A DISY bill is being submitted to the Plenary Session, which aims to benefit citizens from the payment of a reduced VAT rate for the purchase of a main residence, who have already benefited in the past but returned the original amount with which they benefited.
In his statements to the Parliament on Monday and answering journalists' questions on the subject, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Finance Committee and rapporteur of the bill Averof Neophytou stated that "there are some distortions in a very social legal framework that enables Cypriot citizens , to Europeans and third countries, buying the first home to pay a reduced rate from 19% to 5% ".
There were some problems, he said. In the past, he added, "(citizens) paid 15% of VAT and were reimbursed 10%." That is, he explained, "if a young couple bought an apartment for € 100.000, they would pay € 15.000 VAT and the state would return € 10.000."
If, he added, "in the following years, due to his financial ability or having children, he decided to sell the apartment to go to someone bigger, returning the € 10.000 he could buy and replace the apartment at a reduced rate".
Today, Mr. Neophytou noted, "the legislation has a distortion. He can't do it. "
So, he continued, "if a young couple after their marriage, who bought an apartment, have two, three children and want to replace the apartment, they will be asked to pay 19% (VAT) for the new apartment".
And an amendment is being made, he said, "to return the savings they had with the acquisition of the first apartment to take advantage of the reduced rate for the replacement of the apartment".
"We consider this measure very social and we hope that it will receive the unanimous support of all parliamentary parties," said the President of DISY.
Source: KYPE