Cyprus

Business Environment

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 until 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	March 10
Greek Independence Day	March 25
Cyprus National Day	April 1
Good Friday	April 25
Easter Monday	April 28
Labor Day	May 1
Holy Spirit Day	June 16
Assumption Day	August 15
Cyprus Independence Day	October 1
National Day of Greece	October 28
Christmas Eve	December 24
Christmas Day	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26

Periods when companies usually close

Christmas break	3-4 days to a week during Christmas period
Summer break	Varying closure during August, slower economic activity

Accounting Rules

Tax year: The tax year is the calendar year.
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 a EU requirement.
Accounting regulation bodies: Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus
Accounting reports: Annual financial statements should be prepared in Greek and a company annual return to be submitted to the Registrar of Companies.
Publication requirements: According to section 141 (1) of the Company Law, the Cypriot companies are required to maintain account books justifying:
- total payments received and expenses incurred
- total sales and purchases of goods
- the debts and credit details.
The accounting documents should give an honest and clear picture of all the dealings of the company, justifying each transaction. The content and the layout of the accounting documents should be in conformity with the format defined in Annexure 8 of the Company Law. The balance sheet should be signed by 2 directors of the company except when the company has only one 1 director.
Professional accountancy bodies: 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 conformity to those stated in Article 155 (1) of the Company Law.
Accounting news: Information about taxation, auditing, and accounting.

Tax Rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax: Valued Added Tax (VAT)
Tax rate: 15%
Reduced tax rate: 5% and 8%.
The 0% tax rate applies to exports, food, medicine and international transport.
The 5% tax rate applies to hotel services, catering, gas, books and newspapers, and the supply of new dwellings.
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.

Corporate taxes

Company tax: 10% (the lowest of the European Union)
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 own 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 the Republic are exempted from taxation.
Other corporate taxes: Real property tax and stamp duty are other taxations that exist in Cyprus.

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Income Tax	EUR 19,500 is received tax free, with progressive tax rates going up to 30%.
All Cyprus tax residents (person who stay in the country for 183 days in the year of assessment).	taxed on all income accrued or derived from all sources in Cyprus and abroad.
Individuals who are not tax residents of Cyprus	taxed on income accrued or derived from sources in Cyprus.
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, and contributions to the social insurance fund and similar contributions paid abroad, and premiums for life insurance and contributions to pension plans and medical funds.
Special expatriate tax regime: Non-resident individuals who stay less than 183 days a year are taxed only on their income gained in Cyprus.
A non-resident taking up employment and becoming resident in Cyprus will be given a 20% tax-fee allowance (capped at 8,543 Euros) on employment income for the three years following the year of becoming resident in Cyprus.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: See the list of double Taxation Conventions
Whithholding taxes: Dividends: 0/15%, Interest: 0, Royalties: 0/10%

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: Customs and Excise
Other domestic resources: Website providing interesting information on taxation and local advantages

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
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 Nice agreement Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement
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 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.
Checking national laws online: Cyprus Government Gazette online

Standards

National standards organizations: 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 are showing increasing conformity with the European standards. The organization defining technical standards is the Cyprus Organization for Standards and Control of Qualit y (CYS). CYS is linked to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism. CYS is an affiliate member of 3 main European Standards organizations, i.e the European Standardisation Committee, the European Committee for Electro Technical Standardization and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute. It is also a member of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO).
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 products 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.
In order to have an overview of the Standardization process in the European Union, it is advised to consult a European website dedicated to it: New Approach.
Online consultation of standards: The following websites offer information on European standards which are applicable in Cyprus: and the website of the European Committe for Standardization.
Certification organizations: Cyprus Certification Company