Cyprus 'offers tax breaks to expats'
Friday January 18th , 2008
Many older Britons are moving to Cyprus in order to take advantage of various tax benefits, an expert has stated.
Justin Rix, international tax director at Grant Thornton, said that an expatriate pensioner could choose to pay tax at five per cent on any pension earnings above €3,417.
However, he added that people also had the option to be taxed under the normal tiered rules, which means that that the first €19,500 is exempt.
Mr Rix described this as "a generous sum", which would rise to 30 per cent if the pension income was worth more than €36,301.
Speaking to the Telegraph, he commented: ""So, if an expat pensioner has a low income of, for example, €8,000, they would not make the election to pay five per cent, as they could pay no tax at all under the normal system."
Mr Rix added that the capital gains tax system in Cyprus was more favourable than in the UK, as charges would only be made on the sale of property rather than any other assets.
The comments come soon after PricewaterhouseCoopers predicted that the island would see strong economic growth during the next 12 months.
