Cyprus Business Now

Cyprus VAT Association (Cyva) president Demetra Constantinou this week provided a summary of the benefits, services, and the reason for establishing the association.

Constantinou stated that the main reason for establishing CYVA was the lack of communication between the private and public sectors.

“The association constantly receives suggestions, but also complaints, with its members coming face to face with errors that exist in the current legislative framework on a number of occasions,” Constantinou told local outlet InBusiness.

Moreover, Constantinou explained that taxpayers have the ability to report any difficulties when having to implement the relevant legislation, with the association, before subsequently addressing the Tax Department or the Ministry of Finance for relevant arrangements.

“The aim of the association is to bridge the gap between the private and public sector, to give a voice to its members and to evaluate what is worth transferring to the Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance in order to help realise a more modern, up-to-date legislative framework, where people have the ability to remain compliant,” Constantinou said.

She added that it was a great honour for the association to be recognised both by the Ministry of Finance and by the House of Representatives, as a result of which the association now takes equal part in the finance meetings of the House when issues related to VAT are discussed, but also issues that are forwarded by the European Commission.

As Constantinou explained, “the association is a communication platform, as oversights, errors and difficulties in the implementation of the legislation noted by its members are forwarded to the Tax Department, so as to find the common component between all those involved”.

“An important action of the association is to hold seminars regarding the training of citizens in VAT matters,” she concluded.

The total sales of petroleum products in Cyprus increased by 12 per cent in the period between January and November 2022, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, according to a report released this week by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).

In addition, total sales of petroleum products reached 114,945 tons in November 2022, marking a decrease in relation to the same month of the previous year.

According to the report, during November 2022, the total sales of petroleum products reached 114,945 tons, marking a decrease of 0.6 per cent compared to November 2021.

A decrease in sales was observed in oil supplies to ships, which fell by 28.0 per cent, kerosene sales, a drop of 8.3 per cent, asphalt, a decline of 2.9 per cent, as well as LPG, with a decline of 1.8 per cent.

Conversely, an increase was recorded in aircraft oil supplies with 2.7 per cent, as well as sales of heavy and light fuel oil which rose by 23 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively.

Moreover, heating oil sales increased by 4.2 per cent, while gasoline sales increased by 1 .1 per cent. Diesel sales remained unchanged.

Sales from petrol stations experienced a decrease of 0.9 per cent, amounting to 53,836 tons in total.

Total sales of petroleum products in the month of November 2022, compared to October 2022, recorded a decrease of 0.1 per cent.

Indicatively, the supply of oil to aeroplanes decreased by 46.2 per cent, while the sales of gasoline also fell by 4.2 per cent. The sales of diesel fuel increased slightly, rising by 0.5 per cent.

Finally, total oil inventories at the end of November 2022 increased by 19.5 per cent compared to the end of the previous month.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Wednesday, December 28 with losses.

The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 89.06 points at 13:31 during the day, reflecting a drop of 0.45 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 53.71 points, representing a decrease of 0.44 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €96,889.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative and investment firm indexes fell by 0.57 per cent, 0.14 per cent and 0.75 per cent respectively, while the hotel index remained stable.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (-0.3 per cent), Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company (no change), Petrolina Holdings (-1.83 per cent), the Cyprus Cement Public Company (+0.93 per cent), and Demetra Holdings (-0.82 per cent).