Filenews 11 October 2025
Tax evasion is rampant in the funeral home industry, which undertakes the performance of about 6,000 funerals annually, with all that this entails in terms of revenue.
The operation of illegal offices has led even legal ones to illegal manipulations in order to compete with the illegals and at the same time avoid paying the taxes due to them. At the same time, public services act as if they are in different governments, as claimed by licensed funeral home owners.
For the sake of truth, they invoke the response of the Ministry of Labour, and especially the Department of Social Insurance, to the secretary of the Council of Funeral Officers.
Specifically, in response to a letter from the secretary of the Council on tax evasion issues (from some funeral homes), the Department of Social Insurance does not even notify the letter to the Department of Taxation, but simply informs that it (the Department) is responsible.
This means that if the Council of Funeral Officers does not file a complaint with the Tax Department, some will continue to evade taxes.
By letter dated 11 June 2025, the Council informed the Director General of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance of the following two illegalities:
- There are many funeral homes that operate illegally, without issuing receipts. Because these offices do not have facilities, and so on, they are difficult to locate by other public services.
- Even licensed funeral homes avoid issuing receipts, telling relatives: "You won't need the receipt and you will also save VAT."
In order to remove the illegality, the Council recommends to the general director of the Ministry of Labour, such as for the payment of the funeral allowance, in addition to the certificate of the priest (for funeral expenses) that provision be taken to attach the official receipt of the licensed funeral home.
The Council indicates that, in this way, all licensed funeral homes will be obliged to issue receipts without evading taxes. At the same time, this will lead relatives to turn to legal funeral homes, which will lead to the inactivity of illegal funeral homes, while the state will not have a loss of revenue, since the receipts will be declared.
The answer of the general director of the Ministry of Labour also states the following:
"Your suggestion to ask the Social Insurance Services for proof of a licensed funeral home as a condition for the payment of the funeral allowance does not qualify, as the purpose of providing the funeral allowance, as provided for in the Social Insurance Law (Law 59(I)/2010), is to cover part of the expenses for the funeral of a deceased person who was insured or pensioner, easing the financial burden of the relatives who take responsibility for the funeral and honouring the contribution of the deceased to the insurance system, provided that he was insured and/or retired".
The general manager also observes that "taking into account that there are relatives and relatives who choose not to use funeral home services, the presentation of official proof of a licensed funeral home cannot be a condition for the payment of the funeral allowance".
The secretary of the Council observes in this regard that even if we accept the extreme scenario that a family wishes to perform the funeral on their own, they are still forced to buy a coffin from a funeral home, which implies the issuance of a receipt for the purchase of the coffin. In fact, as the secretary of the Council observes, in Cyprus there are two factories that manufacture coffins and have never sold a coffin to any family.
Finally, regarding the complaint about funeral homes that break the law, the general director of the Ministry of Labour replies as follows: "Regarding your reference to cases of funeral homes that break the law, the Department of Labour Relations and the Inspection Service of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance may, after relevant information, carry out targeted inspections within the framework of the Establishment of an Inspection Service at the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance Law".
It is noted that every year about 6,000 funerals are held, many of which until relatively recently were undertaken by offices that operated illegally. The complaints of the owners of legal funeral homes about the storage and preparation of the dead even in containers are characteristic. After all, it is also known and previously saw the light of day an incident of a coffin (in which he was dead) that fell from a double cabin on the way.
The legal owners of offices complain because in order to comply with the legislation (landscaping, refrigerators, etc.) hundreds of thousands of euros were charged while others, without investing, are allowed to operate something which, according to the legal owners of funeral homes, among other things, constituted and still constitutes, unfair competition.
