Self-employment and your own company: Social Insurance and VAT registration, incorporation and the yearly filings, rules for the website — with amounts, deadlines and penalties under Cypriot law.
Where to start and what comes next
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Self-employed: social insurance and VAT
A self-employed person registers with Social Insurance on the day work starts and pays on the minimum for their occupation. VAT registration comes once turnover crosses the threshold — or at once with business clients in the EU.
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Your own company
How to register a private company, why a lawyer is required, what to file in the first months and every year so the company is not struck off.
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The company website
What the site must say about the company, when cookies and newsletters need consent, what to do after a data breach and what has changed for online shops.
How it works
A business in Cyprus starts not with an idea but with registrations, each with its own deadline. A self-employed person joins Social Insurance no later than the first working day, a company gets its tax number and files its owners in the first months after incorporation, and VAT registration comes once turnover crosses the threshold — or at once if the clients are businesses in other EU countries.
After that the duties become yearly: returns, declarations, confirmations. For most late filings the penalty is charged automatically, with no inspection and no excuses heard, and past arrears get a company struck off. If the business has a website, it has its own rules on visitors’ data, cookies and online sales.
What is most often misunderstood
- In Cyprus, keeping no records of processing or staying silent about a breach is a criminal offence, not just a GDPR fineA company website in Cyprus: what the law requires — data, cookies, marketing and online sales
- For the self-employed, paying late costs more than a surcharge: without paid quarters, benefits are lostSelf-employed in Cyprus: Social Insurance registration, 16.6% contributions and GESY
- A freelancer with a business client in the EU needs VAT registration from the first invoice — the €15,600 threshold does not protect themVAT registration in Cyprus: the €15,600 threshold, 30 days to apply and when you need it at once
- The annual levy is gone, but companies with unpaid levies for 2011–2023 are now being struck offRegistering a company (LTD) in Cyprus: steps, fees and the yearly obligations
Common situations
- You earned less than your occupation minimum: you may pay on real income only after applying, and only from that quarterSelf-employed in Cyprus: Social Insurance registration, 16.6% contributions and GESY
- Your first client is a company in Germany: you need VAT registration at once — the turnover threshold does not applyVAT registration in Cyprus: the €15,600 threshold, 30 days to apply and when you need it at once
- Your site runs Google Analytics: it may start only after the visitor consents, and rejecting must be just as easyA company website in Cyprus: what the law requires — data, cookies, marketing and online sales