On Tuesday 14 May, the Trade and Industry Committee of the Cypriot Parliament approved a bill to abolish all fees for innovative companies.
The initiative is expected to help the development of small and medium-sized innovative companies based on the island.
This includes start-ups. There are currently around 100 of them.
The new bill was introduced by opposition DISY MP Marios Mavridis. According to him, the total amount of the abolished fees will be insignificant for the Cypriot economy and will not affect the state budget. It should be noted that the current fee for registering a company is €165. If a private company is transformed into a public company to raise funds on the money market, a fee of 2,000 euros is charged.
These fees should be abolished so that companies can develop normally," Mavridis said.
The MP stressed that the above exemption is an advantage, i.e. a financial benefit that the beneficiary companies could not obtain under normal market conditions, without state intervention.
Cyprus has been attracting foreign companies for years. This is because the island remains one of the most convenient points of entry to the international, mainly European, market. This is facilitated by favourable legislation, an active entrepreneurial community and the government's policy towards technology companies: both start-ups and large companies are attracted by preferential tax rates and various government support programmes. Today, there are dozens of such companies in Cyprus in various industries.
It should be remembered that Cyprus also previously abolished the annual tax for companies.
Now they do not have to pay 350 euros to the state budget by 30 June each year, regardless of whether they have any activities, assets or not.