Company Registration in Cyprus
Cyprus is a very business-friendly country, attracting thousands of entrepreneurs every year to set up their business in Cyprus, and often to move to Cyprus themselves.
While company registration in Cyprus is not particularly difficult, preliminary consulting is important to avoid mistakes and later surprises.
Professional company registration service providers will determine with you your plans, goals, and expectations, inform you about possible pitfalls, and will provide you with transparent and holistic information.
What are the steps of company registration in Cyprus?
We are providing you with a comprehensive list of steps to be undertaken not just for company registration in Cyprus but to prepare the company to start business. Please note that some details may vary, depending on the nature of your company’s business and other details.- Arrange a personal or a video meeting with a professional service provider in Cyprus, who is many years in business and who preferably has a business background as well. The service provider should inform you about how to Register a Company in Cyprus. Also it needs to be clarified if the business of the Cyprus company will require special licences, as it is, for example, the case when offering financial services or when operating in the tourism sector. s
- Consult with your tax advisor or financial auditor in your home country to clarify tax-related aspects from the perspective of your country. s
- Give green light to your preferred service provider in Cyprus, for example to us, Shanda Consult, a trusted business consulting and corporate services firm since 15 years. s
- Shanda Consult will send you KYC and compliance forms (KYC = “Know your customer”; mandatory customer identification) to be filled, signed, and returned to us. s
- Provide the necessary identification documents of all all natural and corporate persons involved (apostilled passport copy, proof of address, comprehensive CV, etc. of the ultimate beneficial owner(s), shareholder(s), director(s) etc.). s
- Shanda Consult will proceed with a compliance check of all natural and corporate persons involved in the structure of the company to be registered. s
- Provide three different company name proposals. These proposals should be really different from each other, in case of a proposed name’s rejection by the Registrar of Companies. The approval of the company name proposed takes typically two to four days. s
- After the name approval by the Registrar of Companies, Shanda Consult will prepare and send you the Memorandum & Articles of Association in Greek and also in English language, which must be signed by you and be returned to Shanda Consult in original. Please note that it is mandatory to submit Memorandum & Articles of Association in Greek language. s
- Shanda Consult will prepare and submit the application to register your company, to the Registrar of Companies. s
- The company registration procedures will normally take six to 8 working days. s
- Once your company has been registered, Shanda Consult will obtain a court certification that the English version of the Memorandum & Articles of Association is indeed a true copy of the original. s
- Shanda Consult will send you a set of the original company registration documents, with all official documents being duly apostilled (the apostilles are included in our initial fee. s While the actual company registration in Cyprus end here, Shanda Consult will not leave you alone with your company. After your company’s registration, Shanda Consult will provide the following services: s
- Preparing the application file for bank account opening and submit it to the bank, then following up the procedures and liaising with the bank on your behalf. s
- Registering the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of your company with the UBO Registry in Cyprus. s
- Registering your company with the tax authorities of Cyprus and with the Cyprus tax portal. v
- Registering your company for VAT, subject to conditions. s
- Registering your company as employer, if necessary. s
- Registering your company with the social insurance system in Cyprus.
- Providing the registered address of your company. s
- Providing the secretary of company for your company. Please note that this is not a secretary working in your company but a statutory role in the company whose duties are provided by the Company Law of Cyprus. s
- Local directors, natural persons who are resident of Cyprus. Only experienced persons from our own staff will be appointed, if required. Please ask us for more details. s
- Company administration services, provided by our experienced experts. s
- Bookkeeping, accountancy, tax services, preparation of annual financial services, audit. s
- Providing physical offices for the local presence of your company. s
- Infrastructure for internet and telecommunication for your company. s
- Business consulting, market research, and other supportive services.
Company Registration in Cyprus – An overview of the business-friendly tax landscape in Cyprus
The following list names some of the tax advantages and incentives in Cyprus. The list is not exhaustive.- The corporate tax rate in Cyprus is 12.5% flat. s
- Dividends received from abroad are not subject to tax. s
- No tax on gains from securities (titles): Revenue from the disposal of securities in its widest sense, including privately held company shares (= company shares that are not listed on a stock exchange) is tax exempted. s
- The Notional Interest Deduction in Cyprus can reduce the tax burden by up to 80%, if companies invest own equity (capital) rather than using loans for financing their business or the business of their subsidiaries. s
- The Cyprus Non-Dom Tax Status exempts qualifying natural persons from tax on income from dividends and interest received. s
- Annual income of individuals is tax free up to the threshold of €19,500. s
- High-earners who move to Cyprus benefit from 50% income tax exemption on their salaries received from a Cyprus company, for a period of 10 years, if their annual gross salary and remuneration is at least €55,000. s
- No capital gain tax exists in Cyprus, with the exception of gains from real estate. s
- No inheritance tax in Cyprus. s
- No gift tax in Cyprus.