MPs are fighting a government scheme to lure Cypriots home with tax breaks, even though 500 people abroad have already signed up.
The “Minds in Cyprus” platform has drawn interest from hundreds of Cypriots working overseas, but AKEL and the Cyprus Bar Association kept up their criticism at yesterday’s finance committee meeting.
AKEL MP Andreas Kafkalias asked what strategic plan backs the tax incentives and pushed the finance ministry to show what impact the scheme would have.
He pointed to ministry figures showing that between 2021 and 2023, only five of the 25,000 people who claimed tax breaks for moving to Cyprus were Cypriot. The state lost €406 million in tax revenue from these incentives, he said.
Kafkalias said Cypriot students studying at home get unfair treatment, noting that doctors who train abroad will come back and get tax breaks.
Maria Gregoriades raised the Bar Association’s worries, especially about who the scheme targets. She asked what the measure aims to do and how it plans to attract new talent. She said Cypriot students studying in Cyprus face unfair treatment because they won’t get any tax relief.
A finance ministry official said any state support counts as state aid, which is why the scheme covers more people. The tax department said the state actually makes money from bringing foreign company executives to Cyprus because they’re new taxpayers.
The revised bill now covers self-employed workers and sets a €30,000 income threshold that applicants must hit in their first year working or running a business in Cyprus. Applicants must have lived in Cyprus at some point before spending seven straight years away.
People with degrees who’ve worked abroad for three years can use the scheme, as can people without degrees who’ve been away for seven years.
Read more:
