The investment management sector is developing rapidly on the island as it has become one of the most appealing countries to start up and manage financial services. With the entrance of Cyprus in the EU in 2004, it has opened many business doors as well as the influence of the CIFs which have successfully set up and operate efficiently. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) licensed nearly 200 CIFs to date.

This adds up to a continuous interest in setting up and operating CIFs in Cyprus as it offers an attractive tax regime. There are lots of reasons why the access of the European Securities Markets is becoming increasingly tempting. Other than providing liquidity and access to a diverse pool of investors, European listings provide companies with the appropriate status for further European and international expansion.

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On 11th of December 2012 the European Parliament approved the EU regulation on Unitary Patent for Europe. The regulation creates a system where the EPO (European Patent Office) will be able to issue one single patent protecting rights in all 25 member states which opted in this system. Italy and Spain opted out of the unitary patent scheme because their languages were not included as official languages of the scheme. The unitary patent system will be in force on 1/1/2012 and its use will be optional. The applicant will have the ability to choose either the current system of distributed filing through EPO or the new unitary system.

It is common knowledge that the current system of patents in Europe is fine tuned but very expensive as after initial grant of the patent the procedure requires “validation” in all 27 European Countries. This was characterised as “tax on innovation”. The new system is expected to lower the fees and costs of registration of patents at least ten fold, making it comparable to that of US and Japan.

Innovation is considered a cornerstone of Europe’s future growth and many schemes are under consideration and others already implemented with this strategy in mind.

Cyprus is maybe positioning it self in the centre of this strategy, by becoming the european jurisdiction of choice for Intellectual Property routing. The recently amended royalty tax of Cyprus, makes the jurisdiction indispensable in royalty tax structuring. The main reasons for this are:

• Royalty Profits Tax: 2%
• Effective Tax on Royalty Profits: as low as 0%;
• No withholding tax on royalties payable to Cyprus companies from EU and US;
• No withholding tax payable from Cyprus to any other jurisdiction;
• Network of 46 Double tax treaties; and
• Excellent Professional workforce.

The European Commission will present today a Communication to the European Council and Parliament titled Action Plan to Strengthen the Fight against Tax Fraud and Tax Evasion. The Communication, sets out the practical steps to be followed the next couple of years by all involved institutions including EU member countries to battle tax evasion. In short, the measures outlined in the communication will be the following:
Old resurfaced initiatives or policies

1. New framework for administrative cooperation, mainly enhancing exchange of information between member states;
2. Amendment of the Savings Taxation Directive mainly to close loopholes of the system;
3. Adoption of an Anti-fraud and tax cooperation agreement;
4. Adoption of a Quick Reaction Mechanism for VAT fraud, mainly allowing a member state to deviate from the Directives in case an abuse of the system creates a massive VAT fraud issue;
5. Wider adoption of optional application of VAT reversed charge mechanism;
6. Adoption of a forum for streamlining the EU Vat system to battle fraud.

New Immediate Initiatives

1. Common EU – wide definition of Tax Heavens and the adoption of a common “toolbox” of coordinated measures towards third countries;
2. Recommendation for adopting a general anti-avoidance clause in all double tax treaties between member states and third countries;
3. Improving the effectiveness and applicability of the Code of Conduct on Business Taxation;
4. Adoption of a central Tax Identification Number (TIN) repository called “TIN on Europa”;
5. Adoption of Standard form for exchange of information on taxation issues;

New Initiatives for December 2013

1. Revision of the Parent – Subsidiary Directive;
2. Promote the standard for automatic exchange of information on tax issues;
3. Implementation of a European Taxpayer Charter;
4. Reinforcement of cooperation with law enforcement units to battle tax evasion;
5. Promote simultaneous controls (“common raids”);

New Initiatives for December 2014

1. Development of a computerised format for automatic exchange of information; 
2. Full implementation and use of TIN;
3. Implementation of EU-wide information technology tools for administrative cooperation;
4. Reinforcing the ability of tax administrators to trace money flows;
5. Extend EUROFISC to direct taxation;
6. Create a one stop shop in every country for matters relating taxation;
7. Develop motivational incentives and voluntary disclosure programmes;
8. Develop a web tax portal;
9. Promote alignement of EU-wide common administrative and criminal sanctions;
10. Develop an EU- standard audit file (SAF-T);
11. Start negotiation with third parties for administrative cooperation on VAT issues.

Longer term Initiatives

1. Central Joint Audits (joint raids);
2. Develop mutual direct access to national databases;
3. Propose a single legal basis for administrative cooperation of all taxes.

Last week, Cyprus government and Troika agreed in principle on an MOU on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality. The MOU contains several provisions and measures relating to:

• The Financial and Banking Sector;
• Fiscal Policy;
• Fiscal and Structural Measures;
• Labour Market;
• Goods and Services Markets;

Beside the austerity measures which are costly in terms of growth, at least in the short term, many of the policies proposed are generally and widely supported by many in Cyprus. The fact that austerity is undertaken simultaneously with bank de-leveraging is indeed going to weight a lot to the growth prospects in Cyprus, at least for the next 3 years to follow. However there is a balancing effect which is fully in line with the fact that Cyprus is an international business centre. Our fast and hard observations regarding the international position of Cyprus post MOU are the following:

1. Non of the tax advantages of Cyprus tax system are under policy consideration in accordance to the MOU. More specifically all the tax policies target primarily local tax payers. The only deviation to that principle is probably the abolition of exceptions for the payment of Euro350 annual levy. These exceptions however were not particularly used by international investors using Cyprus for international business purposes.
2. The reputation and safe status of the Banking sector is re-instated following the MOU. 
• The institutions will receive a full third party appraisal by 1/3/2013 and will be recapitalized fully with an agreed Euro 10 billion recapitalization loan;
• The non performing assets of the banks shall be bought by a government led Asset Management Company (AMC);
3. The enlargement of the financial sector is achieved. The inclusion of Cooperative Credit Institutions under the umbrella of Central Bank of Cyprus changes the financial sector in Cyprus considerably. International business was for many years out of reach for such institutions but it seems that now the new regulatory regime will change that dynamic towards a more extrovert approach.
4. The agreed modernisation of the regulative regime relating to Public Private Partnerships (PPP) together with the privatisation of state owned enterprises (SOE) will create new opportunities for international investment for large projects.
5. The restructuring of Professions and Services sector will further open up the market for new international investments in these sectors.
6. The necessary restructuring of the Public Sector will create a trend of abolishing red tape in the public sector creating efficiencies which will certainly benefit fast track licensing, registration and approval of actions related to international investment and routing.

It was always our expectation that even though Cyprus is cash strained, austerity and taxes would be of such nature that will safeguard the position of Cyprus as an international business centre. The fact is that in the last one year amendments to Cyprus Tax enhanced Cyprus position in international scene by lowering taxes for international investors. The new royalties tax regime, the new yacht leasing scheme, the new investment immigration regime and the new trust law regime, are only few of the such recent amendments. Together with the non abolition of traditional tax benefits of Cyprus (i.e. the lowest tax rate in Europe), the support of Euro10billion towards Cyprus troubled banks and the enlargement of the financial sector we strongly maintain that Cyprus is back in business.

If you have business activities of international scale, and want to find a reputable offshore tax shelter, the Mediterranean basin is the place to look. Cyprus these days poses as one of the most reputable tax efficient jurisdiction, which although onshore EU destination, still offers some very competitive offshore tax advantages. Such advantages made Cyprus an international business center with Cyprus company registration favored by a vast community of investors and business people. The professionalism of Cyprus legal services providers together with the development of high end Cyprus fiduciary services fuelled the exponential growth of the jurisdiction.

Cyprus used to be an offshore tax shelter in the past, but with the introduction of the island to European Union and the subsequent adoption of the Euro, it was transformed into a major European business hub. Canada, US, UK, India, China Russia and the CIS Countries are only few of the 45 jurisdictions with a double tax treaty signed with Cyprus, anabling the jurisdiction’s companies to avoid double taxation, in almost all part of the world, including all of European Common Market through the relevant EU directives. The corporate tax rate in Cyprus is just 10%, which is the lowest corporate tax rate in EU. Although 10% is the benchmark, due to a broad range of blanket tax exemptions for international transactions the effective tax paid for a properly structured Cyprus company could be even 0%.

As an example one of the most widespread use of a Cyprus company is the Cyprus Holding Company. The Cyprus Holding Company is usually used as the “mother” company of other, companies of the same group and taking advantage of some of the exemptions of Cyprus tax law. Utilizing such exemptions this particular structures are benefited in many respects such as the fully exempted dividend income or the fully exempted capital gains on sale of shares. The use of Cyprus company registration and Cyprus company administration for such Holding structures is one most efficient structures used.

