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Efforts for taxation agreements intensify

21/09/2015 10:18
The Cypriot government intensifies efforts to strengthen and expand agreements of double taxation avoidance in order to further improve its position in the field of international services.

The effort is twofold: Making new agreements and reviewing and renewing existing ones.

The Executive Director of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC), Kyriakos Iordanous, told StockWatch that the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the tax department have prioritized the issue of double taxation agreements placing in on the top of their agenda.

A specialized team has been created in the last two years to deal with this issue.

This team consists of both government officials and representatives of the private sector.

ICPAC participates in this team with a number of specialized members.

"The combined efforts of public and private sector have brought quite good results, which can serve as an example for other issues," general director of ICPAC said.

According to Mr. Iordanous, the effort to enrich the network of agreements is made on a regulated and targeted basis, with the contribution of the ministry of foreign affairs.

"Efforts focus on countries that have significant benefits to offer to Cyprus and that they can benefit respectively, such as the Middle East, Africa and Asia" he notes.

Recent agreements have been concluded with Georgia and Iran.

At the same time, protocols with Ukraine and South Africa have been signed for the amendment of existing agreements.

Also, negotiations are underway with a number of countries in the African continent while contacts with countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are at an advanced level.

As regards the European Union negotiations for the renewal of agreements with Netherlands and Luxembourg are in process, the last in a series of EU countries.

"Through these agreements the country becomes more attractive to foreign investments and international organizations which channel their business activity through companies registered in the Republic. The benefits of the existence and development of a strong and extended network of such agreements are very important for the country, especially in this difficult economic situation that the country is facing" he said.