DAC6 is expected to be implemented in Cyprus as part of the Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation (Amendment) Law 2019 (AC19 Law). The Cypriot Tax Department launched a public consultation on the AC19 Law on October 22, 2019, and the bill is expected to be enacted into law in Cyprus in early 2020 with an effective date as from July 1, 2020. The draft bill follows DAC6 very closely without any clear deviations, however the legislative process in Cyprus may result in changes.
The rules of the Directive are already effective as from June 25, 2018 and any legally reportable cross-border arrangements starting from the effective date must be disclosed by August 31, 2020.
The cross-border arrangements are reportable if:
(1) one of the “hallmarks” of the Directive is met, and
(2) avoiding tax is one of the main benefits of the scheme (“main benefit” test).
Some of the “hallmarks” can make a transaction reportable without meeting the main benefit test.
The reporting obligation of the arrangements falls on the service providers and other intermediaries, however, in certain cases the obligation to report applies to the taxpayers taking part in the cross-border arrangements themselves.
The penalties fornon-compliance with the provisions on DAC6 set by Cyprus in the draft bill depend on the nature of the violation and are up to €20,000 per transaction/arrangement.
Country by Country reporting
On May 26, 2017 a Decree was issued by the Cyprus Ministry of Finance, which outlines the Country by Country (CbC) reporting requirements for multinational enterprise groups generating consolidated annual turnover exceeding 750 million euros (MNE Group).
As per the Decree, a CbC report filing obligation arises in Cyprus for a Cyprus tax resident entity that is the ultimate parent entity (UPE) of an MNE Group or has been designated by the MNE Group as the sole substitute of the UPE (under the “surrogate parent” mechanism).
MNE Groups need to disclose on their CbC report the following data for each tax jurisdiction in which they operate: (i) the amount of revenue, profit before tax, and corporate taxes paid and accrued; (ii) capital, retained earnings and tangible assets, together with the number of employees; (iii) identification of each entity within the group doing business in a particular tax jurisdiction, with a broad indication of its economic activity.
The format of the CbC report is consistent with the template published by the OECD.
Furthermore, each Cyprus tax resident constituent entity of an MNE Group should notify, on an annual basis, the Cyprus tax authorities if it is the reporting entity of the MNE Group (i.e. the UPE or surrogate parent). In the case where the entity is not the reporting entity, then it should also notify the Cyprus tax authorities of the details and tax residency of the reporting entity of the Group.
With reference to the above section “Material Cypriot Tax Considerations” we cannot exclude the possibility that we might be subject to additional tax liabilities in case certain taxes become applicable to us or the respective Cyprus tax authorities apply different rulings to the transactions carried out by us or in our respect, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
United States Federal Income Tax Considerations
The following discussion is a summary of the U.S. federal income tax consequences to U.S. Holders (as defined below) of the ownership and disposition of our ADSs or ordinary shares. The discussion is not a complete analysis or listing of all of the possible tax consequences and does not address all tax considerations that may be relevant to investors in light of their particular circumstances. Special rules that are not discussed in the general descriptions below may also apply. In particular, the description of U.S. federal income tax consequences deals only with U.S. Holders that own our ADSs or ordinary shares as capital assets. In addition, the description of U.S. federal income tax consequences does not address the tax treatment of special classes of U.S. Holders, such as banks and other financial institutions, insurance companies, persons holding our ADSs or shares as part of a “straddle,” “hedge,” “appreciated financial position,” “conversion transaction” or other risk reduction strategy, U.S. expatriates, persons liable for alternative minimum tax, Medicare tax, brokers or dealers in securities or currencies, holders whose “functional currency” is not the U.S. dollar, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, partnerships (or any entity treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) and other pass-through entities, traders in securities who have elected themark-to-market method of accounting for their securities, individual retirement accounts or othertax-deferred accounts, holders who acquired shares pursuant to the exercise of an employee stock option or right or otherwise as compensation,tax-exempt entities, and investors who own directly, indirectly through certainnon-U.S. entities, or constructively 10% or more of the voting power or value of our aggregate shares outstanding. The following discussion does not address any tax consequences arising under the laws of any U.S. state or local or foreign jurisdiction, or under any U.S. federal laws other than those pertaining to income tax.
The discussion is based on the laws of the United States, including the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, its legislative history, Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder, judicial decisions, and published rulings and administrative pronouncements of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS, all as in effect at the date of this annual report, and any of which may change, possibly with retroactive effect. Further, there can be no assurance that the IRS will not disagree with or will not challenge any of the conclusions reached and described herein. The discussion is also based, in part, on representations by the depositary and assumes that each obligation under the depositary agreement and any related agreement will be performed in accordance with its terms.
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