The power of attorney is a document that will save your time when you have various legal issues, and will allow you to conduct business remotely through a lawyer or a person you trust. When paying taxes and other bills, the power of attorney is very important in Cyprus.
If you are sure that you do know and understand the local law and you do trust the person you want to appoint as your agent for paying bills and taxes, you do not need a lawyer to make a power of attorney.
A free Power of Attorney form can always be found on the Internet, and it can be filled out and certified by an ordinary notary.
Nevertheless, if you have any doubts, then you should consult with a lawyer.
As you may know, the Cyprus Contract Law allows the issuance of 2 types of powers of attorney: general and special.
The General Power of attorney allows the authorized person to sign any documents on behalf of the principal.
The special power of attorney restricts the actions of the authorized person. It may have two possible restrictions: on specified activities or during the specified time. The first one is usually issued only for a specific purpose. A time-limited power of attorney is granted for a certain period of time.
In addition, the power of attorney in Cyprus must be signed in the presence of a notary. Persons residing abroad and providing a power of attorney to those who reside in Cyprus should contact the Cyprus Consulate of their country. The document must be notarized before being sent to the consulate.
Sometimes, in order to freely enter and leave the country, obtain a business license of a certain type or prove the right to state subsidies, a person needs to confirm that they have no debts to the state.
To do this, they need to apply for a Tax Exemption Certificate — Tax Clearance Certificate. It is a confirmation that the applicant does not have any tax problems in the country, as well as other debts, for example, for water, electricity, transport, etc.
To arrange all this in Cyprus, you need to visit at least three offices:
- Income Tax office
- Water Board central office,
- Electricity Authority office.
This is a standard list for each resident of Cyprus.
You may have to visit these departments not once. Fortunately, the distances here are small, and the process can be delegated using a power of attorney. The designated person will present the original power of attorney, sign and accept all necessary papers.
So, for the above actions, you will need a special power of attorney. According to the law law, the principal can stop the validity of the document at any time.
What power of attorney should include:
- Date of registration of the power of attorney.
- Main details of the principal (full name, passport number, address) and the proxy they appoint.
- The effective date of the power of attorney.
- The period of validity of the power of attorney.
- Specific tasks the proxy can do.*
- Signatures of the Principal and the proxy.
- Witness signatures.
- Notary's seal.
* Example. Taxes: I designate my proxy to fill out and sign any local and state tax returns on my behalf, pay any taxes, receive credits and refunds, as well as sign any documents of the Tax Service necessary for the exercise of these powers... Personal property: I designate my proxy to pay water and electricity bills...
In general, a power of attorney in Cyprus allows you to free up some of your time and solve financial issues remotely.
The only thing to consider is the strict requirements of the Cyprus Contracts Law. Also, special attention should be paid to the competent certification of the document before starting work.
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