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Registering a company (LTD) in Cyprus: steps, fees and the yearly obligations

Registering an LTD costs €165, the tax number is due within 60 days and beneficial owners within 90. Corporate tax is 15% from 2026. What to file every year.

Running a business in Cyprus Checked: Changed:

In short

Who it applies to
Anyone setting up a private limited company in Cyprus — for their own business, to work with EU clients or for the residence route of a company of foreign interests.
What it costs
State fees: €10 for each name checked and €165 for registration; express service costs more. There is no longer a duty on share capital, and a private company has no minimum capital. The main costs are not the fees but the lawyer, without whom the articles are void, and the yearly audit.
How long it takes
An approved name is reserved for six months — file the incorporation within that time. The Registrar publishes no official processing time. After incorporation: tax number within 60 days, beneficial owners within 90 days.
Where to apply
Name and incorporation — with the Registrar of Companies, online via e-filing (CY Login needed) or on paper. The memorandum and articles, in Greek, are drafted and certified by a practising Cypriot lawyer, who also swears form HE1. The tax number — online in Tax For All.
If your case differs
One shareholder and one director are enough, and the director need not live in Cyprus. You need a registered office in Cyprus and a secretary; a sole director may be the secretary only if the company also has a single shareholder. A company incorporated in Cyprus is tax-resident in Cyprus unless a double tax treaty says otherwise.

Your case

If you are registering a company

First, name approval — the name must end in LIMITED or LTD. Then a lawyer drafts the memorandum and articles in Greek and swears form HE1; without a lawyer the documents are void. The application is filed online or on paper with the registration fee; the capital does not affect the fee.

If the company has just been incorporated

Register for tax and file the beneficial owners — the people who own or control the company. This applies even to a company that is not yet trading. Hiring staff means registering as an employer with Social Insurance; growing sales or EU clients mean VAT registration.

Every year

An annual return to the Registrar with checked accounts: an audit is compulsory, but with turnover up to €300,000 and assets up to €500,000 a review may replace it. Confirm the beneficial owners between 1 October and 31 December, even if nothing changed. A tax return every year, even with no income; for audited companies from tax year 2026 the deadline is 31 January of the second year after.

If the company has arrears from past years

The annual levy to the Registrar was abolished from 2024, but unpaid levies for 2011–2023 remain debts, and the Registrar has announced it will start striking such companies off from December. Missing returns also lead to strike-off — six months after the Registrar's letter. A company can be restored through the Registrar within two years by paying all arrears and penalties.

Deadlines and conditions

  • a name check costs €10 per nameCompanies (Fees) Regulations 2013, Part I item 5(ε) — €10; the Registrar's name page: «ten euros (€10) fee for every proposed name», reserved for «six (6) months».
  • incorporation costs €165The Registrar's «Forms and fees» and «Applying to incorporate» pages: incorporation of a company with share capital — €165 (without — €235), express — plus €100; ΚΔΠ 364/2018 deleted «συν φόρο εισφοράς 0.6% επί» the nominal capital.
  • the company's tax number is due within 60 days of incorporationLaw 4/1978, art. 5Α(2): a company «υπέχει υποχρέωση να υποβάλει σχετική ειδοποίηση για εγγραφή στο Φορολογικό Μητρώο … εντός εξήντα (60) ημερών από την ημερομηνία σύστασης».
  • beneficial owners must be filed within 90 days of incorporationRegistrar's Directive ΚΔΠ 112/2021 as amended by ΚΔΠ 34/2024 and 423/2024: beneficial owners «το αργότερο εντός ενενήντα (90) ημερών από την ημερομηνία σύστασης»; changes — «εντός σαράντα πέντε (45) ημερών»; confirmation — 1 October to 31 December.
  • late beneficial-owner filing costs €100 plus €50 a day, up to €5,000Law 188(Ι)/2007, art. 61Α: «χρηματική επιβάρυνση εκατό ευρώ (€100) και περαιτέρω χρηματική επιβάρυνση πενήντα ευρώ (€50) για κάθε ημέρα», up to €5,000; the Registrar's FAQ — fines applied since 01.02.2025.
  • the annual return is filed within 28 days of its dateCap.113, arts 118 and 120; the Registrar's annual return pages: the HE32 return is made up to the reference date and filed within 28 days; the first date is 18 months after incorporation.
  • lateness costs €50 plus €1 a day, up to €150Cap.113, art. 120(4) as amended by Law 18(Ι)/2024: «χρηματική επιβάρυνση πενήντα ευρώ (€50) και περαιτέρω χρηματική επιβάρυνση ένα ευρώ (€1) για κάθε ημέρα», up to €150.
  • corporate tax is 15% from 2026Law 118(Ι)/2002, Second Schedule para 2: «Οι Εταιρείες, υπόκεινται σε εταιρικό φόρο με συντελεστή δεκαπέντε τοις εκατόν (15%)»; Law 244(Ι)/2025 — from 01.01.2026.
  • a late tax return costs €250, or €500 for larger companiesLaw 4/1978, art. 50Α(α) as amended by Law 243(Ι)/2025 (from 01.01.2026): a legal person — €250, above €1m turnover or assets — «πεντακοσίων ευρώ (€500)».

Sources

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