Bills which will bring about sweeping reforms to Cyprus’ tax regime will be submitted to parliament next month at the latest, Finance Minister Makis Keravnos said on Monday.

Addressing the House finance committee, he said the bills are currently being looked over by the legal service.

“The goal is to maintain the state’s overall income, but to achieve a fairer distribution of the tax burden, with multiple positive impacts on consumption,” he said, adding that through the planned reforms, the government also aims to diversify Cyprus’ economic model.

He said the reforms will “maintain the rating of the Cypriot economy” which it has received from credit agencies in recent months, while the reforms also “aim to maintain the resilience of the Cypriot economy and continue its path of growth”.

He had previously said that he hopes the tax reforms will be implemented on January 1 next year, saying that he is “taking very seriously” his demand for “the right timetables” and a “rapid pace” to remain on course to meet that target.

President Nikos Christodoulides set out the plans in February, including raising the tax-free income threshold to €20,500 per year, an increase of €1,000 from its current level, at which it has sat since Cyprus introduced the euro in 2008.

Additionally, Cyprus’ 35 per cent top income tax rate would only apply to those earning more than €80,000 per year, rising from its current level of €60,001.

Christodoulides promised his reforms will strengthen Cyprus’ middle class, which he described as the “foundation of every prosperous and democratic society”.

The most notable of his planned reforms is the increase in individuals’ tax-free incomes, while he also promised a “series of significant tax deductions which take into account the needs of households and the composition of the family”.

In addition to the €1,000 additional tax-free amount, parents will receive an extra €1,000 for every dependent they have, while Christodoulides’ plan also foresees €1,500 of tax-free income for every parent who is either buying their first house or renting, and €1,000 for a “green investment” on the part of every parent.

Single parents will receive double the ringfenced tax-free amount.

Christodoulides also promised that young people will be “essentially supported” with tax relief incentives for parents, which he said will “further encourage the employment of women and respond to structural, long-term distortions”.

At the same time, he said corporation tax will increase from 12.5 per cent to 15 per cent, bringing Cyprus in line with European Union requirements.

Since then, those plans have been added to by new measures aimed at combating tax evasion, including plans to allow authorities to seal off businesses which repeatedly fail to issue receipts or invoices, criminalising the non-payment of income tax, and raising the fines levied at tax offenders.