Company registration and maintenance
- Official formation fee
€165 ordinary incorporation with share capital; optional accelerated processing €100 extra. Name approval, certificates and lawyer costs are separate.
- Annual state fee
The former €350 annual company levy was abolished from 2024. Annual-return filing fees and accounting costs remain separate; current return fee not verified.
- Share capital
No statutory minimum for an ordinary private company.
- Directors
At least one director and a secretary. A sole-member company may use its sole director as secretary. Local management for tax purposes is a separate assessment.
- Shareholders
One to 50 members.
- Office / registered agent
Registered office in Cyprus.
- Published timing
Standard and accelerated channels exist; no guaranteed current completion time verified.
What the public can see
- Directors / managers
Current officers identifiable in public company searches.
- Shareholders
Member/share information and filed documents obtainable through paid detailed-file searches.
- Beneficial owners
General public access suspended; competent authorities and approved obliged entities retain access.
- Accounts
Filed financial statements accessible through the company file.
The BO database restriction does not remove public shareholder information. BO filings and the annual confirmation obligation continue; AML-regulated professionals and banks identify controllers.
Profits, company tax and distributions
- Ordinary company treatment
15% corporation tax from 2026
- Standard headline comparison rate
15% — before lower bands and conditional reliefs
- Retained-profit comparison
15% — company layer
- Distributed-profit comparison
15% — company layer, excluding owner’s tax and outbound withholding
- Conditional reliefs / alternatives
Activity-specific exemptions and deductions require separate qualification. Older official summaries showing 12.5% are superseded by the amended Income Tax Law.
- Distributions / withholding
Non-resident dividends generally carry no withholding; related-company payments to low-tax jurisdictions can attract 5%, and specified non-cooperative-jurisdiction payments 17%, subject to ownership and statutory exceptions.
- Other tax conditions
Resident individual dividend charges and the shareholder’s foreign tax are separate from company tax.
Law and current tax rate
Income Tax Law 118(I)/2002, Second Schedule, now specifies 15% for companies. Special Defence Contribution Law 117(I)/2002 contains dividend rules and defensive charges; check recipient status and connected-party thresholds before modelling distributions.
Beneficial ownership confirmation
The Registrar’s 2026 notice requires annual confirmation during 1 October–31 December. A separate restricted database is not an exemption from filing, correction or authority access.
Management and substance
Formation eligibility and tax residence are different tests. Directors must genuinely exercise the relevant functions; paper appointments do not establish where a UK-controlled business is managed.