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Limassol – The Chelco VAT International Academy recently launched a first-of-its-kind in Cyprus expert diploma in Value Added Tax (VAT).

The Diploma in VAT Excellence (DiVE), is a high-level course spanning a period of 10-months, with emphasis on the Cyprus VAT legislation.

Classes will commence in September 2021 with completion in June 2022 and will be taught by Academy Instructors, Alexis Tsielepis and Panayiotis Panayi, as well as specialised VAT guest experts from Cyprus and abroad.

“DiVE has been months in the making, and now here it is. It will be a real pleasure to guide participants through the vast ocean that is Value Added Tax! The journey begins here,” Tsielepis said, adding:

“The world of VAT requires dedication and specialised knowledge to tackle the complexities of the legislation. Successful completion of DiVE will elevate the knowledge and ability of a participant to that of a true VAT expert.”

Tsielepis elaborated that candidates will be taken through the EU VAT Directive’s main chapters line-by-line and step-by-step, analysing how they have been transposed in the Cyprus VAT legislation. DiVE will also examine around 30 key judgments of the European Court of Justice on VAT interpretation. The course will conclude with a written and oral exam.

The diploma is geared towards industry professionals dealing with complex VAT issues, such as CFOs, Financial Controllers, accountants, tax consultants and tax lawyers.

The purpose of DiVE is to allow individuals and/or businesses to invest in a solid foundation on which they can then offer or apply the knowledge gained to address their own VAT requirements or those of their clients.

Lessons will be delivered through a combination of group classes, one-on-one workshops and online sessions, while for the first six months, classes will be held for one week each month from 9am to 5pm daily.

The Diploma will cover such notions as taxable person, taxable transactions, place of supply, taxable amount, time of supply, exemptions, deductions, the various VAT rates and the obligation to pay VAT.

DiVE will also cover the Tour Operator Margin Scheme (TOMS), the margin scheme for second hand goods (including art and vehicles), the capital goods scheme, the One Stop Shop (OSS), the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) and more.

Registrations are now open. For more information, click here.

New York – The cryptocurrency market capitalization hit an all-time peak of $2 trillion earlier this week, according to data and market trackers CoinGecko and Blockfolio, as gains over the last several months attracted demand from both institutional and retail investors.

The surge was led by bitcoin, which hit its own milestone by holding at a $1 trillion market cap for one week. Bitcoin was last up 1.4% at $59,045. Since hitting a lifetime peak of more than $61,000 in mid-March, bitcoin has traded in a relatively narrow range.

Analysts said as long as bitcoin stays above $53,000, it will be able to maintain its $1 trillion market cap.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, was up 1.3% at $2,103. Its market cap was $244 billion on Monday. It hit a record high of $2,144.99 last Friday.

“Momentum and interest have begun to expand beyond bitcoin and ethereum,” said Paolo Ardoino, Chief Technology Officer at crypto exchange Bitfinex.

“As the industry continues to mature, we expect more blockchain-based applications to be introduced to the world, and coinciding with that, a surge of interest around other alternative assets… as they become more market-ready,” he added.

Blockchain data provider Glassnode, in a research report, said the fact that bitcoin has held the $1 trillion market cap for one week is a “strong vote of confidence for bitcoin and the cryptocurrency asset class as a whole.”

It added that on-chain activity continues to reinforce bitcoin’s robust position, with a volume equivalent to over 10% of circulating supply transacting above the $1 trillion threshold.

Bitcoin has risen more than 100% this year, while ethereum has gained nearly 190%. Both have massively outperformed traditional asset classes, bolstered by the entry of mainstream companies and large investors into the cryptocurrency world, including Tesla Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon.

Nicosia – Cyprus had €8.58 bln in Funds and Assets Under Management in the 4^th quarter of 2020, up by 10.3% from the 3^rd quarter and an increase of 3.8% from the last quarter of 2019, the island’s financial services regulator, CySEC, stated in its quarterly report.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) said in its latest quarterly statistics bulletin that it supervises 283 management companies and Undertakings of Collective Investments (UCIs), of which 197 have operations in Cyprus.

Specifically, CySEC supervises 164 externally managed UCIs, 56 internally managed UCIs and 63 external fund managers.

The total number of management companies includes 31 Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs), 81 sub-threshold AIFMs, 3 UCITS management companies and four dual license entities (AIFMs and UCITS management companies).

