Pink Slip and Money

the 24k is income and you need to evidence spending it via a bsnk account in cyprus. Year 1 you will need a deposit in the bank but generally not a big amount year on year.

so as a couple you need 4k a month coming in and evidence spending it. if you were married it would be €2800 a month.

Hi Sion,

Appreciate your response. Am  I right in thinking that the money has to be paid monthly as opposed to an annual lump sum?

I understand that we will use the money for everyday expenditure and rental etc but we certainly won't be spending 4k a month. What can we do with the surplus that will otherwise be languishing in a low/no interest Cypriot account?

Initially I believe it's a lump sum to show you have the income for the first year. Note also though officially you cannot just top it up to that sum at renewal...the balance at that time must be removed and re-deposited with the extra... Now exactly what can and does happen in the real world may be different at renewal time. As it depends on who processes the renewal and what they ask for. It doesn't seem consistent and may also depend on the route to residency you take

Deposit rates here are not great....

Hi Toon. Thanks for that.

I believe we have to deposit 10k in the first year as well as the 24k x 2 people.

Still need to understand if I can move some of the annual 48k out of the Cypriot account once the renewal is given, deposit in high interest UK account then use that amount  as part of the next years deposit at renewal time.

I hope this makes sense

Planning on renewing pink slip indefinitely hence the movement of money every year to qualify for the 'adequate income from abroad'.

No I don't think so because you need to show expense in Cyprus from that  Cyprus bank account

I believe you are obliged to apply for Permanent residency once you have achieved 5 yrs temporary residency.. There is a clause deep inside the rules that details €2500 fine for failing to do so at the right time .but in all honesty i have yet to hear of that actually being enforced .. I would check that out with. Professional first ....

Am not sure of the figure of 48k ...I believe it to be based on 2000 per month plus 400 per month for spouse  and I think 3-400 per month for each child ... Assuming married if not then it maybe treated as individuals ..however you might be able to demonstrate a durable long term relationship of 2 years of more ..might be worth  investigating that avenue..or proving a Joint accounts joint bills joint ownrship.of property etc etc and get an affi davit signed at court to the effect of that durable relationship of 30 year..maybe even on tbe basis.of one partner being dependant on the other ..

If either of you have or can get an Irish passport then that's a game  changer and much easier by a long way

Was hoping to use the money from our house sale as a kind of draw down.

48k every year will soon drain this and then we will have no income from abroad to pull on. That is why I wanted to move money around to make the draw down last longer.

I know we have to use money for bills etc but will never spend 4k a month

Ive edited my first reply

Check.out how long the lump sum must stay here it may be 2-3 years...3years rings a bell to me.. 

But having said that if you deposit that sum. Then spend whatever..and at renewal stage move your balance of say 6k as I think that's minimum balance at renewal then top-up the balance to renew and continue do that for however long is necessary should be ok or at renewal prove that you have the required regular monthly income for you both  via statements to support you supporting yourselves without working as that is 100% barred under pink slip and cat f routes

As we all know things are very fluid and dependent on date and time plus personnel  on the day. I can give you the details of what my immigration lawyer gave me 1 month ago for the renewal appointment we have on the 20th March 2024.

This is my second year in Cyprus therefore first renewal (probably based on the rules as at my first application) and the immigration lawyer advised put 15k in the Hellenic bank as a lump sum in Jan 2024 and have an income of 2.4k being paid into the Hellenic bank each month for the last six months. This covers myself and my partner. We are not married and she is officially my dependent (don't tell her ) lol

Last year I was advised to have 20k in the Hellenic account and provide a bank signed statement showing this. I was also advised I could remove the 20k after the immigration ARC was issued. I did that.

My advise would be engage an immigration lawyer and ask them for clarification of exactly what they 'think' is required because they will deal with it. At my first appointment in Dec 2023 I did not actually attend as the lawyer did this on our behalf! We did sit in the waiting room but were not required to see the immigration staff. There were a lot of other documents required but I am sure you know all about them.

