Despite noting “a political will not to be the black sheep of Europe” and the positive reforms underway in Cyprus, Danish MEP Kira Marie Peter-Hansen (Greens/EFA) expressed her “concern that the non-domiciled tax regimes and golden visa are still abused” at a press conference on Wednesday 17 September during a visit by the delegation from the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (see EUROPE 13299/15).
She felt that Cyprus should devote more resources to implementing legislative changes. “Cyprus must find the right balance between attracting foreign investments and fighting tax evasion and money laundering”.
However, she acknowledged the current difficult economic climate. “We hear the signals that EU legislation needs to be simplified and streamlined, while not going backwards on the tax fairness agenda”, she said. “One major issue that still needs to be addressed is the increasing cost of housing, often linked to tax measures attracting wealthier individuals”. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)