On Tuesday, 8 September, Russia and Cyprus signed a protocol to amend the agreement on the avoidance of double taxation on income and capital taxes.

The official representative of Hermes Airport, the company which operates the international airports of Larnaca and Paphos, informed the news agency RIA Novosti.

On August 17, amendments were made to the Cyprus Investment Program that will tighten control over service providers assisting in filing applications for the citizenship under the Cyprus Investment Program. The changes will primarily affect developers. Pursuant to new rules, only licensed companies accountable to regulatory authorities will participate in the preparation of documents.

The foreign ministers of Russia and Cyprus, Sergey Lavrov and Nikos Christodoulakis, exchanged messages offering congratulations on the occasion of 60th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations, and they plan to hold the next meeting on the island.

The Amendments to the migration legislation of the Republic of Cyprus published and come into force on 18th August 2020.

According to Forbes magazine, “residence permits in other countries and second citizenship became for Russians an alternative to exit visas”, during the pandemic. This provoked the unprecedented increase in applications for citizenship through investment programs. The number of applications for the spring months increased by 20% in comparison with the previous year. The EU countries are particularly in demand, with Cyprus ranking the third.

On 27 July 2020, Cyprus adopted a six-month deferral related to the European Union (EU) Directive on mandatory disclosure and exchange of cross-border tax arrangements (DAC6). The decision was dictated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in the deadlines which the EU Council implemented to the directive for all EU countries.

McKinsey’s annual survey “The future of private banking in Europe: preparing for accelerated change” reflects major developments in consumer behaviour among private banking clients during the pandemic. As a result of this transformation, one of five clients in Europe transferred their assets to another bank.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov came forward with such proposal at the government session today. “The bill draft is proposed to be amended as follows: the rights given to the individuals to qualify themselves as Russian tax residents in the current year 2020 who spend in the Russian Federation from 90 to 182 days inclusive during the current year, based on the application submitted to the tax authorities. It will be submitted in any form along with the personal income tax return”, the official explained the essence of the innovation. According to the minister, the changes will provide “an opportunity to attract citizens to our country who are ready to work here, do business and become tax residents.”