CYPRUS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alexis Erotocritou, Dafni Loizou and Georgia Demou, A.G. Erotocritou LLC
10. Charitable Planning 10.1 Charitable Giving Cyprus encourages charitable giving through tax incentives, as follows. • Donations or contributions made for educational, cultural, or other charitable purposes to the Repub - lic, a Local Government Authority, or any charitable institution approved as such by the Council of Ministers are tax deductible to the extent that the taxpayer incurred taxable profits. Any portion of that loss up to the amount of the dona - tion or contribution shall not be carried forward and shall not be set off against income of subsequent years. A donation to the Republic and any donation made for educational, cultural, or other charitable purposes to a local authority or to any charitable institution in the Republic that is approved by the Council of Ministers is also exempt from capital gains tax purposes. • An amount of up to EUR50,000 in respect of dona - tions or contributions made to cultural institutions approved by the Deputy Minister of Culture, sub - ject to such terms or conditions as may be deter - mined by the Council of Ministers, is tax deductible to the extent that the taxpayer incurred taxable profits. Any portion of that loss up to the amount of the dona - tion or contribution shall not be carried forward and shall not be set off against income of subsequent years. The term “cultural institutions” includes: (a) public law legal entities; (b) associations or foundations whose principal constitutional/objective purpose is the non- profit research and study of culture and/or the organisation and/or production of non-profit activities. • The income of a religious, charitable, or education - al institution of a public character is exempt from income tax.
sion rights with regards to their adoptive parents as biological children, however once adopted, their rights from their biological parents will cease. Furthermore, surrogacy is permitted in Cyprus under a court-approved regime. A pre-birth court order des - ignates the intended parents as the legal parents. The child is treated as a biological child of the intended parents would be, with full inheritance rights through them and not from the surrogate mother. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage Cyprus does not recognise same-sex marriage, but it does recognise same-sex civil partnerships under Law 185/2015. A registered civil partnership gives partners spousal equivalent rights for property, inher - itance, next of kin status and tax treatment. With no inheritance or gift tax in Cyprus, transfers between civil partners are tax neutral. Unregistered same-sex couples have no automatic rights, so planning relies on wills, CITs, co-ownership, life-insurance beneficiaries and powers of attorney. 9.3 Cohabitation and Unmarried Couples Cyprus does not recognise de facto cohabitation as creating any legal rights. Unmarried partners have no automatic inheritance, property, tax or next of kin sta - tus, unlike married couples or registered civil unions. Because the law provides no default protections, unmarried couples must rely on private planning, namely: • wills (essential, as partners inherit nothing under intestacy); • CITs (long-term protection outside statutory heirs); • co-ownership of property/assets; • life insurance beneficiary designations; and • PoAs for medical and financial decisions. Courts may recognise constructive trust claims only with strong proof of financial contribution, but these rights are not automatic. Couples seeking spousal- equivalent rights can register a Civil Union, which grants inheritance, property and next of kin status (but not adoption).
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