Company Formation in Cyprus
Top 5 Advantages of company registration in Cyprus
- No minimum share capital
- 12.5% corporate income tax
- 0% tax on dividen payouts
- Modern + business-friendly administration
- Possibility to have a nominee shareholder
Roadmap
How long does it take to register a company in Cyprus?
- 5-10 working days
- Around 2 weeks if everything is done remotely
What are the steps to register a company in Cyprus?
The registration process of a company in Cyprus is very simple. The experts of LegalBison will assist you throughout every step of it:
- Initial consultation and agreement
- Payment of the full invoice
- [IF REMOTELY]: Notarization of POA by client
- Preparation of registration documents
- Document signed at the notary
- Official register validity: immediately
Taxes
How high are the corporate income tax in Cyprus?
- 12.5% corporate income tax
- No obligation to distribute profits
- Dividends are wholly exempted from taxation in Cyprus
- Corporate taxes are to be declared in the Republic of Cyprus by filling the appropriate form
What Double-tax treaties has Cyprus?
Many countries have bilateral conventions to avoid double taxation and prevent fiscal evasion
Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Swiss Confederation, Syria, Thailand, The States of Guernsey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan
Status: End of 2020
VAT number
Without VAT number
- Your company will not be eligible to receive VAT refunds, which means everything bought is 19% more expensive (important: B2B payments between two VAT exempt companies are not more expensive)
- Your company will not have to file monthly tax returns (prerequisite: no one receives a salary), which means low costs
With VAT number
- The company will be eligible to receive VAT refunds, which means you can make use of the reverse-charge mechanism
- Monthly tax returns have to be filed, even if no transactions occur
- It is possible to be granted a VAT number for a Cyprus limited company
- A request has to be filed to the Cyprus tax administration
Before we help you to apply for a VAT number you should carefully think about the advantages and obligations that go along with it. To register as a VAT payer might be either voluntary or obligatory, depending on the turnover.
Decide first
- Do you want to buy a ready-made company or start a new one?
- Can you travel or do you want to do everything remotely?
- Do you want to deposit a share capital? (no obligation to do so)
- What is the goal of your incorporation? (is Cyprus really the ideal pick?)
Speak to our consultants to get a free consultation and guidance on how to choose the best jurisdiction based on your business model.
Documents to provide for company registration in Cyprus
- Passport copies (a scan) of shareholder/s and director/s, also beneficiary owner if applicable
- A Power of Attorney (in case of a remote company registration)
- Certified company documents (in case at least one of the shareholders is going to be a foreign company)
Information needed to get company registration in Cyprus
- 3 options of your desired name for the company and a company contact email address
- Names, addresses and emails of all shareholders and board members
- Short description of your company's activity
Remote incorporation
- The whole incorporation process can be conducted remotely. No travel necessary. Notarization of documents is necessary
- A Power of Attorney (POA) from (all) partners/shareholders is needed
- The POA is sent to you by us based on the services you want
- You have to certify the POA by a notary and in some cases legalize it by apostille (some countries need full legalization)
- Once you have the POA on your hands, we double-check, and you send us the original form (physical document!) via courier to our address
- Cyprus is part of the Hague Convention of the Apostille
Accounting and auditing
- Limited companies in Cyprus are liable to produce and present financial statements on a yearly basis
- The directors of the company are responsible for keeping proper books of account and records on the basis of which the company's financial statements are prepared
- A company is exempted from the submission of financial statements if it is in the year of its incorporation
- A company is exempted from the submission of financial statements if iit is in the year following the year of its incorporation and, it has already convened a general meeting during the year of its incorporation
Residential requirements
What are the residential requirements in Cyprus?
- A Cyprus limited company requires an address in the Republic of Cyprus, which must not be a letter box office
- There are no residency requirements for the directors, shareholders and eventual employees of a Cyprus limited company
LegalBison offers help with all of the above requirements. We assist and are local on ground. Speak now for free with one of our consultants to get your business started.