Cyprus officially off Russia blacklist from January 1

Πηγή: Cyprus Mail
Nov 10 2012

CYPRUS WILL finally be removed from the Russian blacklist of non-cooperative ‘tax havens’ from January 1, 2013.

According to Moscow-based online site, www.tax-news.com, the Russian government has published an order in the country’s official gazette providing for the removal of Cyprus from Russia’s blacklist, starting next year, when a double taxation agreement signed between the two countries comes into force.

The publication of the official order comes after years of negotiations between the authorities of the two countries, starting in 2008 when Cyprus was added to a blacklist of 54 countries for reportedly failing to share tax information with Russia.

Many of Cyprus’ competitors in attracting Russian investment, such as Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland, lobbied hard to get off the list which dictated the rules on tax exemption for repatriated dividends from Russian subsidiaries in foreign countries.

However, negotiations between Cyprus and Russia proved harder, with the latter leaning on Cyprus to provide a greater level of tax information exchange. A protocol was finally signed between the two countries in 2010 which will come into effect in the new year.