Hi All,

We have had Zoom calls with both George K. Konstantinou  and Polycarpos Philippou. Both have said yes, 48k annually, but not given any more detail regarding how (also contacted Michael Kyprianou but they have not replied sadly)

@phildraper -  great to see that it is possible as an unmarried couple as we were beginning to lose hope. May I please ask which immigration lawyer you use?

@markedwards206 Hi We arrived in Cyprus in September 2022. We initially needed €30,000 in a Cypriot bank account before our first Immigration appointment where we had to show the bank statement with the deposit. When we renewed last year we had to show that we had a balance of €8000 and regular income from sources outside of Cyprus of €28800 during the previous 12 months. This was as a married couple. It may be different for unmarried couples.

The income had to be from a legitimate source such as our a State Pension, Private Pension, Rental Income (from UK property), Interest from savings. We were also told that simply transferring lump sums from the UK periodically is not acceptable since Brexit.

Be aware that the rules are changing all the time.

@markedwards206 I sent you a PM in reply to your recommendation

@markedwards206

The reason i mentioned the dependant route with affidavit for partners is that an eu friend of mine moved here with a non EU partner  and that was the route they took and was acceptable.. maybe its different for mixed non EU and EU partnerships... Imo  Worth asking the question though .. 

I had to get a co habitation form completed and stamped by the Tala Mukhtar no cost and done in the same morning

Phil

Even with the co-habitation form completed you still had to pay.48k annually as your partner isn't your spouse. If so ,why was the form needed?

Sounds very suspect to me ....

Mark

We had to have 20k in the Hellenic bank account in March 2023 when our immigration went thru. My partner did also have a job and she was remote working for a UK company. No idea if that had any effect on the amount required. This year we have been told 15k and she has retired now.

It appears we are all being told different things by the people who should know exactly what income we need to immigrate e.g.  immigration specialists. If those don’t know what chance do the rest of us have. The information on the immigration website is a waste of time, the income requirements are still in Cyp£.

It was exactly the same 10 years ago when we first arrived

@phildraper

I've been reading all the responses about what happens at renewal time and I am interested to find out what happens to you on 20th March.

I agree totally with Toon because my understanding is that the Immigration Department want to see evidence of money being spent in Cyprus and not just used to deposit money for the renewal process etc. 

I'm using my Bank of Cyprus account for everything in Cyprus so there is lots of activity.  I do agree that 24,000 Euros for an individual is a lot of money because some of that money could be deposited in British banks accruing interest.  However, I want to play by the rules so that when I go for my immigration renewal in October my bank account will show evidence of activity.

MacGeorge8035-  That is exactly what I was thinking. Very difficult to make a decision when there is no set way of doing things. Worried about just diving in and ending up making a mistake

I would also just like to thank all of you for taking time out of your days to respond and offer your suggestions.

I am really very grateful.   

My documents for the renewal are going with the immigration lawyer to Paphos today so the immigration can check what there is and confirm it should all be good for the 20th March 2024 appointment. I will keep updating here as thing progress so at least you will know my expeireince. Does not mean it will be the same for you but at least there will be some info to bases things on.

Totally agree with Mark. We could all feel more comfortable if we knew the rules and we could just deliver on them :-/

I think I can say that all participants on this forum are happy to take the time to post as we all understand we are following the same path and happy to share experiences. Just keep asking question and never think there is a silly question lol

So far I have heard of anyone being deported!

Spooky .. can I just say that I was talking to our complex cleaner this morning and she was telling me that her close. friend and neighbour is having serious issues with her pink slip application...getting accepted at Paphos  but then being rejected at  Nicosia.. this is twice now ..so am just wondering what on earth is going on...

Hi Mark,  you've been together 30 years,  have you considered what my partner and I of 20 years did,  we went and did a Civil partnership at the local Town Hall and got the certificate Apostilled.

We now have ONLY to put  €28,800 into our joint Hellenic account per year at €2,400 per month.

Show at least a balance of €6,000 at the time of the Immigration appointment.

