MAGYAR MAGÁNSZEMÉLY IGAZGATÓTANÁCSI TÉRÍTÉSE CIRPUSRÓL Magyar magánszemélyeknek lehet!ségük van, hogy egy ciprusi társaság igazgatótanácsi tagjaként, fizetésükön felül igazgatótanácsi térítés címén illetve osztalék formájában jövedelemre szerezzenek szert. A Ciprus és Magyarország közt létrejött kett!s adóztatás elkerülésér!l szóló szerz!dés értelmében 1 az igazgatótanácsi térítés vagy bármilyen más ehhez hasonló juttatás Cipruson adóztatható jövedelem. A szerz!dés értelmében Magyarországnak nincs joga az így keletkezett jövedelem adóztatására. A szerz!dés szövegezése nem ad egyértelm" iránymutatást azzal kapcsolatban, hogyha az igazgatótanácsi térítés nem adóztatható Magyarországon, akkor ez a jövedelem részét képezi e a magánszemély összes jövedelmének és így szerepeltetni kell e adóbevallásaiban vagy sem. A hazai szabályozás szerint viszont, a magyar adórezidensek Magyarországon teljes világjövedelmük alapján adóznak. Az egyik megközelítés szerint, ha Ciprusnak van joga adóztatni az ilyen jelleg" jövedelmet, és emiatt Magyarországnak erre nincs joga, akkor ezeket a jövedelmeket az adóbevallásban sem kell szerepeltetni. A másik megközelítés szerint mely a jövedelmek mentesítése során szokott felmerülni, és az adóhatóságok el!szeretettel használják, hogy habár az igazgatótanácsi térítés nem adóköteles jövedelem, de az adókulcs illetve az adóalap kiszámításánál figyelembe kell venni. A fentiek lényege, hogy a ciprusról származó adómentes jövedelem növelheti az adóalapot és az egyéb nem önálló tevékenységb!l származó - jövedelmek ezért magasabb adókulcs alá fognak esni. A fenti két megközelítést!l illetve a jövedelem bevallása vagy nem bevallásától függetlenül az igazgatótanácsi térítésnek jól definiáltnak és szerz!désileg alátámasztottnak kell lennie, azért, hogy az adóhatóságok ne min!sítsék azt rejtett munkabér kifizetésnek. Az igazgatótanácsi térítés ciprusi szemszögb!l a következ!képpen alakul: Azoknak a nem rezidens igazgatóknak, akik Cipruson semmilyen mértékben nem vesznek részt fizikailag a társaság irányításában, nem keleteztetnek Cipruson adófizetési kötelezettséget. Ennek értelmében a ciprusi igazgatótanácsi térítés Cipruson sem adóköteles semmilyen formában. A jogszabály alkalmazásának azonban vannak ésszer" keretei. Néhány ország jogalkotásában például limitálják az ilyen jelleg" kifizetések maximumát. Habár Ciprus ilyen retorziókat nem alkalmaz, azonban a ciprusi társasági törvénynek is része, hogy igazgatóknak a szerepüket extrém módon meghaladó juttatások kifizetése akkor is jogtalan, ha ezt a Társasági Szerz!dés lehet!vé teszi.! "#!"#$%&'(#)*)+*"#*,)-'./0%12,3*32")/4,&2(#*)'3)*)56.,736)80%12,3*32")84,&2(#*)/0%011)*)/$1193) *:;%1*123)$</$,=<'3',$)*)>0?$:$<$&)'3)*)?*"#4(*:;/)1$,=<$1'(@)ABCDEABFGHIIFBEJ+K),$(:$<$1)
Összefoglalás Az igazgatótanácsi térítés megfelel! alkalmazásának legfontosabb követelményei: Szerz!déses viszony Az Igazgatótanácsi térítés kifizetését a lehet! legpontosabb módon a jogszabályoknak megfelel!en dokumentálni kell, illetve megfelel! háttérdokumentumok és szerz!dések alkalmazása elengedhetetlen. Magyar adóbevallás A magyar magánszemélynek habár a jogszabályok erre nem adnak egyértelm" utasítást javasoljuk, hogy az ilyen jelleg" jövedelmet szerepeltessék adóbevallásaikban. A ciprusról származó igazgatósági szerepb!l származó jövedelmet ugyan adóteher nem terheli, de a magánszemélyek egyéb módon szerzett jövedelme valószín"leg magasabb jövedelem sávba esik, és ezért magasabb adókulccsal fog adózni. Ciprusi társasági adó A ciprusi társaság könyvelését, gazdálkodását illetve az igazgatótanácsi térítés összegét úgy érdemes hangolni, hogy a társaság adóztatható bevételének 30%-át ne haladja meg az igazgatótanácsi térítés éves összege.