AIFMs are EU-registered and regulated hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate investment funds.

A new regulatory category was introduced in the 4^th Quarter of 2020 regarding the small alternative investment fund managers or Small AIFMs. There are 17 that represent CIFs, that received their approval from CySEC to provide AIF management functions.

The UCIs, run by the management companies, had a net asset value of €6.99 bln.

The CySEC bulletin said that UCITS invested heavily in transferable securities (81%), followed by investments in bank deposits (10%).

AIFs, AIFLNPs and RAIFs mainly invest in private equity (43%), while 14.7% of the AUM are invested in real estate.

From all the UCIs, 119 invest in Cyprus entirely or partially, and €2.15 bln (25.1%) are investments made in Cyprus, 54% are in private equity and 14% in real estate.

Regarding the specific sectors that UCIs invested in during the 4^th quarter of 2020, assets under management in the energy sector totalled €246.2 ml (2.86% of total), while €29.9 ml was invested in FinTech (0.35%), €72.1 ml in shipping (0.84%), €28.1 ml in the sustainability sector (0.32%) and €1.5 ml in cryptocurrencies (0.017%).

Nicosia – Cyprus plans to reopen its airports with a colour-coded health risk assessment system from 1 March 2021, applicable to travellers from many of its main tourism markets and the European Union.

The island has adopted a traffic-light system for EU member states and third countries such as Britain, Russia and Israel that are among its main feeder markets.

In an announcement earlier this week, the Ministry of Transport said that the existing category system will be replaced by the same traffic-light system adopted by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), whereby countries are classed as green, orange or red, with an added grey category for arrivals requiring a special permit.

EU member states and countries in the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway) including Switzerland, will be sorted into the green, orange or red categories according to their epidemiological data.

In addition, the Ministry of Health will be evaluating data from third countries (United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Belarus) as well as those flagged by the ECDC as third countries to determine the category in which they should be classified.

From 1 April, Serbia, Qatar, Bahrain, United States, Armenia and Georgia will be added to the list.

Countries not included in the above list will be placed in the grey category.

In simple terms, the new system will roughly correspond to the A-B-C system currently in place in Cyprus.

The new categories, which will go into effect on March 1, are as follows:

Green Category

This category will include countries deemed low-risk by the health ministry according to their epidemiological data.

From March 1-31, passengers coming from countries in the Green category will be entitled to a free PCR laboratory test on arrival covered by the government.

From April 1, there will be no restrictions.

Orange Category

Passengers coming from countries in the orange category will be required to have a laboratory test within 72 hours before departure and to have a certificate proving a negative PCR test.

Red Category

Passengers flying from countries in the red category will be required to have a PCR test up to 72 hours prior to their departure for Cyprus, and will need to undergo a second PCR test upon arrival.

No self-isolation will be required for those with negative results.

Grey Category

This category will concern countries not included on ECDC lists and those with unreliable epidemiological data.

Individuals coming from countries in the grey category will need to obtain a special permit to enter Cyprus.

They would also be required to enter compulsory self-isolation in accordance with the ministry of health’s instructions.

Cypriot citizens, persons lawfully residing in the Republic of Cyprus and European citizens will be exempt from having to obtain a permit if flying from a country in this category.

The Ministry of Transport also announced this week that it was extending until March 31 the mandatory seven-day quarantine of arrivals from the United Kingdom at a facility under the supervision of health authorities. That practice has been in place for British arrivals since December due to the new coronavirus variant, which was first detected in the UK.

Country codings would be reviewed regularly.

Nicosia – The number of people who travelled to Cyprus fell by almost 80% in 2020 compared to 2019 while people departing from the country also recorded a drop of 80.1%, according to data released by the Cyprus Statistical Service (CyStat), this week.

In particular, during the period of January – December 2020, arrivals of travellers reached 1,161,079 compared to 5,777,029 in the corresponding period of 2019, recording a decrease of 79.9%. The departures of travellers during the same period decreased by 80.1%.

In December 2020, the arrivals of travellers reached 30,099 compared to 273,714 in December 2019, recording a decrease of 89.0%.

The decrease is mainly attributed to the drop in the arrivals of tourists (91.2%) as well as to the decrease in the return of residents of Cyprus (87.6%). Concerning the departures of travellers from the island, a decrease of 88.6% was recorded in December 2020 as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

CyStat notes that during the period 15 March and 8 June 2020, an entry ban in the Republic of Cyprus, was imposed on several categories of persons, including tourists, as part of the measures taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).

