Filenews 9 January 2026 - by Eleftheria Paizanou
The Parliament, with the blessing of the Government, proceeded last month to abolish the law on the payment of stamp duty, but lawyers complain that they continue to pay the relevant fees for the registration of legal documents in the courts.
On December 22, as part of the legislative package for tax reform, which came into force on January 1, 2026, the law on stamps was repealed, through two bills that were unanimously approved.
The proposals concerned the Stamp Duty (repealed) and International Trusts laws, which were published on December 31 in the Official Gazette of the Republic.
With the return of lawyers to their duties after the Christmas and New Year holidays and the reopening of the courts, they found that in order to register legal documents, they will have to affix stamps and pay the relevant fees.
It is noted that in addition to the payment of the relevant fees, according to the complaints of those affected, due to the abolition of the law, there are not enough stamps available.
Lawyers' Letter
The Cyprus Bar Association has already forwarded a relevant letter to the Supreme Court, stating that the continuation of the payment of stamp duty conflicts with the abolition of stamp duty.
In a response letter, the Supreme Court assured that the issue will be discussed at its next session. At the same time, he noted that the Judicial Power had no information about the abolition of the law.
The president of the Pancyprian Bar Association, Michalis Vorkas, speaking to "F", said that the law has been abolished but the courts continue to require stamps for the legal documents, which concern cases before and after the implementation of the electronic system for recording legal documents (i justice).
According to Mr. Vorkas, despite the abolition of the relevant legislation during the approval of the recent tax reform by the Parliament, in order to have access to justice, it is required that the parties affix stamps to legal documents and pay the special stamp duty through the electronic platform.
"This creates serious problems because there is no number of stamps available, while the question also arises whether the tens of thousands of euros paid by citizens in fees will be returned to them," he added.
As we were told, no appeals can be filed with the courts if the relevant stamp duties are not paid.
It does not apply to court stamps
"F" raised the problem that arose with the stamps in the courts to the authorities. A government source stated that the abolition of the law made by the Parliament does not concern the stamps of the courts. In fact, he noted that in order for the same measure to apply in the courts, the relevant regulations and legislation in the courts will have to be amended. He also said that the same problem is found in other services, which are under other legislations.
The Government's initial planning
It is recalled that, in the context of the tax reform, the Government had submitted a bill in relation to stamps, which provided for the deletion of the provisions that make the stamping of documents mandatory, with the exception of contracts in the fields of financial services, insurance contracts, contracts concerning transfers of real estate and leases of real estate worth more than fifty thousand euros (€50,000). Eventually, the bill was withdrawn and the legal framework for stamps was abolished through the two law proposals.
Based on data submitted to the Parliament, in 2024 the state had collected an amount of €38 million from stamp duty, while with the bill the state would also lose an amount of €10 million. One of the main reasons the law was repealed was because it was anachronistic.