HUNGARIAN RESIDENTS DIRECTORS FEES AND DIVIDENDS
TAXABILITY OF DIRECTORS' FEE Hungarian individuals would take the position of member of the board of directors of a Cyprus company. These individuals would, besides their salaries, receive payments in the form of directors' fee and/or dividends from the Cypriot company. Based on the rules of the Double Tax Treaty (DTT) between Hungary and Cyprus, directors' fees and other similar payments derived by a resident of Hungary in his capacity as a member of the board of directors of the company which is resident in Cyprus may be taxed in Cyprus. Consequently, Hungary does not have the right to tax directors' fees. The interpretation of this DTT rule and the domestic rules of residence is not completely straightforward regarding the question whether directors' fee, though not taxable in Hungary, should still be reported in the annual personal income tax return and exempted from taxation. According to domestic legislation, Hungarian tax residents have full tax liability on their worldwide income in Hungary. Tax liability, however, means not only tax payment obligation of the individual, but several other additional liabilities, such as determination of the tax, declaration or keeping records etc.. One interpretation is that if Cyprus has the right based on the DTT to levy tax on directors' fee and therefore Hungary does not have this right, this means that Hungary has to resign not only from the potential revenue but also from the right of requiring corresponding tax obligations, including reporting. On these grounds it might seem to be defendable that, directors' fee received by a director from a non-hungarian resident company for his activity performed solely for that company outside of Hungary could also be excluded from the Hungarian tax return (i.e. is should not be reported). Another interpretation (which the Tax Authority may use during a tax investigation) is that according to the DTT, double taxation should be avoided on the basis of the so called exemption method (a Hungarian resident who derives income in accordance with the provisions of the DTT which may be taxed in Cyprus, Hungary should exempt such income from taxation, nevertheless has the right to take into account the exempted income in calculating the amount of tax on the remaining income). Practically this means under Hungarian law that the amount of foreign income (which is not separately taxable but should be included in the consolidated tax base) should be reported in the Hungarian annual personal income tax return and because of this the non-taxable Cyprus income could push domestic income to a higher tax bracket. As a consequence such exemption method can result in an additional tax payment liability of approximately HUF 300.000 (i.e. if you do not report the Cyprus income in the annual income tax return, the Hungarian tax Authority may levy such tax-shortfall and determine tax penalty based on this amount). The main argument of both interpretations centres around what the right of a state to tax covers within the meaning of a DTT and whether directors' fees received from a foreign resident company for foreign work can be held part of the consolidated tax base in the absence of domestic rules explicitly covering the point. Even if the income is not reported, the title of directors' fee payment must be well justified and documented in order to avoid the tax authority's reclassification of the income as hidden employment income.
According to Cyprus tax rules, non-resident directors who never physically exercise any duties in Cyprus have no tax liability. Non-resident directors who perform part of their duties in Cyprus are taxed on their emoluments and benefits in kind which correspond to the duties performed in Cyprus. Thus, if the Hungarian directors do not physically exercise any duties in Cyprus, they will not be subject to tax in Cyprus on such income. To avoid tax evasion, however, some jurisdictions limit the amount that can be paid as directors' fee or use other restrictions. According to Cyprus tax legislation, even if permitted by the Articles of Association of the Cyprus company, it would not be justifiable for directors to receive director fees which would involve excessive amounts as compensation for their role. ln this respect, our opinion is that the director fees should be kept within sensible limits (i.e. maximum 30% of the Cyprus company's taxable revenue) in order to avoid any possible adjustments by the Cyprus tax authorities. TAXABILITY OF DIVIDENDS In case of dividend payments made by a Cypriot tax resident company to a Hungarian tax resident individual, Hungary may have the right to tax the payments. However, such dividends may also be subject to a maximum rate of 15 per cent withholding tax of the gross amount of the dividends. Under Cyprus tax rules dividends can only be distributed to shareholders. Therefore, the Hungarian tax resident individuals are required to be shareholders of the Cyprus company in order to be entitled to receive the respective dividend payments. As per the provisions of Cyprus Law, the payment of dividends is decided by a resolution of the Shareholders at an Annual General Meeting following a suggestion by the Board of Directors. The Directors suggest the percentage and/or amount of the dividend based on the audited financial statements of the company. In this respect, the payments made in the form of dividends are restricted to the total profits of the company which are available for distribution as per the company's audited financial statements. Hungary taxes foreign dividend payments at a rate of 25 per cent. Furthermore, a 14 per cent healthcare charge is payable until the individual's healthcare contribution payments (on the basis of the employment income or CEO mandate) reach an annual limit of HUF 450,000. Having said the above, according to the Cyprus tax legislation, dividend payments made by a Cypriot company to non-resident shareholders are free from any withholding taxes in Cyprus. Thus, if the Cyprus company distributes profits in the form of dividends to its Hungarian tax resident shareholders then it will be free from any withholding tax in Cyprus but could fall under a 25 per cent tax and a capped 14 per cent healthcare charge in Hungary (the health care charge is capped at HUF 450,000 annual health care charge payment, basically we can say if you have HUF 9,000,000 annual income from a Hungarian employment you do not have to pay any Health care charge). Corporate profits are taxed at a rate of 10 per cent in Cyprus as noted later. Based on the above, we conclude that from a Cyprus perspective, since the individuals involved are foreign tax residents, the risk that the Cyprus tax authorities consider any "hidden employment" structure would be remote. From a Hungarian perspective, the individuals are Hungarian tax residents who under domestic law are taxable on their worldwide income. Although in terms of directors' fee Hungary does not have the right to tax and therefore such income may not be included in the tax return, the Hungarian Tax Authority can question the title of a payment in case of a review. Under such circumstances the title of payment and its conformity to Cypriot rules can be required to be proven. If no proper documentation is available, the risk of hidden employment may arise (however the risk is quite low). Furthermore, in order to defend the position that the directors' fee payment is not related to any work performed by the Hungarian tax resident individuals in Hungary, there should not be a recharge of management costs to the Hungarian company. Otherwise, the tax authority could question the title and substance of the payments.