Taxes in Cyprus are levied by both the central and local governments. Tax revenue stood at 39.2% of GDP in 2012.[1] The most important revenue sources are the income tax, social security, value-added tax and corporate tax, and are all collected by the central government.

Income tax is levied on a progressive rate. Current brackets vary from 0% to 35% in the tax rates for 2014.[2] Furthermore, various tax allowances apply for trade union fees, donation to charities. The tax brackets for the year 2014 are:

Annual income Tax rate
In between €0 and €19500 0%
In between €19500 and €28000 20%
In between €28000 and €36300 25%
In between €36300 and €60000 30%
In excess of €60000 35%

Employment income is also subject to various social security contributions. Contributions are subject to a ceiling, for the year 2014 the maximum amount of insurable earnings has been set to €54396 per year.[3] Employees pay 7.8% of their wage and employers contribute 11.5% of the corresponding wage.[3]

Value added tax applies to most sales of goods and services. The standard rate applies at 19% in 2014, up from 17% since 2013.[3] A lower rate of 9% applies to groceries, books and hotel services. The Cyprus VAT is part of the European Union value added tax system. Certain goods and services are exempt from VAT. This includes exports, financial services, rent, etc.

Corporate taxes are levied at a rate of 12.5%. Various deductions apply including interest, cost of buying other companies, and employer's cost to social security.[2]

Anti Tax Avoidance Directive - Transposition to National Law

edit

On the 19th of July 2019, the Cyprus Department of Taxation has issued a public consultation regarding the national transposition of (EU) 2016/1164 laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market. In focus of the current consultation is the introduction of Hybrid Mismatch Rules in Cyprus as well as the introduction of an Exit Tax[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation. Note: Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was obtained from the individual country pages, under the "Fiscal Freedom" section. These numbers change. Please update the numbers for individual countries in the list.
  2. ^ a b "Tax Facts & Figures 2014 - Cyprus" (PDF). PWC.
  3. ^ a b c "Cyprus - Other taxes and levies". kpmg.com.
  4. ^ HSharpe (2019-07-28). "Public consultation - ATAD Cyprus". Retrieved 2019-08-04.