Cyprus to be Removed from Russia’s Black List
19/01/2013
In 2008 Cyprus was added to Russia’s blacklist consisting of
54 countries for reportedly failing to share tax information.
A new protocol was signed between the two countries on the 7
October 2010 amending the existing Cyprus-Russia Double Tax Treaty of
1998. This protocol is aligned with the
OECD policy standards on fiscal transparency and exchange of information on
taxation matters and is in line with changes that were already introduced to
the Cypriot tax legislation back in 2008 in accordance with Article 26 of the
OECD model convention with regards to the exchange of information. With the Russian State Duma now ratifying this
protocol the new Tax Information Exchange Agreement will come into effect from
the 1 January 2013 the result of which is that The Ministry of Finance of the
Russian Federation has now announced the removal of Cyprus from its black list
also effective from the 1 January 2013.
Whilst this is extremely good news for investment into
Russia via Cyprus companies as Russian companies transacting with countries on
the blacklist can face heavy tax implications and strict reporting obligations,
it also leads to more transparency of the commercial transactions and
structures, therefore before structuring your investment it is advisable to
seek professional advice from a professional firm such as Chesterfield Group in
order to structure it properly and optimize the tax liabilities in a compliant
manner.
The double tax treaty between the two countries also has
many other advantages such as;
- - Dividends received by Russian companies from
Cyprus will be exempt from tax in Russia
- - Dividends will have a 5% withholding tax if
there is a direct investment in the capital of the Russian entity of at least
EUR100,000, otherwise the withholding tax will be 10%
- - Interest and royalties are exempt from
withholding tax
- - Transactions shall not be subject to the
transfer pricing rules that apply to Russian companies that have transactions
with countries on Russia’s black list
Cyprus is recognized for its commitment to implementing the
internationally agreed standard. If you
would like more information regarding Cyprus structures in regards to Double
Tax Treaties and Tax Information Exchange Agreements please do not hesitate to
contact us.
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