Limassol launches tax collection drive

LIMASSOL municipality has launched a drive to collect several million pounds in back taxes from the public, according to the Financial Director of the municipality, Christos Kyriacou.

The amount due is about £5 million, Kyriacou told the Cyprus Mail. It has accumulated over the years, starting back in 1992-93 when the municipality took over financial burdens from the government for the collection of land taxes.

Kyriacou explained that when the municipality started the process of collecting land taxes, it picked up at least £1 million that was overdue.

He added this was one of the many factors that contributed to the £5 million due. Another is the fact that some tax owners relocate abroad and are not easy to track down. However, the municipality, Kyriacou said, had managed to track down the majority of these people and received its money.

In spite of the General Inspector’s suggestion to write off the debts that are too old and possible irrecoverable, Kyriacou said these could remain on the municipality’s list because occasionally these old debts did get paid off.

The municipality hopes to collect all the money and settle the matter at some point, though Kyriacou said this was “an ongoing process”.

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.