Cyprus-Forum.com

[zebedee]

Can anyone help us get our heads around this? My husband works for a smallish UK company and travels to the middle east quite a lot. We've suggested we'd like to move (permanently ) to Cyprus where he can continue to do his UK work (mainly writing) and his company agree this should be ok. ( my family are nr Pafos ) But now we're totally confused about where he'd pay tax and if he'd still have to pay UK Nat.Insurance contributions? Or would he pay Cyprus tax on his wages instead?
Lisa

[orokliniservices]

work in cyprus, pay tax in cyprus, i work for a uk company but pay taxes here.... not uk...

[raymanuva]

same here, tax paid locally...

[Snad]

Cyprus has a double taxation treaty with UK. Which means if you pay it here, you don't there.

You can still pay National Insurance contributions to uk, if you want to.
However if you are on Cyprus wages, you will pay Social Insurance to Cyprus.

[zebedee]

Thanks all for your help, just a couple more questions? What is the mechanism for telling the authorities in Cyprus we want( to pay them tax? I'm presuming there is a pile of paperwork waiting to be filled in? Does his UK company have to notify anyone ? How does he stop paying National Insurance in the UK and is this a good idea? (I'm thinking it might help us pay for the health insurance costs in Cyprus.. )
Are there any pitfalls we should look out for?
Lisa

[Svetlana]

To take advantage of the Double Taxation Agreement, you get a form form the UK Inland Revenue (Office for Overseas Residents) complete it and hand it in to the Cyprus Department of Finance tax office. They send a copy to the UK, you stop paying tax there and get a refund on all tax paid since taking up residence in Cyprus.

You can continue to pay NI contributions in the UK, if you wish but:

i) your Cyprus SI contributions can count towards your UK State pension.

ii) the number of contributions required for a full UK State Pension is being reduced.

Lana

[Gilbert Ostlethwaite]

Do any of you working for UK Companies in Cyprus have any vacancies in the Limassol area for an IT professional with nearly 30 years experience? Can't afford to retire yet, but if I had a job I'd be there yesterday!

Regards
Gilbert

[Joy_H]

Hello,

Apologies, as this really doesn’t answer your question. People with a bit more experience seem to have already done that! However, I was running a search and this topic came up and seemed to be a good place to tell you about this.

I’m a Cypriot student, currently doing a masters in Management in Nottingham, UK and loving it. As part of my research, I have decided to look into British expatriate experiences in Cyprus. More specifically, I’m looking at British nationals who have been moved from UK companies to their Cypriot subsidiaries.

The plan is to conduct a few interviews, just to gain some insight into how your move to Cyprus has been, the challenges of adjusting, what prior info/training your company provided. It’s all anonymous. This would happen around June or July time, but I’d really appreciate it if people interested could get in touch with me soon so I have an idea of numbers and we can arrange a time and place that suits you best.

Feel free to email me or post here for more info. All the best to those moving to Cyprus, if you haven't already!

Look forward to hearing from you,
Joy

[Tim Drayton]

The rule concerning tax residency in Cyprus, based on question 3A on the Income Tax Return form is:

"During .... (the year in question), did you stay in the Republic for a period or periods exceeding in aggregate 183 days?
If your answer is yes, you should declare your worldwide income in this return. If your answer is no, you only declare your income arising in the Republic."

The taxation system is very straightforward in Cyprus, and income tax rates are low. The income tax return form is also very simple. Don't be afraid of tax in Cyprus.

The best people to advise you would be your local tax office in Cyprus.

You will also have to apply for a residence permit from the Aliens department.