Cyprus: our way ahead

Cyprus Tax Department (CTD) was established on July 1, 2014, as a result of the integration of the "Inland Revenue Department" and "Value Added Tax (V.A.T.) Services," which, until that time, were operating under two different and independent administrations.

The integration of the two departments was deemed necessary not only to streamline public administration but also to provide better services to taxpayers through the simplification of procedures and modernization of information systems. It was soon recognised that the lack of a common information system was causing inefficiencies and delays. Thus, the establishment of a new integrated tax administration system became the sole option for CTD.

The journey toward acquiring an integrated system began immediately after the integration of the two departments in 2014, with the documentation of the specifications.

In 2017, we launched a European Procurement competition, requesting a commercial off-the-shelf solution aimed at providing enhanced services to both taxpayers and internal users.

In October 2020, Cyprus Tax Department signed a contract to implement a Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system named  "Tax For All - TFA."

Tax For All is one of the largest and most significant IT projects ever to be implemented in Cyprus.

It will be implemented in three stages and is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2024, with each stage focusing on different functionalities and tax types.

Tax For All will replace almost all of the existing internal and external systems of the Cyprus Tax Department. It will greatly contribute to its Digital Transformation, which is one of the most significant challenges nowadays, by providing:

·         less paperwork thus facilitating the everyday life of tax officers and provide traceability to the taxpayer’s transactions and requests. 

·         Real-time information from the Taxpayer to the Tax Department and vice versa. 

·         Single taxpayer view. 

·         Online Registration (available at stage 3). 

·         Real-time payments with the use of cards. 

·         Online payments through Bank a/c transfers.  

·         Online correspondence of the users with the Tax Department and Vice Versa, using “Enquiry” functionality. 

·         Online - real time Certificates issue (i.e. Registration, Tax Clearance certificates). 

·         Online submission of returns for all types of taxes. 

·         Online V.A.T. Refund application.  

·         Representative’s functionalities enabling users to appoint a person act on their behalf. 

·         Pre-designed report, custom reports and statements for data analysis.    

Additional to the above, the system interfaces with other governmental service systems, facilitating seamless information exchange.

Importantly, the exchange of information between the system and TFA taxpayers' portal is executed in real-time, ensuring prompt communication. 

On 27th March 2023 Tax For All - Stage 1 went successfully Live.

Stage 1 affects entitle liable ONLY to V.A.T.

Stage 2 and 3 will affect entities liable to other types of taxes                         i.e., Corporation Tax, Income Tax, Capital Gain Tax.

The positive feedback for Stage 1 implementation, both from internal and external users, confirms that we are on the right track.

We will continue upgrading our electronic services.

We will continue to empower our legislative framework.

We will continue to improve voluntary compliance and increase tax revenues.

We will continue to serve taxpayer in a simple and transparent way.

We have just started.

Stay with us.

By - Anna Fantarou, Senior Principal Assessor, Head of Training and Education Unit, TFA - External Communication Manager, Tax Department, Cyprus