for the three years following the year of becoming resident of Cyprus.

Double Taxation Treaties

Countries With Whom a Double Taxation Treaty Have Been Signed: See the list of double Taxation Conventions
Withholding Taxes: Dividends: 0/15%, Interest: 0/10%, Royalties: 0/5%/10%

Sources of Fiscal Information

Tax Authorities: Inland Revenue Department
Customs and Excise
Other Domestic Resources: Website providing interesting information on taxation and local advantages.
Consult Taxation trends in the European Union.

Learn more about Taxes and Accounting in Cyprus on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Services.

Intellectual Property

National Organizations: The organization responsible for the protection of brands and patents in Cyprus is the Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver .
Regional Organizations: None
International Membership: Member of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization)
Signatory to the Paris Convention For the Protection of Intellectual Property
Membership to the TRIPS agreement - Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

National Regulation and International Agreements

Type of property and law	Validity	International Agreements Signed
Patent Patents Law, last amended 1999	20 years from the date of registering the application provided that the patentee pays the annual renewal fee.	Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
Trademark Trademark law, last amended 2002	Successful registration of a trademark allows its proprietor the monopolistic exploitation of the mark for a total of 21 years.	Trademark Law Treaty Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design Industrial Design and Models law, last amended 2003	25 years from the date of application. The term of protection is five years, renewable five times.
Copyright Copyright law, last amended 2004	The protection subsists for the duration life of the author plus 70 years.	Berne convention For the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their Phonograms WIPO Copyright Treaty WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
Industrial Models Industrial Design and Models law, last amended 2003	25 years from the date of application. The term of protection is five years, renewable five times.

Legal Framework

Independence of Justice: Judiciary is independent in Cyprus. It operates according to the British tradition by upholding the presumption of innocence and the right to due process.
Equal Treatment of Nationals and Foreigners: Foreign nationals in Cyprus enjoy equal treatment from the judiciary including the commercial disputes.
The Language of Justice: Both Greek and Turkish are the judicial languages in the country.
Recourse to an Interpreter: Having an interpreter is always possible.
Sources of the Law and Legal Similarities: The source of the law is the Constitution of 1960 which is based on common law. The country accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction but with reservations. Cyprus has joined the European Union in May 2004. The application of the european legal framework is suspended in the north part.
Checking National Laws Online: Cyprus Government Gazette online

Learn more about Lawyers and Legal in Cyprus on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Services.

Standards

National Standards Organizations: CYS, Cyprus Standards Organization
Integration in the International Standards Network: Due to its accession to the European Union in 2004, technical standards and specifications in Cyprus have shown increasing conformity with the European standards. The organization defining technical standards is the CYS (Cyprus Organization for Standards and Control of Quality). CYS is linked to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. It is an affiliate member of three main European Standards organizations: the CENORM (European Standardisation Committee), the CENELEC (European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization) and the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). It is also a member of the ISO (International Standardisation Organisation).
Classification of Standards: Cyprus has adopted more than 15,000 European Standards since its accession to EU membership.
First of all, in terms of standardization, Cyprus has to respect EU rules and directives and then additional National rules can apply in the field of standardization. One of the good example of a EU standardization is CE marking which is compulsory for certain types of products.
To have an overview of the Standardization process in the European Union, consult the european website dedicated to it: New Approach.
Online Consultation of Standards: The standards catalogue is available on the Cyprus Organisation for Sandardization website.
Certification Organizations: CYCERT Cyprus Certification Company

Business Practices

General Information: Kwintessential, Choose Cyprus to obtain information
Opening Hours and Days: - Banks:
Monday-Friday: 8:30 to 12:30. Banks located in city centers offer afternoon services for tourists. Banks at international airports of Larnaca and Paphos are open to the public during the day and provide a night service hours on most flights.

- Stores:
a) Winter time (November 1st - March 31)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: up to 18:00, Wednesday, Saturday: up to 14:00.
b) Spring time (April 1st - May 31) and autumn (September 15 - October 31)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: up to 19:00, Wednesday, Saturday: up to 14:00.
c) Summer time (June 1 - September 14)
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 19:30 but closed in the afternoon from 13h to 16h. Wednesday, Saturday: up to 14:00.

- Offices:
September 15 - May 31
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 13:00 and 15:00 - 18:00.
June 1 - September 14
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 13:00 and 16:00 - 19:00.

- Administration:
Winter (1st September - 30th June)
Monday - Friday: 07:30 - 14:30 Thursday: 07h30 - 14h30, 15:00 - 18:00.
Summer hours (July 1 - August 31)
Monday - Friday: 07h30 - 14h30.

Public Holidays

New Year's Day	January 1
Epiphany Day	January 6
Green Monday - Start of Lent	It occurs in the beginning of the 7th week.
Greek Independence Day	March 25
Cyprus National Day	April 1
Good Friday	Good Friday is on the Friday before Easter sunday.
Easter Monday	It occurs in the beginning of the 8th week.
Labor Day	May 1
Holy Spirit Day	50 days after Greek Orthodox Easter.
Assumption Day	August 15
Cyprus Independence Day	October 1
National Day of Greece	October 28
Christmas Eve	December 24
Christmas Day	December 25

Periods When Companies Usually Close

Christmas break	3-7 days during Christmas period
Summer break	Varying closure during August, slower economic activity

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Cyprus: Business Environment