Cyprus Tax Department clears 373,000 old returns as backlog drive continues

Economy economytaxTop News Cyprus Tax Department clears 373,000 old returns as backlog drive continues Forologias 825x510 0 Relevant News Cyprus Tax Department clears 373,000 old returns as backlog drive continues 9 August 2026 Iran says deal on Strait of Hormuz is close but not enough to open the waterway 9 August 2026 Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco Jazan refinery, fire extinguished 9 August 2026 Eleftheria Paizanou 9 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber Cyprus’s Tax Department cleared 373,000 old tax returns in 2025 as it continued a long-running campaign to reduce a backlog of cases involving individuals and companies. The cases had remained pending for years and have gradually been reduced through the department’s continuing effort to tackle delayed work. The campaign, which began in mid-2017, has involved reviewing and settling old tax returns, issuing outstanding refunds, correcting tax assessments, calculating liabilities and imposing taxes. The 373,000 returns cleared last year bring the total number processed under the campaign in recent years to close to two million. Detailed figures The clearance of tax returns covers previous tax years for both companies and individuals. As part of the backlog reduction project, the department carried out large-scale automated tax assessments covering tax years 2008 to 2010 and 2012 to 2023 for both individuals and legal entities. In detail, around 262,000 individual tax assessments were cleared in 2025 for tax years 2008-2010, 2013 and 2023. These resulted in €5.1 million in income tax payable and €20.7 million in income tax refunds, excluding interest. At the same time, around 35,900 company tax assessments for the 2022 tax year were cleared, generating €1.2 million in income tax payable and €6.1 million in refunds, excluding interest. In addition to these amounts, assessments were also imposed for the Special Defence Contribution and the Employee Special Contribution. Overtime work generates €37.7 million in tax payable Tax Department officers working overtime also imposed 75,500 assessments on individuals, resulting in €37.7 million in income tax payable and €11.6 million in refunds, excluding interest. Assessments for the Special Defence Contribution and Employee Special Contribution were also imposed in addition to these amounts. The backlog-clearance campaign also includes the settlement of objections. An Independent Objections Committee was established in 2024 as a nationwide unit to implement and monitor this work. During 2025, it settled 8,451 objections. New units and tax inspections At the same time, the Tax Department has taken measures to strengthen tax compliance and keep its tax base up to date, including through tax inspections. The department’s district offices and Large Taxpayers Office carry out various types of inspections as part of their daily work, with the aim of enforcing tax compliance. Tax inspections can cover one or more types of tax and one or more tax years or periods at the same time, depending on the individual case, the taxpayer’s profile and the department’s findings, so that the appropriate tax can be imposed. As part of these efforts, two new nationwide units were established in 2025: the Nationwide Compliance Unit A and the Nationwide Call Centre Unit. The Nationwide Compliance Unit A is responsible for monitoring and checking compliance, mainly among legal entities, with specific provisions of tax legislation. The Nationwide Call Centre Unit is responsible for organising and operating the department’s call centre in an effort to strengthen and improve services to the public. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Iran says deal on Strait of Hormuz is close but not enough to open the waterway Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked Saudi Aramco Jazan refinery, fire extinguished The homework Guterres left Cyprus: Three readings of what comes next German minister warns of daily ‘hybrid warfare’ after suspected drone attack Vehicle extensively damaged in early-morning fire in Larnaca Taylor Swift songs removed from White House, Trump campaign posts Bulgaria says drone explodes in its airspace, no damage Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.