North Cyprus - residence & tax questions

mtl3108


Joined: 26/07/2010
Posts: 3

Message Posted:
26/07/2010 09:33

Hello



I am considering retirement in TRNC but I am confused by conflicting information I have seen on various websites.



If I were to move to TRNC, rent a property for one year or longer, and apply for temporary residence -



1. Are the authorities interested in how often I come and go from TRNC and how much time I spend there?



2. Would being in TRNC (say) 3 times a year for one to two months each visit (maybe 4-5 months in total) prejudice renewals of my temporary residence?



3. Is it correct that income tax is charged only on income earned (none in my case) or received in TRNC?



4. Would I need to show that I have received a liveable income in TRNC (or could I cover all my expenses with an offshore credit/debit card, thus having minimal received income in TRNC)?



Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.



Tim

the butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
26/07/2010 10:17

Hi Tim,



If you were staying the TRNC for less than 90 days in any one trip there is no need to take out residency. Residency is for people who want to stay for longer than 90 days at any one time and you need to renew it every year. It is expensive to do and time consuming. You would not need to pay tax on any income earned out of the TRNC but you will pay tax on any monies held in TRNC banks. If applying for residency, you do need to prove that you have enough money to keep yourself but there has never been a set figure on this. One would expect it would not be less than the minimum wage which is roughly 1200 ytl per month.



The butlers wife

cyprusairsoft



Joined: 22/06/2009
Posts: 2066

Message Posted:
26/07/2010 11:00

agree with above



residency renewell is slightly easier then it used to be



but it is not time consuming a few hours from a day or 2 and your ok for a year



you have to go to 3 different places to obtain paeperwork etc but its easy peasy

malsancak


Joined: 23/08/2009
Posts: 2874

Message Posted:
26/07/2010 11:07

but, I understand, there may be complications if you are out of the country around the date you need to renew. Because you cannot renew early you could find yourself with fines when you return. This means that unless you are staying longer than 90 days you might be better of not applying.

keithcaley



Joined: 13/06/2008
Posts: 2521

Message Posted:
26/07/2010 11:33

malsancak,

You might want to check this, but I think that if you OVERSTAY either a 'tourist (say 90 day) Visa' or the last date on your residency stamp, then you will be fined for every day that you overstay.

If you're not in the country when either of those dates pass, there's no problem, and no penalty.

If you have 'temporary residency', but are out of the country for more than 90 days in any year (not sure if it's a 'rolling 12 month period, or a calendar year) then that year does not count towards the 6 consecutive years that you need to apply for permanent residency. As the issue of permanent residency seems to be on hold at the moment, then that may be irrelevant...

mtl3108


Joined: 26/07/2010
Posts: 3

Message Posted:
27/07/2010 10:22

Thanks for the replies.



While temporary residency may not be essential if all my stays are under 90 days, I would like to have it as part of the proof to HMRC that I am not resident in the UK!!!



I'm not too bothered about permanent residency status, especially as I read somewhere that permanent residents are taxed on worldwide income. Can anyone confirm that is correct?



Tim

Harold2555



Joined: 19/04/2008
Posts: 1139

Message Posted:
27/07/2010 10:31

Tim



TRNC operates visa and stamps for entry and exit, These will suffice for HMRC as long as you meet the rules. Any UK derived income, such as Pensions or Rents will still be subject to UK Tax



Harold

kaiserphil


Joined: 14/12/2008
Posts: 1096

Message Posted:
27/07/2010 12:32

Message 6 - I don't think they will accept that as proof of anything.

waddo


Joined: 29/11/2008
Posts: 1966

Message Posted:
27/07/2010 12:46

"as I read somewhere that permanent residents are taxed on worldwide income. Can anyone confirm that is correct? "



Now that is a new one on me! Never heard of this at all, perhaps somebody who already has permanent residency could respond to this please?

nostradamus


Joined: 15/04/2008
Posts: 557

Message Posted:
27/07/2010 13:16

At the present time there is no tax payable by pensioners in TRNC - neither Turkish Cypriots nor foreigners whatever their status. The government have however recently announced that this may change although they have not given any real details. It's a bit difficult to see how they would apply this tax to foreigners though because, unless you have a pension remitted directly to a bank here, how would they know?

peterincyprus


Joined: 30/05/2010
Posts: 30

Message Posted:
02/08/2010 18:31

The article on residency may not provide some very important information. It says that ALL visitors are given a 90 visa, however, that surmise has led my wife to a very bad and expensive experience. We both came into TRNC on the same day and my passport was stamped with a 90 day visa. So it is assumed that my wife would receive a 90 visa stamped in her passport. WRONG!! A couple of months later, on going to the bank to open a new account she saw that her passport was stamped with a 30 day visa. Afer 3 visits to various police and immigration dept's she was asked to leave the country, pay 3000 YTL PENALTY, pay her air fare to Turkey, pay for a Visa to re-enter TRNC, as well as cost of residency application. We own property in TRNC, LIVE HERE PERMANENTLY, and have our Kojan. So a word of warning....CHECK YOUR PASSPORT AND BE SURE HOW LONG YOUR STAY IS STAMPED FOR VISA.

cypgab


Joined: 09/01/2010
Posts: 338

Message Posted:
02/08/2010 19:28

We'll have to remember to check that each time. Thanks for the info.