Double Taxation Treaties

There is no withholding tax on dividends and interest paid from Cyprus and no withholding tax on royalty payments for use of the rights outside Cyprus. Possible use can also be made of the EU Directives to eliminate or reduce the rates so rendering the treaty benefits redundant. Treaties will be used where EU Directives are not applicable.

Cyprus is probably the only country worldwide which is considered a tax incentive country and at the same time offers important international tax planning opportunities and advantages through its wide double tax treaty network.
The countries with which Cyprus has signed double tax treaties are shown in the table below. For further clarifications please contact our office here.

Management and control for treaty purposes

In order that a Cyprus company may be entitled to take advantage of a Double Tax Treaty, it should be considered resident in Cyprus. For the purpose of most treaties a Cypriot company may be deemed resident in Cyprus if the majority of its directors reside in Cyprus, board meetings take place in Cyprus and generally the decision making is in Cyprus.

Cyprus Tax Treaties

	State	Date of Signature Treaty/Protocol/ Note	Date of entry into force	Date of Publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic (Number and date)
1	Austria (new agreement)	20 /03/ 1990 21/05/ 2012	10 /11/ 1990 11 /01/ 2013	2500 – 27 /04/ 1990 4160 – 05 /10/ 2012
2	Bulgaria	30 /10/ 2000	03 /01/ 2001	3461 – 30 /12/ 2000
3	Belarus	29 / 05/ 1998	12 /02/ 1999	3273- 09 /10/ 1998
4	Belgium	14 /05/ 1996	08 /12/ 1999	3365 – 19 /11/ 1999
5	Canada	02 /05/ 1984	03 /09/ 1985	2053- 31 /05/ 1985
6	China	25 /10/ 1990	05 /10/ 1991	2578 – 22 /02/ 1991
7	Denmark Treaty Notes New Agreem.*	26 /05/ 1981 11 /10/ 2010	10 /04/ 1982 07 /09/ 2011	1704 – 17 /07/ 1981 4145- 05 /09/ 2011
8	Egypt	18 /12/ 1993	14 /03/ 1995	2865 – 11 /03/ 1994
9	France	18 /12/ 1981	01 /04/ 1983	1468 – 09 /07/ 1982
10	Germany new Agreement	09 /05/ 1974 18 /02/ 2011	11 /10/ 1977 16 /12/ 2011	1199 – 27 /06/ 1975 4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
11	Greece	30 /03/ 1968	16 /01/ 1969	651 – 10 /05/ 1968
12	Hungary	30 /11/ 1981	24 /11/ 1982	862 -07 /05/ 1982
13	India	13 /06/ 1994	21 /12/ 1994	2921 – 04 /11/ 1994
14	Ireland	24 /09/ 1968	12 /07/ 1970	726 – 19 /05/ 1969
15	Italy Treaty Protocol (Additional Protocol)	24 /04/ 1974 04 /06/ 2009	09 /06/ 1983 23/11/2011	1586 – 05 /09/ 1980 4125 – 04 /06/ 2010
16	Kuwait (New Agreement)	15 /12/ 1984 05 /10/ 2010	25 /09/ 1986 30 /08/ 2013	2026 – 18 /01/ 1985 4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
17	Malta	22 /10/ 1993	11 /08/ 1994	2860 – 25 /02/ 1994
18	Mauritius	21 /01/2000	12 /06/ 2000	3410 – 02 /06/ 2000
19	Norway (new agreement)	02 /05/ 1991 24 /02/ 2014	01/01/ 1995 08 /07/ 2014	11/06/ 1996 4180 – 20 /06/ 2014
20	Poland (new agreement)	04 /06/ 1992 22 /03/ 2012	09 /07/ 1993 11 /01/ 2013	2735 – 04 /09/ 1992 4156 – 30 /03/ 2012
21	Romania	16 /11/ 1981	08 /11/ 1982	1757- 26 /02/ 1982
22	Russia (Amendment Protocol)	05 /12/ 1998 07 /10/ 2010	17 /08/ 1999 02 /04/ 2012	3306 – 26 /02/ 1999 4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