More often than not, such tax structures are facilitated through Cyprus company registration carried out by one of the law firms headquartered in Cyprus. The Cyprus law firm involved in incorporation will usually undertake to provide the company secretary, registered office, directors and in general the company’s administration through its Cyprus company administration department. The provision of nominee or trustee shareholders, the setting up and maintenance of a shareholders trust and other banking facilitation services are usually provided by the Cyprus law firm undertaking the incorporation through is Cyprus fiduciary services department. The provision of ad hoc legal services, tax advise and structuring advise will also be undertaken by the instructed law firm.

A fundamental part of the provision of the services would be the explanation and understanding by the interested investor of certain aspects relating to the formation of the company and the legal and tax issues which are incidental to Cyprus company registration. One such issue to be thoroughly reviewed, would certainly be the banking operations of the company, opening of bank accounts and the facilitation of bank payments through Cyprus bank. In general the banking facilitation is flexible in Cyprus and most of our client find our Cyprus banking facilitation most helpful in maintaining and operating a Cyprus bank account. LLPO Law Firm’s role in the process is to advise as to the documentation required and liase with the banking institution to make payments in and out of the account to flow as smoothly as possible. These issues will be reviewed with the interested investor during the Cyprus company incorporation process.

LLPO Law Firm is a Cyprus law firm regulated and licenced by Cyprus Bar Association. LLPO Law Firm maintains presence in London, UK, Athens, Greece and Bucharest, Romania and we are active successfully in the fields of Cyprus company registration and Cyprus company administration for 13 years. Our Cyprus fiduciary services and offshore tax services maintain the highest standards of provision aiming to a smooth and seemless operation of our clients companies.

About the Process
On many levels, buying property in Greece –particularly if you are a foreign national – can be a rather complicated and sometimes confusing process. This is why seeking legal advice beforehand is so important. As a general rule, a foreign national can purchase real estate in most locations in Greece. However, non-EU nationals may be required to obtain prior approval by the local prefecture in certain areas, i.e. some regions of northern Greece, Rhodes and Crete.

Once you have found the property that suits you, and had decided to proceed with the purchase, you will then need to follow those specific steps:

Find a Lawyer
The Buyer should appoint an attorney with experience in property law as well as in transactions in general, in order to guide and represent them throughout the process.

It is recommended that you agree with your lawyer on their payment from the very beginning.

In case the Buyer is a NON European citizen or legal person and intends to buy property in border areas in Greece, they must be granted permission from the competent Greek authorities in order to be able to conclude the transaction.

Obtain a copy of the contract deed and perform a title search at the Property Registry and the Land Registry (if applicable)
The Buyer must get, usually through the broker or the vendor directly, the property deed (title). This can be done with the help of an attorney or a broker. The attorney is the required to search the title both at the Property Registry and the Land Registry (if applicable). Not all regions of the country have a Land registry, as Greece is currently undergoing the process of establishing a Land Registry. In areas that do not yet have a Land Registry, ownership of property is based on and secured by the local Property Registry.

The search must be carried out in order to ensure that:

• The vendor holds the absolute deed of the property
• The property is free of conditions or encumbrances.
• All property taxes burdening the vendor have been paid.
• The construction was completed in accordance to all planning and building permissions.

Only if the property deed is secure should the buyer proceed to contract.

Find a Public Notary
Any property purchase agreement, in order to be valid, must be signed in the presence of a public notary and therefore a public notary must be appointed once a solicitor is found. In most cases, the already appointed attorney would have a Public Notary with whom he usually cooperates. Public notaries do not represent the Buyer’s interests. They are public officials in the presence of whom the contract is read, understood by both parties and signed. The notary drafts the contract and – along with the attorneys of both parties – is responsible for the verification and registration of the transaction in the public records, so that the buyer acquires the official title of the property.

Issue a tax roll (registry) number (AFM)
AFM is the Greek tax roll number and every person, whether natural or legal, Greek or foreigner, must have one in order to carry out transactions of any kind, regardless of whether you reside in Greece or have a residence permit.

The buyer must be issued an AFM in order to be able to proceed with the purchase. AFM is applied for and issued by the Inland Revenue Service. To apply for an AFM at nearest tax office you usually need just a copy of your passport. It is a fast and painless process. This can also be done by a person who has a power of attorney (Apostile stamp is usually required) who will be the buyer’s authorized person for the tax authorities e.g. your relatives, lawyer or accountant.

