The Church of Cyprus was found outside the Department of Taxation, to which the state returned taxes amounting to € 2,9 million. In fact, tax refunds to the Church, and in particular VAT, do not seem to stop here.
The requests sent by the Church to the Ministry of Finance concern the tax refund of € 5,5 million. In March 2012, at a time when the financial crisis was gnashing its teeth, the then Council of Ministers approved the agreement between the Church and State for tax matters.
According to Haris Georgiadis, "the amount that has been returned from the day of implementation of the Ministerial decision until September 30, 2017 amounts to € 2,9 million from a total amount of requests of € 5,5 million."
At that time, the Ministry had decided to return the VAT to the Church in cases of construction and other work done in churches. When in 2012 the state joined hands with the Church, provision was included, specifically point 13, according to which “the Church of Cyprus is exempt from paying VAT for the construction and maintenance of temples and properties located in the churchyard and used for the performance of her religious work ".
The Department of Taxation had issued a circular stating that the term maintenance included "renovation and repair services performed by a taxable person, and consist of plumbing, electrician, carpenter, oil painter and construction work." However, the agreement clarified that the specific exemption will be made by the concession in favor of state sponsorship against the VAT paid.
Source: Liberal