To relieve citizens and companies from the repercussions of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Cyprus government announced an Emergency Financial Support Programme for employees, small and medium-sized enterprises and Cypriot companies in general. The programme”is valued at €700 million, equivalent to 3% of GDP.
The deadline for filing tax returns is extended from the 31 March 2020 to the 31 May 2020 for companies and self-employed individuals.
The deadline for the payment of the annual levy is extended from 30 June 2020 to 31 December 2020, without the application of the surcharge of 10% or 30%.
Annual Returns for 2020 can be submitted to the Cyprus Registrar of Companies by the 28 January 2021, without the application of relevant penalties.
No further quarterly warnings for the de-registration of Cyprus companies will be published until January 2021.
There will be no imposition of penalties and interest for delayed payments of any due VAT payments, regardless of the company’s turnover, for the quarters ending 29 February 2020 (due 10 April 2020), 31 March 2020 (due 10 May 20-20) and 30 April 2020 (due 10 June 2020), provided that:
- The VAT declaration is submitted by the due date; and
- Any VAT payable is paid by 10 November 2020.
These amendments will not apply to certain categories of businesses, such as supermarkets, that have not suffered cash-flow impact.
General Health System contributions are decreased to the initial rates for the period of 1 April 2020 to 30 June 2020. This period can be adjusted to 1 Mach 2020 to 31 May 2020 if an employer has already applied the reduced rates for March 2020.
The Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Security also announced a number of subsidies for businesses, as well as employees, that are being adversely affected by the pandemic. These include:
- Special sick leave subsidy;
- Special leave allowance for parents;
- Special subsidy for self-employed persons; and
- Special plan for companies partially or totally suspending their operations due to COVID-19.
