# Thinking of emigrating to Larnaca from UK



## Guest (Aug 31, 2008)

Hi,

I am a 25 yr old, single, male thinking of emigrating to Larnaca in January/February '09. By December my businesses should all be online and my one person focused business should be able to close. I have nothing holding me in Manchester or England at all, so there is very little - if any - motive for me to stay here.

My two big questions are relating to healthcare and Visa's;

1. Healthcare: What is the cost of healthcare? What insurers are there? I have a catalog of controlled health issues that require monitoring, so this is a concern to wherever I emigrate. It is unlikely that an insurer will cover me, unless there are specific insurers for those with chronic medical conditions.

2. Visa. I understand that one needs to request a "residence permit". What are the rules on this?

Yes, the weather in Cyprus should be good for my health but some of my medical conditions will be permanent even if all the bad conditions I am in now [bad weather, bad community...] clear up, so I still need to err on the side of caution and allow for medical expenses.

Beyond those questions, I have to think about all the tax related matters. My companies will virtually all operate online. The one business that needs manual intervention is solved. HMRC & Companies House matters can be handled by an accountant here who can send me documents by e-mail and I can send them back signed by UPS. So all my income at the start will be through the UK, though I am thinking of opening a restaurant in Larnaca, but that's 6 months to a year down the line, and obviously at that stage Solicitor's and Accountant's will be involved. The question is at stage 1, moving to Larnaca with income solely from the UK, what tax implications are there for me in Cyprus? Do I need to register with any tax office? Do I need to pay any taxes? And to anybody who has any clue: Do I get any tax benefits in the UK by being domiciled elsewhere in the EU?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards,
pickle.


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## BabsM (May 24, 2008)

Ooh you have a variety of questions! I'll try and give you quick answers then you can ask in more depth if you need.

Healthcare: If you have pre-existing medical conditions, do not already have health insurance and cannot go without treatment for a couple of months then you are unlikely to find an insurance company to cover you reasonably. (sorry).

Residency: If you are an EU citizen then you are entitled to live wherever you want in the EU. Cyprus will grant you residency if you are 1) working or 2) have enough income to support yourself and 3) have either health insurance or a certificate (E form) granting you cover from the UK. If you have paid National Insurance in the UK then you are probably entitled to up to 2 years of cover on an E106. This cover is equivalent to what a Cypriot gets which is not necessarily the same as we get in the UK.

If you are resident in Cyprus for more than, IIRC, 182 days in a year then you are probably tax-resident in Cyprus but its not black and white so it would be best of you contact HMRC and ask them what your particular situation would be. If you are tax resident in Cyprus then you would not get UK tax allowances too. If you are tax-resident in Cyprus you would need to register with the Tax Office. 

If you are to be tax resident in Cyprus you should investigate how to set up a company here and what legislation would apply to you.

Good luck
Babs


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2008)

BabsM said:


> Ooh you have a variety of questions! I'll try and give you quick answers then you can ask in more depth if you need.
> 
> Healthcare: If you have pre-existing medical conditions, do not already have health insurance and cannot go without treatment for a couple of months then you are unlikely to find an insurance company to cover you reasonably. (sorry).
> 
> ...


Babs,

Thanks for your reply.

For legal reasons [suppliers won't work with an offshore company] I need to have all my businesses running as UK registered Limited companies - as they are now. My wages would be paid by dividends from the business.

I will look into an E106, but I doubt I'd be entitled to it. Would the Cypriot authorities have trouble granting me residency, if my intention for pre-existing medical conditions is to pay for the prescriptions, consultants, gp & tests without insurance? As you say I can't get insurance that will cover pre-existing conditions without paying a fortune [there is one provider that tries to cover all pre-existing conditions but the cost starts at £3,409 per annum before looking into all the conditions]. All my conditions are stable and unlikely to cause anything major for the next 20 years at least, but I still need to monitor them and take the pills. From my searches on the web, private medical care in Cyprus is a fraction of the cost of the UK. I have an EHIC, but I understand that offers very limited cover.

Are there any benefits in Cyprus [Tax Credits, Disability and the like] that ex-pat EU citizens are entitled to?

