Dying in Cyprus

[Alfie]

May seem a bit of an odd question, but does the graveyard tax you pay in Cyprus mean you have a plot in the local cemetery should you meet your maker while living in Cyprus? Or is it like National Insurance, and merely pays for the upkeep of the existing cemeteries?

[ApusApus]

It certainly doesn’t cover the former!


Shane

[Kili01]

This may depend on where you are living, as different villages may have different rules. Maybe you need to check locally with your neighbours and/or with your village Muhktar?

Dee

[trevnhil]

My understanding is that the Graveyard Tax Only allows you to buried in the village cemetery.
It certainly does not pay for the plot that you will need.

[WHL]

We paid a cemetery tax for a number of years, this is usually for upkeep or buying land for a new cemetery,..as Trev has said, it allows you to be buried there, but the plot etc is extra.....I did refuse to pay for some months my argument being, I wanted to be shipped back to London, when the day comes,the local council even send a young lady round to my house to talk some sense into me before they prosecuted me, basically she was very polite, and explained it wasn't an opt out scheme, just like you pay for a library, you pay whether you use it or not....I paid up .

[Alfie]

My understanding is that the Graveyard Tax Only allows you to buried in the village cemetery.
It certainly does not pay for the plot that you will need.

That's what I meant. I didn't expect it to mean my headstone etc would be provided, just that I could actually use it.

[Devil]

The tax is only for cemetery maintenance. It offers no right to be buried there. Many cemeteries are Orthodox-only, especially village ones, and non-Orthodox corpses are strictly forbidden in consecrated ground. Check with the village priest whether you can be buried there.

[Dominic]

So where do non-Orthodox people get buried?

[memory man]

Referring to Cyprus Living archives, there is a lot of good info

re. bereavement.........

HERE

[WHL]

On a side note, people were rightly campaigning for the right to build a crematorium here in Cyprus, I think its been approved now, just a matter of funding, my question is, if we were to believe what was being said, about the large amount of people requesting this service, then why has no one stepped forward and put their money where their mouth is?

[WHL]

So where do non-Orthodox people get buried?

Over here in the east, in the same cemetery. Im sure ive seen expats in the same cemetery, Il ask my Cypriot neighbor when he gets home, he is a regular Church goer ..So Im sure he will know.

[trevnhil]

We paid a cemetery tax for a number of years, this is usually for upkeep or buying land for a new cemetery,..as Trev has said, it allows you to be buried there, but the plot etc is extra.....I did refuse to pay for some months my argument being, I wanted to be shipped back to London, when the day comes,the local council even send a young lady round to my house to talk some sense into me before they prosecuted me, basically she was very polite, and explained it wasn't an opt out scheme, just like you pay for a library, you pay whether you use it or not....I paid up .

Now I find this strange.. In Polemi it is an opt out scheme if that is what you want. I did have to write a letter to that effect and take it to the council offices.

Trev..

[WHL]

We paid a cemetery tax for a number of years, this is usually for upkeep or buying land for a new cemetery,..as Trev has said, it allows you to be buried there, but the plot etc is extra.....I did refuse to pay for some months my argument being, I wanted to be shipped back to London, when the day comes,the local council even send a young lady round to my house to talk some sense into me before they prosecuted me, basically she was very polite, and explained it wasn't an opt out scheme, just like you pay for a library, you pay whether you use it or not....I paid up .

Now I find this strange.. In Polemi it is an opt out scheme if that is what you want. I did have to write a letter to that effect and take it to the council offices.

Trev..

Im over in the East Trev...had the council lady sat on my settee, and she showed me documents that the council were ready to prosecute me and take it to court.

[Dominic]

On a side note, people were rightly campaigning for the right to build a crematorium here in Cyprus, I think its been approved now, just a matter of funding, my question is, if we were to believe what was being said, about the large amount of people requesting this service, then why has no one stepped forward and put their money where their mouth is?

It's the difference between wanting to be cremated and wanting to build a crematorium.

[WHL]

Dominic my question is, .the people who have been campaigning for this, have always said that there is a big demand for cremation, so why have no
business entrepreneurs jumped on this?,surely it could be a big opportunity for someone, or have people looked into it and there isnt such a big demand for cremation as thought.

[WHL]

So where do non-Orthodox people get buried?

Just spoke to my Cypriot neighbor who is a Church goer and is involved with the Church, and he tells me as long as someone is of the Christian faith, then there isn't a problem about being buried in the cemetery, the cemeteries are now run by the local councils, and have to set some space aside for foreigners.

[Dominic]

Dominic my question is, .the people who have been campaigning for this, have always said that there is a big demand for cremation, so why have no
business entrepreneurs jumped on this?,surely it could be a big opportunity for someone, or have people looked into it and there isnt such a big demand for cremation as thought.

It is a bit of a niche market though. I'm sure not everybody would want to run a crematorium.

[LouiseCastricum]

Letter about cremation in Sunday Mail of October 29th.
http://cyprus-mail.com/2017/10/29/const ... matoriums/

[trevnhil]

Clive Turner was a member of CL and posted regular updates about a crematorium.. His article there just goes to show how it is like banging your head against a brick wall.
I am pretty certain that a crematorium would be well used. My FIL died over two years ago and we had his body repatriated to the UK for cremation.. It was quite costly but not as dear as we feared..

[WHL]

Dominic my question is, .the people who have been campaigning for this, have always said that there is a big demand for cremation, so why have no
business entrepreneurs jumped on this?,surely it could be a big opportunity for someone, or have people looked into it and there isnt such a big demand for cremation as thought.

I actually do not think the "business" of cremation is an entrepreneurial thing and rather than waiting for a "backer" the Government should take the initiative and build, licence and run a facility. Crematoriums in the UK are tightly regulated and controlled and most, if not all, are authorised by local councils. I suspect, although authorised, there is still an amount of reluctance on behalf of the Government and more importantly the church to provide this much needed facility...having attended a couple of "Non Orthodox" funerals now in Cyprus I must admit although the services have been extremely sympathetic, I have been less than impressed with the state of the "plots"

On the contrary..Crematoriums back in the UK are a multi million pound business, with many large private company's involved...if anyone thinks the Cypriot Government is going to fund a crematorium in Cyprus, its just not going to happen, they should immediately, issue licences to company's who are fit and proper to finance and run such an enterprise with out delay, I still have my doubts that there will be enough custom to make this viable.