House approves corporate tax levy abolition — government questioned on lost revenue

The House of Representatives in the early hours of Friday morning approved a number of important pieces of legislation, during a session that lasted over nine hours, among which was the abolition of the annual €350 corporate tax levy.

Specifically, the House approved the government’s bill for the abolition of the annual fee of €350 for all registered companies in the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property. The fee had been in effect from 2011 until 2023.

It should be noted that the bill was submitted as urgent. Moreover, the House Standing Committee on Energy, Trade, Industry and Tourism convened during the plenary session that led to the bill being approved.

Kyriacos Xadjiyiannis, chairman of the committee, and a member of Disy, informed the House that the executive branch committed to refunding the amount collected from the 1,300 companies that had already paid the fee for 2024.

According to reports, most parties welcomed the submission of the bill, although some members accused the government of “cunning manoeuvres”, noting that it hurried to bring the legislation to the House while related bills were pending.

Representatives of Akel defended the party’s proposal for a scaled imposition of the fee, based on each respective company’s assets.

This proposal, they said, would allow the retention of recurring revenues of €20 million and the imposition of the fee only on those who possess the prerequisite assets.

They also referred to a “problematic process”, as the House has not been informed as to how the government will make up for the €45 million it will lose after the abolition of the tax, in the event that this amount was considered in the state budget.

What is more, Akel criticised the government directly, stating that “there appears to be no money to address the cost-of-living tsunami affecting the people, but there is money to be given away to the wealthy”.

At the same time, Akel faced criticism from members of other parties who pointed out that this fee was imposed under their administration, initially for two years, but had not been abolished until today.

Ultimately, 29 members of parliament voted in favour, while 11 voted against, with all proposals submitted by members of parliament, from all parties, related to this matter being withdrawn.