After you've been accepted you can then send the balance of your Hellenic or Bank of Cyprus back to the UK and start the process of putting €2,400 back into the Cyprus bank per month. You have to use that bank card for all your purchases ie, shopping, meals out,  paying bills, etc. So immigration can see that you're contributing to the economy.

I set up a bank account with Starling that has a GBP/Euro all-in-one account. You simply transfer after you get through the immigration process the majority of your Cyprus bank balance back to your Starling Euro account then use that to start year 2, €2,400 payments per month.

Hope that makes sense but the civil partnership is just a financial gainer plus I've just got £500 back-dated Marriage allowance and a £1300 tax rebate back from my pension.

My Civil partner now doesn't earn the full tax allowance of £12750 so she can give me some of her allowance. I think my allowance has gone up to £13800 plus the tax code has changed I now get around £150 a month extra on my personal pension too. It's a no-brainer but that's up to you decide.

Decisions...

@timhuntington

Well done lad ..

Get your starling account before leaving UK though

I don't know your circumstances  but would you not be better off under DTT

Hi Tim, that is a cracking suggestion. Thanks so much for that

Excuse my ignorance toon but what is DTT?

This is not tax advise just my observations...Professional advise is best lol

Unless your pension in the UK is service related there should be no tax deducted unless you have not completed a P85 and HMRC know you are under the Cypriot tax system as you have been in Cyprus for 183 days. This is as I know for state pension not service related. Not sure why service pension always have tax deducted. I presume tax can be claimed back?

Your UK tax code should be NT and you might have to make an application using a DT-Individual form - downloaded from HMRC website for the personal pensions to have a tax code of NT. If your private pension is in draw-down and you have registered the DT-Individual you could also have the option to withdraw the pension cash pot tax free in Cyprus without using the QROPS transfer option.

Dual Taxation Treaty ..ensures that you can only be taxed in one country (except for certain UK service pensions).Cyprus and UK have one

And as Phil has explained above  take professional advice on this..could save you a lot of money and hassles

@deborahkibblewhite Deborah, here is my sixpenth worth. I renewed in September last year for our second year of temporary residency. When we renewed I was told I needed to have a minimum of €8000 in our Cypriot bank.  We also renewed using the old requirements changes since our initial application does not apply to our renewal.

Additionally, we also had to show a minimum of  €28800 income over a year (€2400 per month) from sources outside of Cyprus. That income had to be from a legitimate source in the UK State Pensions, Army Pension, Private Pension, Public Sector Pension, Rental Income (UK Property) or interest from savings in a UK Savings account.

I have also ensured that I am a Tax resident in Cyprus as soon as possible as all my income over €3420 is charged at 5%, tax. The exception is my Service Pension and My wife's Local Government Pension scheme, as neither pension is over our UK Tax Allowance of £12570 we pay no tax on that income.

I was also told that periodic payments from the UK do not count towards the income requirements. This of course is all since Brexit. If you have an EU passport then none of this matters.

Caveat Emptor - the rules change regularly.

@MacGeorge8035

Am I correct in thinking that in the circumstance above you get the benefit of UK tax allowances as well as the tax allowance and lower taxation of Cyprus too ..

Well played sir...

@Toon yes we do

Well done bonny lad

@Toon

Would you be better off under DTT?

My pension is a local government pension fund which I believe has to be taxed in the UK?

Plus I'm 13 months off getting the State pension so not sure if I qualify?

A DT-Individual application might mean the UK service pension would be paid gross and then you would pay tax in Cyprus. Depending on the likely savings it would be worth asking a professional but if it is only a small amount of tax the advise might our weight it I have been told this work for a private pension but a service pension might be different.

Maybe .... best to get professional advice .. Gov pensions service pensions and the like must be taxed in UK but under DTT the UK tax paid can be offset against taxes here in Cyprus when you declare the income here and may be beneficial  when combined with the greater tax free allowances here and depending on income level the 5% flat rate of tax above €3420 .. but take professional advice always.