Meanwhile, according to the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), global international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) declined by 70% in the first eight months of 2020 over the same period of last year, due the Covid-19 travel restrictions.

International arrivals plunged 81% in July and 79% in August, traditionally the two busiest months of the year and the peak of the Northern Hemisphere summer season.

Chelco VAT Ltd has released the most recent version of its definitive guide to Cyprus’ Value Added Tax (VAT), titled ‘Cyprus VAT: An Overview’.

The Overview was updated in November 2020 and represents a valuable tool for professionals at all levels dealing with VAT in Cyprus.

Authored by Chelco VAT Managing Director, Alexis Tsielepis, and Director, Panayiotis Panayi, the Overview was first published in January 2015 and is updated as necessary.

The November 2020 update includes significant changes made to the Cyprus VAT law. These include amendments made as a result of European legislation as well as amendments made as a result of national decisions. 

The Overview includes reference to some of the more significant Interpretive Circulars and Implementing Orders issued by the Cyprus Tax Department.

To download the Overview in .pdf, you may click below.

Managing Director of Costas Tsielepis & Co, George Tsielepis offers his assessment on what lies ahead in 2021 in a special publication by Phileleftheros on 27 Dec 2020 called ‘The next day – How do we proceed’, in which the island’s top politicians, business leaders, decision makers and opinion moulders wrote about the challenges and opportunities they consider Cyprus will face in the coming year and beyond.

Last year, in Prospects for 2020, George predicted that our industry would be plagued by negative publicity related to money laundering accusations, golden passports given out to criminals and pressure by foreign governments and international supervisory authorities to put our house in order. He also warned that apathy and inaction would no longer be an option. Little did he know that Covid-19 would be added to all of the above.

Limassol – Costas Tsielepis & Co Ltd has just released its all-new website at www.tsielepis.com.cy.

The website was redesigned, rebranded and rewritten from the ground up. It features an all-new E-Library, making searching and finding information easier, faster and more intuitive. The website is also easier to navigate, it’s more search engine friendly and is fully integrated with the company’s social media.

The all-new website also incorporates the latest website technologies, securities and safeguards and is fully compatible with mobile devices, including mobile phones and tablets.

Come on in!

Moscow – The Netherlands disagrees with the Russian proposal to amend their tax treaty, as “it takes too limited account of real economic activities” the Russian News Agency (TASS) quoted the press officer of the Dutch Finance Ministry, Remco Raus, as saying earlier this week.

“This proposal therefore has negative consequences for both the Dutch and Russian businesses,” Raus pointed out, adding that “various Dutch companies – both listed and non-listed – are developing activities in Russia and vice versa. Both Russia and the Netherlands benefit from retaining these economic activities.”

Russia proposed increasing the tax on dividends and interest for Russia-focused companies registered in the Netherlands to 15%, following successful deals with Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta earlier this year on very similar terms.

The Netherlands is considered one of Cyprus’ main competitors in the International Business Centers arena and a prolonged impasse or failure to reach an agreement can only benefit the island.

Last week, Russia’s Finance Ministry announced that it had begun to develop a bill to denounce the tax agreement with the Netherlands. The department noted that before that, the parties had passed several rounds of negotiations to amend the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation in terms of increasing the withholding tax to 15% in respect of dividends and interest.

The Ministry announcement added that the conditions Russia offered the Dutch side are similar to those that had already been agreed with Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta, but the negotiations were unsuccessful.

In turn, the Russian side did not support the approach to changing the agreement proposed by the Netherlands, since it provided for the preservation of separate channels for the withdrawal of funds from the country.

According to the Russian Finance Ministry, under the current agreement, significant resources were withdrawn to the Netherlands in the form of interest and dividend payments. The volume of such payments amounted to more than 457 billion rubles ($6.2 bln) in 2017, more than 412 billion rubles ($5.6 bln) in 2018 and more than 339 billion rubles ($4.6 bln) in 2019.

The Dutch side insists that it has made “constructive proposals to preserve the tax treaty for real economic activities whilst preventing access to activities that do not contribute to the economy in line with the Dutch policy to combat tax avoidance,” adding that discussions on the revision of the tax treaty are still ongoing.