Cyprus Overview

The Republic of Cyprus is located in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea south of Turkey. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea with the city of Nicosia as its capital. Cyprus, previously a British colony, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Mediterranean. The UK still controls 3% of the sovereignty of the island while the Republic of Cyprus has claimed sovereignty over the remaining 97% of the island. Cyprus became a member of the European Union on the 1st May 2004. It therefore adopted the Euro on 1st January 2008.

The office languages in Cyprus are Greek and Turkish.

Cyprus has a prosperous and diversified economy. Its highly developed infrastructure has attracted several offshore businesses.

Cyprus companies are widely used by foreign investors in their tax planning. The most popular types are holding Companies, Intellectual Property Rights Companies, Finance Companies, Investment Trading Companies and Ship Owning & Crew Management Companies. Each type of company benefits from an array of tax benefits as well having the advantage of being in the EU.

Cyprus IBC Companies Key Facts 

• Names may be expressed in Greek or any language using the Latin alphabet. All company names must end in the words “Limited” or “Ltd”.
• A number of restricted words are not possible to use as part of the company name.
• Names requiring consent or a license are “Bank”, “Trust”, “Insurance”, “Assurance”.
• It could take anything from 21 to 35 days to incorporate a company with a requested
  name.
• Tax on offshore profits are 12.5%. There is no tax on dividends.
• The standard authorised share capital is a Cyprus IBC is Euro 1,000 divided into 1.000 shares of Euro 1,00 each.
• The standard currency is the Euro however any other convertible currencies are permitted.
• An IBC must pay an Annual Government license fee due by 1st June
• The minimum number of Directors is 1 and Corporate Directors are permitted.
• Directors do not need to be Cyprus residents however should you wish to obtain tax residency then you must have a local director appointed.
• The Minimum number of Shareholder is 1. Corporate Shareholders are permitted.
• Shareholders details are publicly accessible.
• Bearer Shares are not allowed.
• Minimum issued share capital can be 1 share of Euro 1.
• The appointment of a Company Sectary is required. Corporate Secretaries are permitted.
• An annual return must be filed for all Cyprus IBC’s within a specified period from the due date.
• Annual audited accounts are required and must be submitted even for non-trading companies.
• Details of the beneficiaries are kept at the Registered Agent.
• Company documents are to be retained at the Registered Office.
• Foreign companies can be domiciled to Cyprus & Cyprus companies can be re-domiciled abroad