A Cypriot Ltd pays 15% corporate tax or up to 3% with the IP-Box Régime. As a non-domiciled resident, you distribute profits subject to 0% dividend tax, with only a 2.65% healthcare contribution with a maximum of €4,770 per year. For crypto traders, the corporate tax rate is 8%.
You need one shareholder and one director, 100% foreign ownership is permitted, and incorporation typically takes ten working days. Cyprus-Consult handles the entire process, ensures that all registrations proceed correctly, and guides you through the entire process—all of which can be done completely remotely.
15% corporate tax
5 to 7 working days
Fully remote
Bank & EMI included
From name approval to bank account, with a single point of contact:
Setting up a company in Cyprus costs a one-time fee of €2,500 for the entire setup, including all government costs, and from approximately €2,500 to €4,000 per year for ongoing compliance: bookkeeping, audit, and accountancy.
You can find our amount at the bottom, broken down and on paper before you pay anything.
One-time, all-inclusive.
What you get for this:
Subsequently, an average of €3,000 per year for bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual statement, UBO confirmation, and the registered address. The audit or review will be quoted separatelyas soon as it is clear how many invoices to be processed per year.
They exist, and they are not necessarily scams. They only cover the filing.
What is often not included as standard: government fees, tax registration, (VAT) onboarding, UBO notification, Ariadni, SISnet and TFA registrations, the registered address, assistance with the bank, and any discussion regarding how your home country views the structure.
Those items do not disappear; they arrive later as separate invoices.
With every quote you compare, simply ask which of the seven points above are included. That conversation takes two minutes and often saves a thousand euros.
Because Cyprus has one of the lowest effective rates in the EU for real substance, from profit to private account.
On a profit of €200,000, you pay €30,000 in corporate tax or less, and as a non-dom, you keep everything of the remaining €170,000 except for a €4,770 healthcare contribution. As an example: In Belgium, the same profit would cost you approximately €95,000; in the Netherlands, approximately €85,000.
With the Notional Interest Deduction or the IP Box regime, you effectively drop towards 3%. And the 60-day rule means that you only need to be on the island for two months a year to become a tax resident.
Questions or comments regarding the best way to arrange everything, or setting up your Cypriot company immediately?
In a free fifteen-minute consultation, we determine if Cyprus works for you and which structure suits you.
If not, you will be told immediately.
Setting up a company in Cyprus in five steps, with the pitfalls where things usually go wrong.
Always submit three names in order of preference. Anyone who submits one name and is rejected starts all over again and loses a week.
Vague names without recognizable corporate significance are rejected more often than people expect. Words such as Bank, Trust, Royal, and Insurance require prior ministerial approval.
The Memorandum & Articles of Association are always drafted by a Cypriot lawyer.
The Memorandum establishes the purpose and the authorized capital, while the Articles regulate internal management. Do not blindly use a standard template if you have multiple shareholders: share classes, pre-emptive rights, and drag-along provisions must be arranged now, not afterwards.
Form HE1 is a sworn statement of compliance and must be signed by a lawyer authorized in Cyprus. This is a work reserved by law, so it is always handled through a local professional.
A company in Cyprus has at least one shareholder, one director, and one company secretary.
Legally, that director may be of any nationality and reside anywhere. From a tax perspective, however, the situation is different: if you want your company to qualify as a Cypriot tax resident, management and control must actually be based in Cyprus. More on that later.
Your registered office must be a genuine Cypriot address.
The complete package (articles of association, HE1, HE2 for the office address, HE3 for the officers) is sent to the Registrar. With a clean submission, you will usually receive the Certificate of Incorporation within five to fifteen working days.
From name application to certificate: two to three weeks standard, one to two weeks via Fast-Track.
The Benefits
Important to know in advance: every Cyprus Ltd requires either an audit or a qualifying review, even a dormant company.
If you remain below both €300,000 in revenue and €500,000 in gross assets for two consecutive years, a lighter review engagement suffices instead of a full audit.