Pay the transfer tax
The appointed Public Notary estimates the transfer tax according to the amount of the transaction and prepares the – so called – tax statements. Transfer tax must be paid to the local Inland Revenue Service by the buyer prior to signing the contract. This can be done with the aid of the attorney. The notary requires proof of payment (the receipt) in order to authorize the sale.

Signing the contract
In order to have a valid contract, it must be signed in the presence of a public notary.

In case that the value of the transaction exceeds 29.351,34 euros, the presence of two attorneys, one representing each party, is obligatory. The attorneys are required to co-sign the contract along with the buyer and the vendor. Once the contract is signed, the notary or the buyer’s attorney registers the transaction at the local Land Registry or, if not applicable, at the local Property Registry.

Ratify the purchase – Conclude the process of the transaction
The purchase is concluded by the time the Buyer transcribes a certified copy of the new contract deed to the Land Registry or, if there is not any, to the Property Registry. From this moment on, the property right is transferred from the Vendor to the Buyer. It is recommended for the Buyer to obtain the relevant certificate from the Property Registry or the Land Registry (where is applicable).

The usual costs associated with this procedure that fall on the buyer.

Anyone purchasing property in Greece should have in mind that they are required to bear the following expenses in order for the transaction to be completed:

• Attorney’s fee: normally about 1-2% (subject of agreement) on the selling price, plus the legal research and any other legal advice that the solicitor had offered to the client.
• Public Notary’s fee: 1.3% – 1.6% on the value of the property.
• Transfer tax: This is payable to the local tax authority and amounts to 8% on the first 20.000,00 euros of the property’s value and to 10% on the remaining amount. The amount of the tax payable is then further charged with a 3% worth of municipality tax.
• Property Registry/Land Registry: The fee payable to the Registries amounts to 0.50 % of the property’s value in the case of Property Registry or 0.65% if there is a Land Registry.
• Brokerage fee: The maximum brokerage fee that you can be legally charged is 2.00% on the actual selling price, depending on the brokerage contract.
• VAT: In case that the vendor is the constructor of the property you will be charged with VAT 23%, if the building permit was issued after 1/1/2006.

Buyer’s responsibilities after the purchase
The buyer has a yearly obligation to submit a statement including all his properties to the Inland Revenue service until 15th of May.

The “assessed (objective) value” of a property and its use
Most fees are based on the ‘assessed tax value’ of the property. It is the minimum accepted value for transaction purposes set by the State. How much lower depends on the location of the property – property in resort areas or on islands tends to have a higher tax value than that in remote or less popular areas. The ‘assessed tax value’ is calculated by the local tax authorities based on government tables using criteria such as the location, size and characteristics of a property. It’s this value that is usually declared on the final purchase contract (title deeds).

In some rural areas the value can be negotiated, but in most areas it’s fixed. You should ask your lawyer to ascertain the ‘assessed tax value’ of the property you plan to buy and to obtain confirmation in writing.

Ensuring the ownership of property in Greece
The ownership of property in Greece is secured by a state authority called the Property Registry. Property deeds are kept there and this is where all encumbrances on properties are registered. Property is filed under the names of the owners and lawyers are entitled to check property belonging to any individual or company. A title search is performed in order to find out if there are any claims, liens and encumbrances on the property. A title search will also show if the property was properly transferred. This is routinely done prior to signing a contract.

Greece is currently undergoing the process of establishing a Land Registry.

Financing and other Financial Issues
Transferring funds from my home country to pay the vendor
This can be done via a simple bank transfer from your account back home to your account in Greece. Buyers are advised to officially document any funds imported for buying property so that in case of a subsequent sale of the property, the proceeds can be repatriated.

Property finance in Greece
Greek banks are well developed and equipped in offering a variety of financing programmes. They have branches throughout the world and similarly many international banks have branches in Greece. Financing property purchase in Greece can be arranged by both Greek and international banks that have branches in Greece.

Property insurance
Property is insured through insurance companies. Property insurance contracts cover all types of possible damages i.e. fire, earthquake, natural disaster, storm, theft, third party liability etc. Insurance costs are normally billed bi-annually though annual payments are also acceptable. Property insurance is not obligatory, but is required by the financial institutions mortgaging the property.

In a recent article published, our tax advisor and auditor Charis Hadjioannou explains how a Greek legal person is exempted from withholding tax on dividends or other payments, towards another legal entity resident in another European Union state (i.e. Cyprus). For review of the full article.Φορολογία μερισμάτων που διανέμουν νομικά πρόσωπα σε εταιρείες άλλου κράτους μέλους.

For a relevant inquiry please check our Cyprus company registration website.