23	South Africa	01 /04/ 2015 (26 /11/ 1997)	18 /09/ 2015 08 /12/ 1998	4195 – 08 /05/ 2015 3214 – 16 /01/ 1998
24	Sweden	22 /10/1988	14 /11/ 1989	2377 – 20 /01/ 1989
25	Syria	15 /03/ 1992	22 /02/ 1995	2863 – 04 /03/ 1994
26	Singapore	24 /11/ 2000	08 /02/ 2001	3641 – 30 /12/ 2000
27	Thailand	27 /10/ 1998	04 /04/ 2000	3394 – 17 /03/ 2000
28	United Kingdom Treaty Protocol	20 /06/ 1974 02/04/1980	18 /03/ 1975 15/12/1980	1107 – 05 /07/ 1974
29	USA	19 /03/ 1984	31 /12/ 1985	1944 – 04 /04/ 1984
30	Serbia*	29 /06/ 1985	08 /09/ 1986	2073 – 23 /08/ 1985
31	Montenegro*	29 /06/ 1985	08 /09/ 1986	2073 – 23 /08/ 1985
32	Slovenia* (New Agreement)	12 /10/ 2010	14 /09/ 2011	4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
33	Slovakia**	15 /04/ 1980	30 /12/ 1980	1599 – 03 /05/ 1980
34	Czech Republic (New Agreement)	15 /04/ 1980 28 /04/2009	30 /12/ 1980 26 /11/ 2009	1599 – 03 /05/ 1980 4114 – 13 /11/ 2009
35	Azerbaijan***	29 /10/ 1982	26 /08/1983	26 /11/ 1982
36	Armenia	17 /01/ 2011	19 /09/ 2011	4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
37	Moldova	28 /01/2008	03 /09/ 2008	4098 – 29 /08/ 2008
38	Kyrgyzstan	29 /10/ 1982	26 /08/ 1983	26 /11/ 1982
39	Uzbekistan***	29 /10/ 1982	26 /08/ 1983	26 /11 1982
40	Ukraine*** (new agreement)	29 /10/ 1982 08 /11/ 2012 11/12/2015	26 /08/ 1983 01 /01/ 2014	26 /11/ 1982 4167 – 22 /03/ 2013 4203 – 23/12/2015
41	Lebanon	18 /02/ 2003	14 /04/ 2005	08 /04/ 2005
42	Seychelles	28 /06/ 2006	27 /10/ 2006	25 /10/ 2006
43	San Marino	27 /04/2007	18 /07/ 2007	4088 – 13 /06/ 2007
44	Quatar	11/11/ 2008	20 /03/ 2009	4099 – 14 /11/ 2008
45	United Arab Emirates	27 /02/ 2011	01 /01/ 2014	4145 – 05 /09/ 2011
46	Estonia	15 /10/ 2012	08 /10/ 2013	4164 – 01 /02/ 2013
47	Finland	15 /11/ 2012	27 /04/ 2013	4167 – 22 /03/ 2013
48	Portugal	19 /11/ 2012	01 /01/ 2014	4167 – 22 /03/.2013
49	Bosnia*	29 /06/ 1985	08 /09/ 1986	2073 – 23 /08/ 1985
50	Lithuania	21 /06/ 2013	17 /04/ 2014	4173 – 04 /12/ 2013
51	Spain	14 /02/ 2013	28 /05/2014	4167 – 22 /03/ 2013
52	The States of Guernsey	15 /07/ 2014 (in Cyprus), 29 /07 (in Guernsey)	04 /03/ 2015	4182 – 14 /08/ 2014
53	Swiss Confederation	25 /07/ 2014	15 /10/ 2015	4181 – 30 07/ 2014
54	Iceland	13 /11/ 2014	22 /12/ 2014	4191 – 19 /12/ 2014
55	Kingsdom of Bahrain	9 /03/ 2015	26 / 04/ 2016	4193 – 20 /03/ 2015
56	Open Sans	13 /05/ 2015	04 /01/ 2016	4196 – 29 /05/ 2015
57	Iran	4 /08/ 2015		4198 – 25 /08/ 2015
58	Ethiopia	30 /12/ 2015		4204 – 18 /01/ 2016
59	Latvia	24/ 05/2016	27/10/2016	4211 – 03 /06 /2016
60	Jersey	11/ 7/2016		4213 – 5 /08 /2016

Notes

*7 Denmark – The existing Convention shall cease to have effect as from 1.1.2012

* The treaty between Cyprus and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is still in force.

** The treaty between Cyprus and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic is still in force

***The treaty between Cyprus and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is still in force.

Managing Director:

Athos Kakofengitis BSc (Hons), Econ., FCA
e-mail: info@kakofengitis.eu

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