Cyprus
The island of Cyprus is situated in the north-eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea, at the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. It has an excellent infrastructure, a strategic geographical location, a highly skilled workforce, a favourable business environment and an extensive network of doubletaxation avoidance contracts, all of which has made Cyprus a well established internal centre of finance. English is used for trade negotiations, the government and the courts. The government of Cyprus has been internationally recognised since 2004 and is a member of the European Union. On 01.01.2008 Cyprus took the euro as their official currency (exchange rate - 0,585274 CYP/EUR). The Cypriot economy is characteristically stable. Its law are based on the British legal system, the basic law on businesses is the Companies Law, modelled on the equivalent from the United Kingdom. Upon Cyprus´s accession to the European Union and OECD in 2003 new tax legislation was adopted and such Cyprus became one of the most progressive jurisdictions, offering one of the lowest tax rates in the European Union and creating favourable conditions for the optimization of taxation on international transactions.
Why Cyprus?
- a stable legal and economic environment, high level banking services,
- a wide network of treaties double taxation avoidance within the EU and the world,
- one of the lowest tax rates in Europe (a flat rate of 10% on corporate income),
- tax exemptions on dividends and proceeds from the sale of shares,
- companies can deduct loss of profits over a period of five years, as can companies belonging to the same group,
- a high degree of confidentiality, data prodection and anonymity of ownership,
- willing support from local authorities, a "pro-business attitude".
Agreements on double taxation
Cyprus has agreements on double taxation with many countries (42 countries), with the possibility of zero or reduced with holding tax on dividends, interest and licence fees, paid by Cypriot companies. Agreement 30/1981 between the government of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and the government of the Republic of Cyprus for the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion in regard to income and property tax was signed on 26 January 1981.
| Slovak Republic | Adopted on Cypriot territories | Adopted in countries other than Cyprus | ||||
| Dividends % | Interest % | License fees % | Dividends % | Interest % | License fees % | |
| 10 | 101 | 52 | 10 | 101 | 52 | |
1.Nil taxation when paid to the government or financial institutions. 2.Nil taxation for literary, artistic or scientific works, including films.
Cyprus - standard jurisdiction
| Právna forma spoločnosti | Private Limited |
| Ready-made companies | Yes |
| Time needed to start up company | 5 days |
| Minimum annual fee to the state | Nil |
| Corporate income tax | 10 % |
| Possibility of using agreement on double taxation | Yes (more than 42 countries) |
| Basic capital | |
| Currency | EUR |
| Standard minimum paid up capital | 1.000 EUR |
| Basic capital | 5.000 EUR |
| Managing director /directors | |
| Minimum number of directors | 1 |
| Local agent required | Anywhere in the world. Cyprus is recommended for tax reasons. |
| Publicly available register of shareholders | Yes |
| General meeting – local / anywhere in the world | Anywhere in the world. Cyprus is recommended for tax reasons. |
| Shareholders | |
| Minimum number of shareholders | 1 |
| Publicly available register of shareholders | Yes |
| General meeting– local / anywhere in the world | Anywhere in the world. |
| Company secretary | |
| Company secrecary required | Yes |
| Local or anywhere in the world | Anywhere in the world. Cyprus is recommended for tax reasons. |
| Bearer shares permitted | No |
| Shares in currency permitted | Yes |
| Accounting and tax returns | |
| Obligatory preparation and submission of financial statements | Yes |
| Audit | Yes |
| Obligatory preparation and submission of tax returns | Yes |