There is no exemption based on inactivity. More about accounting and auditing.
A Cyprus Ltd without a real presence will not hold up, neither with the Cypriot tax authorities nor, certainly, with those of your home country.
Since 2023, a company incorporated in Cyprus is a tax resident by default, unless a treaty assigns residence elsewhere. However, residence on paper is not the same as residence in practice.
What you need at a minimum:
If your company is effectively managed from another country, your home country may consider it established there, and the entire benefit lapses. We therefore need to ensure sufficient substance, with which we can advise and assist you.
If you move to Cyprus yourself, this issue is largely resolved. That is precisely why we design the company and your personal move together, rather than separately.
Common mistakes
Submit one name instead of three, and lose a week.
Simply using a PO box address, after which the Registrar refuses the registration.
Forgot the non-dom declaration, causing you to pay SDC on your dividend for a whole year.
Missing the 90-day UBO deadline, with daily escalating fines.
Skip substance and drop structure at the first check in your home country.
We are emigrated entrepreneurs and expats, just like you, and we understand the tax context in your home country (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany & England) better than many local consultants.
Most local incorporation agents sell you a standard company. They collect the incorporation fee, and as soon as you run into compliance issues or receive questions from the tax authorities in your home country, you are on your own.
Our team delivers the company operational: incorporated, registered, bankable, and ready to invoice. And we look at the side they skip, namely what the country you are leaving will do to your structure.
That is usually the hardest part for entrepreneurs, and it must run parallel to the incorporation, not afterwards.
We need three things from you:
We'll take care of the rest. Book your free 15-minute introductory call below
Relevant information
Any questions? Feel free to ask us!
No, you can set up a company without living there, and 100% foreign ownership is permitted. However, for the tax benefits, your company must be a tax resident, which requires real substance, and you only benefit fully once you move yourself.
The costs average a one-off fee of €2,500 for incorporation and approximately €3,000 per year for bookkeeping, accountancy, and all associated administrative services such as VIES, UBO, tax audit, etc.
From name application to Certificate of Incorporation, typically two to three weeks, or one to two weeks with expedited processing. Name approval takes three to five working days, and the registration itself five to fifteen.
The most important documents are:
The approval of a company name in Cyprus takes on average 3 to 5 working days.
This process is carried out by the Department of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property. They check that the proposed name is unique and not too similar to existing company names or registered trademarks.
To avoid delays:
HE forms are official documents used in Cyprus to report changes in a company.
Both forms must be submitted to the Cyprus Companies Registry within 14 days of the amendment.
A Cyprus Ltd. can have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 50 shareholders. These can be either natural persons or legal entities, from Cyprus or abroad.
Please note: With a single shareholder, a nominee structure is often used for additional privacy.
Absolutely. You are not obliged to use a Cypriot bank. You can easily open accounts in Switzerland, Lithuania (EMIs), or other jurisdictions.
Yes, 100% foreign ownership is permitted. However, for tax treaties and substance purposes, it is often desirable to conduct (partially) local management. We advise you on this.
Every company must have a locally registered address. You do not need to rent an expensive office for this; Cyprus-Consult offers this through our Virtual Office services, including mail forwarding. You can also choose to register your company at your personal address in Cyprus.
There is no statutory minimum capital required for a Ltd. In practice, a share capital of €1,000 (divided into 1,000 shares of €1) is often chosen, but this amount does not actually need to be paid up upon incorporation.
Blogs & Articles
Stay up to date with our latest publications regarding Cypriot tax legislation, the evolution of Non-Dom status, and the smartest ways to optimize your business assets and holding structures.
Every company, SE, and partnership registered in Cyprus must declare its ultimate beneficial owners — any natural person holding more than 25% of shares or voting rights, or otherwise in control —
The die is cast: Parliament has officially approved the tax reform for 2026. The mandatory dividend distribution (DDD) is being abolished and the tax on dividends is falling from 17% to 5%. For non-doms
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