Cyprus abolishes tax on low-value properties

The Council of Ministers has abolished taxation for immovable property, as long as the property in question is worth no more than 5,000 euros, based on the benchmark 1980 valuations.
Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said the Cabinet meeting chaired by President Nicos Anastasiades at the presidential retreat in the Troodos Mountains decided to ammend the existing legislation whereby owners of property valued up to 5,000 euros had to pay a minimum of 75 euros in tax. For properties valued at over 5,000 and up to 40,000 there will be a tax of 6 euros per thousand, or 0.6%.
For properties valued at 40,000 to 120,000 euros, the tax will be 0.8%, for 120,000-170,000 0.9%, for 170,000-300,000 1.1%, for 300,000-500,000 1.3%, for 500,000-800,000 1.5%, for 800,000 to 3 mln euros 1.7% and for properties valued at over 3 mln euros the tax will be 1.9%.
The state expects to collect 105-110 mln euros from the revised property tax.
Stylianides further said that in the case of unemployment benefits, a total of 12,000 applications for redundancy payments were pending by the end of April. The Cabinet agreed to employ 45 unemployed degree holders to complete the examination of these applications by the end of 2013 and pay applicants their dues.
“It is the least we can do to compensate those workers who have been unemployed for a long time and have not received the money they are entitled from their Redundancy Funds,” he added.
Stylianides also said that ministers decided to promote development projects through the long-term leasing of government buildings.
He said the Cabinet would like to promote the use of unused buildings such as the Nicosia Conference Centre, the Filoxenia hotel, the site of the Hoteliers’ Institute and invite tenders for the use of old terminals at Larnaca and Paphos airports for a period of 99 years.
He further said a similar tender will open for the site of the former National Guard camp opposite the Hilton Hotel in Nicosia, a project for which the Qatar Fund was initially interested, but the deal finally fell through having disagreed with the previous administration on the value of the property.
The Cabinet approved legislation for vehicle CO2 emissions and international trusts.
The vehicle CO2 emissions, he said, will streamline taxation of vehicles according to EU legislation where the only factor in calculating tax is the carbon dioxide emissions. This legislation, he added, not only helps the environment but also the car fleets.
The Cabinet also approved the establishment of a trust registry that will be monitored by the relevant authorities which will be able to access these trusts. This, Stylianides said, is an important piece of law as it will convey the message that Cyprus is a sound financial centre and will put an end to the rumours about being a centre of money laundering.