Ta for all the help so far,
pickle


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

pickle said:


> Babs,
> 
> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> ...


Getting residency shouldnt be a problem if you can prove that you have enough income to support yourself and of course insurance to cover your medical conditions.
As for taxes and benefits etc it sounds as though your circumstances are a little bit complicated with your income coming from UK businesses.
You certainly wont get anything from the Cyprus government unless you are paying Social insurance here. You should make enquiries in the UK to find out if you are still entitled to your benefits if you are living abroad.

Regards Veronica


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2008)

Veronica Kneeshaw said:


> Getting residency shouldnt be a problem if you can prove that you have enough income to support yourself and of course insurance to cover your medical conditions.
> As for taxes and benefits etc it sounds as though your circumstances are a little bit complicated with your income coming from UK businesses.
> You certainly wont get anything from the Cyprus government unless you are paying Social insurance here. You should make enquiries in the UK to find out if you are still entitled to your benefits if you are living abroad.
> 
> Regards Veronica


Veronica,

If I don't have insurance to cover pre-existing conditions, will the authorities accept evidence of sufficient income to cover the expenses associated with those pre-existing conditions in replacement of insurance documents for those conditions?

To the best of my knowledge I'm not entitled to benefits from the UK if I live abroad, as I would not be returning to the UK every month for any care or visits to GP's. My businesses would be registered to my accountants office, and important documents that require a directors signature would be sent to me by UPS to sign, and I'd return them back by UPS. With Companies House, I would be registered as living in Cyprus so for all intents and purposes I would be a foreign resident. The alternative is to travel back to England every month or two which would cost a lot more than private medical care in Cyprus!

Do you know of any office in the UK that I can call to ask them about benefits overseas?

Ta,
legal


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## Veronica (Apr 5, 2008)

pickle said:


> Veronica,
> 
> If I don't have insurance to cover pre-existing conditions, will the authorities accept evidence of sufficient income to cover the expenses associated with those pre-existing conditions in replacement of insurance documents for those conditions?
> 
> ...


I think as long as you can prove you have sufficient income to cover all your expenses you should be ok.
I would also advise you to pay Social Insurance which will entitle you to pensions etc inthe future.
One thought that crossed my mind is that I dont think t he Cyprus goverment actually asks abouyt health issues when you apply for residency so if you can pay for your medical treamtents in cash and you pay social insurance you could probably start to claim after a few years.
I would also advise you to look into de-registering for tax in the UK and registering here as Taxes are far lower.

Regards Veronica


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## Guest (Sep 4, 2008)

Veronica Kneeshaw said:


> I think as long as you can prove you have sufficient income to cover all your expenses you should be ok.
> I would also advise you to pay Social Insurance which will entitle you to pensions etc inthe future.
> One thought that crossed my mind is that I dont think t he Cyprus goverment actually asks abouyt health issues when you apply for residency so if you can pay for your medical treamtents in cash and you pay social insurance you could probably start to claim after a few years.
> I would also advise you to look into de-registering for tax in the UK and registering here as Taxes are far lower.
> ...


Thanks Veronica.

Do you or anybody else know who in the UK I should call regarding de-registering for tax?
And once in Cyprus, who do I approach there regarding registering for tax? Registering for social insurance?

Next question, complicated now, if I leave Cyprus to: a) Back to the UK. b) Another EU country. c) Another country that Cyprus has friendly diplomatic relations with, but is not within the EU. and have paid social insurance and tax in Cyprus for say, 5 years, do I get any benefits from Cyprus in each of these scenarios, or have I forfeited my benefits to the Cypriot government?

I am considering moving to Cyprus for 5 years and then moving to Israel [please, no political statements here]. Whilst the benefits in Cyprus of paying taxes there whatever the case, seem to outweigh the benefits of not paying taxes there even if I move to Israel or anywhere else in 5 years time, I would still like to examine everything I am getting myself into long term. Similarly if the move to Cyprus doesn't work out for me, I want to at least maximize the benefits of making the move in the first place.

I am Orthodox Jewish and whilst there is a Jewish community in Larnaca, I am not sure I would live there in 10 years. I am not ruling anything out at this stage, so want to keep all my options open.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Ta,
pickle


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