The Cyrus Shipping Company
Cyprus has the tenth larger commercial fleet in the world and the third largest in Europe and that is not a coincidence. Cypriot flag is not a flag of convenience and is classified in the White List of the Paris and Tokyo MOU on Port State Control and it is excluded from the list of Targeted Flag States of the US Coast Guard. The Cyprus Registry with offices and representatives around the world maintains a friendly approach towards the ship owners and promotes the shipping Industry of the Island.
Tax advantages
¨ No tax on Income derived from operation of a Cyprus registered vessel.
¨ No tax on dividends paid to shareholders of a Cyprus registered vessel.
¨ No tax on interest earned on working capital of a Cyprus registered vessel.
¨ No tax on income from the profit made from the sale of a Cypriot vessel.
¨ No tax ion the wages or other benefits of officers and crew members of a Cyprus registered vessel.
¨ Competitive ship registration costs and fees
¨ Favorable tonnage tax scheme approved by E.U regarding shipowners, charterers and shipmanagers.
The Tonnage Tax scheme
The owner of a qualifying ship carrying out a qualifying shipping activity is required to pay tonnage tax annually and is exempted from the payment of income tax under the provisions of the Income Tax Laws in force.
A qualifying shipping activity is any commercial activity that constitutes maritime transport. The definition of maritime transport includes the traditional carriage of goods and passengers, by sea, outside the territorial sea of the Republic of Cyprus, including, under certain conditions, towage, dredging and cable-laying activities, as well as, ancillary activities to maritime transport.
The annual tonnage tax is calculated on the basis of ship’s net tonnage as follows:
Net tonnage
Euro
For each 100 net tonnage units up to 1.000 Euro 36,50
For each additional 100 net tonnage units between 1.001 and 10.000 Euro 31,03
For each additional 100 net tonnage units between 10.001 and 25.000 Euro 20,08
For each additional 100 net tonnage units between 25.001 and 40.000 Euro 12,78
For each additional 100 net tonnage units over 40.000 Euro 7,30
The tonnage tax payable in relation to a qualifying ship carrying out a qualifying shipping activity which is laid up or inoperative for a period of at least 3 consecutive months may be reduced by 75% under certain conditions.
Type of Company
It can be Public or Private depending on the certain circumstances of each case. Usually Shipping Companies are Private unless it is required to list them into the Cyprus Stock Exchange Market.
Minimum Capital Requirements
A Cyprus Shipping Company does not have any Minimum Capital Requirements
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