Cypriots agree on the need to increase indirect taxes to align with EU

By George Psyillides

CYPRIOTS are divided regarding the efficacy of the government’s proposed tax reform, a Finance Ministry survey has found.

The survey also revealed that a third of the island’s citizens seem to be uninformed about the tax reforms.

Presenting the findings of the study, Finance Minister Takis Klerides said it was aimed to get feedback from ordinary citizens and not organised groups.

The survey also provided the ministry with information on the citizens’ general knowledge about the measures introduced in the tax reform and on which measures there was disapproval.

Around 36 per cent of the sample said they considered the reform positive while 31 per cent disagreed.

The rest either did not take a position or said they did not know.

According to Klerides, Cypriots recognise the need to increase indirect taxes for harmonisation with the European Union aquis communitaire.

And this can be backed by the 31 per cent of interviewees who agreed with raising the VAT and 28 per cent approving hikes in other consumption taxes.

Around 35 per cent of citizens agree with the introduction of a unified tax for companies – local and offshore – while 20 per cent disagree.

The most important finding concerning company taxes however was the high percentage – 45 per cent — of those who did not take sides, which could be because they were uninformed on the matter.

The survey found that a large percentage of those asked said more information was needed on company tax, offshore company taxation, and tax breaks to companies reorganising or merging.

The interviewees said tax breaks and social benefits should first be given to pensioners and then low earners.

Third down the list came large families, then farmers and refugees.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.