What is the Double Taxation Treaty?
Compared with other international financial centres, Cyprus offers a distinct benefit in the form of double taxation treaties. Agreements with an increasing number of countries eliminate the double taxation of income earned in any one of these countries. In practice, the tax levied by one country is credited against the tax levied in the taxpayer’s country of residence. Where different tax rates apply, the tax payer will ultimately not pay more than the higher of the two rates of the respective countries. Such treaties combined with very favourable tax rates for international business entities in Cyprus open the doors to significant tax planning opportunities. The fact that Cyprus is not considered a tax haven but rather a country offering tempting tax incentives expels the distrust that international tax havens often arouse. To date, double taxation treaties exist between Cyprus and the following countries: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic