# Tax question!! boring subject but advice needed



## leesa13 (Jul 7, 2009)

When I move over to Cyprus in March I will still have a business here in the UK. My question is should I de-register for tax in the UK and register for tax in Cyprus or not? 

I know the tax allowance is better in Cyprus but are there any other pros and of course what are the cons because theres bound to be some.

Also if I did de-register from the UK would I then have to use an accountant in Cyprus or could I stay with the one I have in the UK?

Any help or advice is gratefully received as always.

Lisa


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## RonJeremy (Sep 17, 2009)

You'll probably find that ANY tax question is complicated to deal with on forums, and in your case since you're not even looking to make a clean break from UK but rather keep a UK business up and running; the question gets even more complicated!

Putting aside the lawlessness of Cyprus (meaning that technically no matter what the rules are, most countries doesn't really keep track of which EU country you spend your time in) I would probably guess that it's not so much as to what the pros and cons are but rather about where you MUST register for tax, 
i.e. generally you must register for tax in the country you "live" in, assuming you mean you're not ready to plan your life around tax-residence (to cunningly only live in a country for less than 6 months each year for example) then I would guess that if you're living in Cyprus you register for tax here and then some complicated DTT (double-tax-treaty) would deal with the details of what you should pay to which country.

In any case you'd probably have to look up professional legal advice (let us know what they say), but if you want to learn more about it yourself rather than blindly trusting some adviser I'd recommend reading some tax-cafe books on the subject ( UK Tax Advice Guides ).


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## leesa13 (Jul 7, 2009)

Thanks for the reply. I will take a look at the link you've given. 
I'm sure it would all be a lot less stressfull and less complicated if I sold up here in the UK before coming over, however I want to give it 12 months in Cyprus before I do that, after 12 months if I'm definetly staying in Cyprus then I will sell up here and make the move permanent...theres nothing I want more to be honest but at the moment I'm just a little wary and want to keep other options open.
I will let you know if I get any further advice regarding the tax.
Thanks again
Lisa


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## berni109 (May 28, 2010)

Hi, dont take this as gospel but from what u say its very unlikely that u will escape the embrace of the uk tax collector.
u would need to sever links with the uk - no business no bank accounts to be able to prove to them that u are permanently changing your country of domicile(tech term for where your tax is collected) to cyprus and can then move over to the cypriot tax system.
simply changing your residence dont cut it with the tax man. some hotshot tax lawyer may be able to do something for u but they are likely to charge more than the tax. 

probably not much help but there u go.
Bern


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## RonJeremy (Sep 17, 2009)

berni109 said:


> ...and can then move over to the cypriot tax system.


Keep in mind that you can have more than one country of residence, so AFAIK she would have to register for the cypriot tax system, but she would (as you're saying) not be able to fully de-register from the UK tax system so she would be counted as dual-residence which is where the double-tax-treaty would come in.

I.e. just because UK wouldn't let go off her as a tax-payer, it doesn't mean that she won't be in the cypriot tax system, if she truely lives in Cyprus they will expect her to pay tax too. 

But yeah clean cuts are always good, and de-registering from UK could have saved you tax, altho as some people say "sometimes paying more tax is great, as it means you're making MORE money!", i.e. no point in saving on tax if you're letting go off a profitible business.


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