Cyprus in the new International Tax Reality, by Marios Cosma

 In the last few years we have entered into a new era of global tax transparency. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD’s) base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project is dramatically altering the international tax system by encouraging governments to close loopholes, improve transparency and align taxation of profits with economic activity. The European Commission has taken measures for the implementation of BEPS in a coordinated manner across EU Member States through the implementation of the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), and Cyprus as an EU Member State should harmonise its legislation with such measures. In this regard, in the years 2019-2020, Cyprus will transpose into its national law the provisions of the EU Anti Avoidance Directive, with three measures of the Directive being effective from 1st of January 2019.