What the bills provide
The Parliament unanimously passed a bill that amends the Special Sponsorship (Purchase or Construction of a Residence) Law, so that it is expressly determined that a citizen of the United Kingdom who has become or becomes a beneficiary of the special sponsorship for the purchase or construction of a residence, is subject to the provisions of the basic law obligation to return the part of the said special sponsorship corresponding to the time period for which he has not used the residence for the purposes of own residence, in the event that he ceases to use the residence as his main and permanent place of residence before the lapse of ten years .
A second n/s was passed with the aim of amending the Value Added Tax Law, in order to abolish the right to provide special sponsorship for the purchase or construction of a residence, taking into account the long period of time that has passed for its utilization by citizens and the legislative regulation of the imposition of a reduced VAT rate for the purchase and acquisition of a residence in the Value Added Tax Law.
The law also regulates similar issues concerning the review and submission of incomplete information regarding applications which have already been submitted or are under examination and it is clarified that the provisions of the Special Sponsorship (Purchase or Construction of a Residence) Law regarding the return of the special sponsorship continue to apply to persons who have received a special sponsorship, in the event of termination of their stay in the residence before the completion of ten years.
In the context of the examination of the proposed laws the representatives of the Ministry of Finance stated that the proposed arrangements are considered necessary, because, due to the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU, its nationals are no longer considered beneficiaries of the special sponsorship and are therefore not subject to the obligation to return the special sponsorship, with the result that there is a risk of loss of public revenue.