My concern would be the Cyprus mechanism for taxation on all  worldwide income (with some exceptions linked to domicile) so you must be sure that you cannot be taxed both here and UK on that same income

Also be aware of this too

As of 2025, some British retirees living in Cyprus and getting a UK state pension are set to see the amount they receive fall as it will no longer be taxed on the island, but in the UK.

The tax rates on pensions imposed in Cyprus are more generous than those in the UK, and could impact people's choice of where to live. Those set to change are pensions paid to UK government workers.

One concerned reader wrote to the Cyprus Mail, fearing a mass exodus of British pensioners living on the island if as of 2025 they will face a higher tax rate.

According to Desmond Smith, a retired schoolteacher living in Pyla: “No doubt the UK Gov's treasury will receive a nice little booster with the repatriation of non-dom [non-domiciled] tax revenue.”

He added that the ramifications for Cyprus are “enormous”, and that the country would lose significant amount of tax revenue it currently collects from British pensioners in Cyprus.

Former Tala village councillor and British national Cathy Delaney echoed Smith's sentiments, saying the planned change will “create problems for a lot of people.

“Retired teachers, retired police officers, and former military personnel all live here in Cyprus, and this effective increase on the amount of tax they pay will make a huge difference to their incomes. A lot of people have been very worried by this news,” she said.

She added her belief that people should “pay tax in the country where they live.”

According to the finance ministry, under a 2018 double taxation agreement between the UK and Cyprus, pensioners living on the island were able to choose to have their pension taxed in Cyprus or the UK.

Under that UK/Cyprus double taxation treaty, which was amended in 2019, UK government service pensions were taxable in the UK (unless the individual was a Cypriot national). This brought Cyprus into line with most other countries.

This reform was implemented gradually so that people could elect to apply the terms of the old treaty and have their pension taxed in Cyprus.

However, the agreement only foresaw this measure to be extended until the end of 2024, as a transitionary period.

Asked by the Cyprus Mail if there were any measures afoot to extend this measure past 2024, the finance ministry said that there was no such discussion or work ongoing.

This means that as of January 1, 2025 any UK retirees living in Cyprus and receiving a UK state pension will have it taxed in the UK before receiving it, as foreseen under the tax agreement.

Currently UK pensioners living in Cyprus and having their pension taxed in the UK were also entitled to have healthcare costs covered by the UK, meaning there is no extra fee to be included in the national health scheme (Gesy) in Cyprus, meaning they were free to enjoy its benefits.

The S1 form that allows this is filed with Gesy through the personal doctor or online and gives the pensioner access to the Cyprus health system at the same rates Cypriot citizens pay.

But, speaking to the Cyprus Mail on the matter of the 2024 end to the taxation of pensions in Cyprus, pension specialists from Blevins Franks wealth management said there is information to extend the measure.

“There are efforts afoot to get this changed,” a representative said, so that pensioners that chose to be taxed in Cyprus may continue to do so, where the tax regime is more favourable.

The Blevins' rep added that even with Gesy there are some differences as to file the S1, UK citizens living in Cyprus need to be over 67, the retirement age in the UK. Otherwise, they will have the tax deducted from their pensions.

If retirees are under 67 the healthcare expenses are deducted from their pensions in the same way as tax is.

Asked if there have been complaints about the agreement change taking place at the end of 2024, the Blevins rep said “yes, there have been several”.

The tax rate in the UK stands at 20 per cent for income between £12,571 and £50,270. It then rises to 40 per cent.

Cyprus taxes all foreign pension income on a worldwide basis. Pensioners can choose how it is taxed each year, under two options.

Option 1 – at 5 per cent tax, meaning all pension income is taxed at a flat 5 per cent above a tax-exempt allowance of €3,420.

The other option foresees pension income added to other income for the year and taxed at the normal scale rates.

The first €19,500 is exempt. Tax then starts being applied at 20 per cent for income up to €28,000 and rises progressively to 35 per cent for income over €60,000.

Article by By Nikolas Prakas and Tom Cleaver

Source... Cyprus Mail