In short
- One owner and one director can live anywhere. The registered office is in Cyprus and is not a mailbox.
- A company run from abroad is still Cyprus tax resident, unless a treaty places it in the other state.
- The company registers for tax within 60 days and files its beneficial owners within 90.
- Hiring from outside the EU needs €200,000 invested and €2,500 gross a month for each employee.
In this guide
Can a non-resident be a shareholder and director of a Cyprus company?
Yes to both. Section 3 of the Companies Law lets one person form a private company, and the Registrar's pages ask for a Cyprus address only for the registered office. A person or a company of any country can hold the shares, and a private company has 1 to 50 shareholders and no minimum capital.
| Seat | Who can hold it | What the Registrar's form asks |
|---|---|---|
| Shareholder | A person or a company of any country | Full address, identity number, nationality and profession of a person, or the registration number of a company |
| Director | At least 1, aged 18 or over | Identity or passport number, country of origin, date of birth, profession and full address |
| Secretary | Exactly 1, aged 18 or over | The same particulars as a director |
| Registered office | An address in Cyprus, not a mailbox | The address in Greek, on form HE2 |
A company with one member and one director lets that person be the secretary too. We register the company for owners abroad, as company formation in Cyprus describes, and the seven filing steps are in the guide to registering a company in Cyprus.
What a non-resident still needs in Cyprus: an office, a secretary and a lawyer
A registered office
The company keeps a registered office in the Republic, and the Registrar's page says it must not be a mailbox. The Registrar's letters arrive there, and the registers of members, directors and charges are kept there. Form HE2 gives the address with the incorporation, and a change goes to the Registrar within 14 days.
A secretary
The Registrar's pages do not ask the secretary to live in Cyprus. In practice the secretary is there, because the registers and the letters are at the registered office, and every package of ours includes one for the first year.
A lawyer's declaration
The lawyer entrusted with the registration swears form HE1 before the court. The memorandum and articles are signed in Greek, each shareholder writes the number of shares by hand and a witness signs. The state fee is €165 for the incorporation and €10 for the name approval.
Running the company from abroad: which country treats it as resident?
The Tax Department's page on company residence names two tests, and a company that meets either one is resident in the Republic. The first is control and management exercised in Cyprus. The second is incorporation in Cyprus under the Companies Law, and it gives way only where a double tax treaty makes the company resident of the other state.
A Cyprus company run from abroad is Cyprus tax resident by its incorporation. It pays 15% on its income from every source, a rate that applies from 2026. A company that is not resident pays only on the income of a permanent establishment in Cyprus.
| Where the company is run | Treaty with Cyprus | The company is resident in |
|---|---|---|
| Cyprus, where the board meets and decides | Not relevant | Cyprus, under both tests |
| Another state | A treaty places its residence there | That state, for the purposes of the treaty |
| Another state | No treaty with Cyprus | Cyprus, by incorporation |
The Department weighs facts, and none decides alone. It looks at where the board meets and takes the strategic decisions, and where the directors live. It looks at where the daily management sits, where the books are kept and where the main contracts are signed.
A board that sits in Cyprus leaves no doubt on the first test. Founders who want that appoint a director who lives in Cyprus, as nominee director and shareholder in Cyprus explains. What another state makes of a company run on its soil is a question for your own adviser there. The tests for you as a person, 183 days and 60 days, are in the guide to Cyprus tax residency.
Bank account for a company with a non-resident owner
A company owned from abroad applies to a Cyprus bank after it has its certificate of incorporation, and its owners do not have to live on the island. The bank reads the file for four answers.
- Who owns the company, down to every person with more than 25% of it.
- What the business does and where its customers are.
- Where the company is managed.
- Where the owners' money comes from.
A Wise or Revolut account opens in 1 to 5 working days and takes the first invoices while the bank reviews the file, which takes 4 to 12 weeks.
We do this for you Company formation in Cyprus from €1,699
Registrations after the certificate: tax number, owners, VAT
The certificate of incorporation starts five filings, each with its own deadline.
| Registration | Deadline | Where it is filed |
|---|---|---|
| Tax Registry, the company's tax number | 60 days from incorporation | Tax For All, signed in with CY Login, since 1 July 2026 |
| Beneficial owners | 90 days from incorporation, then 45 days after a change | The Registrar's register of beneficial owners |
| Confirmation of the owners | Each year between 1 October and 31 December | The same register |
| VAT | Once taxable sales of twelve months pass €15,600, or are expected to in the next 30 days | The Tax Department |
| Income tax return, form TD4 | 13 months after the end of the tax year | The Tax Department |
A company incorporated on Monday 2 November 2026 registers with the Tax Department by 1 January 2027 and files its owners by 31 January 2027. Its return for the year to 31 December 2026 falls due on 31 January 2028.
A company that sells services to businesses in other EU states registers for VAT from its first sale, with no threshold, and files a VIES statement. A late notification costs €85 for each month, and we handle VAT registration in Cyprus. The beneficial owners are filed by an officer of the company, not by a service provider that holds no office, so the secretary we provide files them for you.
Hiring staff from outside the EU: work permits for a Cyprus company
A third-country national works in a Cyprus company on a temporary residence and employment permit. The route for a company with a non-resident owner is to register as a company of foreign interests with the Business Support Center. The Center completes the registration within 10 business days of a complete application.
The company qualifies when third-country nationals hold more than 50% of its shares and it has invested €200,000 in the 6 months before the application. The investment is a deposit at a bank licensed by the Central Bank of Cyprus, or an office and equipment bought for the business. An electronic money or payment institution does not count. The premises are on a lease of at least 12 months and are separate from any home.
The Migration Department then examines each permit within one month. The main track asks €2,500 gross a month or more, a relevant qualification or 2 years of relevant experience, and a contract of 2 years or longer. The policy sets no quota. The company commits to fill 30% of its staff with Cypriots or EU citizens over five years, and the Department checks the ratio of new hires after 2 January 2027.
The rules for the company are in the guide to a foreign interest company. Your own permit as the founder is a separate route, and residence permits in Cyprus compares them.
What changes when the owner moves to Cyprus
Your tax residence
You become resident by days. The 60-day rule asks for a business, a job or an office in a Cyprus tax resident company, and a directorship in your own company is such an office.
Dividends
A person who is not resident or not domiciled in Cyprus pays no Special Defence Contribution on dividends. A resident who is domiciled pays 5% on dividends from profits earned after 1 January 2026. A newcomer becomes domiciled after 17 of the last 20 years of residence, and non-dom status in Cyprus explains the exemption.
The register and the bank
The Registrar publishes the directors' details. The company files form HE4 within 14 days of a change of a director's address, and a late filing costs €50 plus €1 for each further day, up to €250.
Owners from the United States will find the Cyprus side in the guide for US citizens, and owners from the United Kingdom in the guide for UK residents.
Is Cyprus a good place to start a business? What the official figures show
No official source grades a country for business, so this section gives the figures that official sources publish and leaves the verdict to you.
| Measure | Cyprus | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Place in the EU | Member since 1 May 2004, euro since 1 January 2008, Schengen entry in process | European Union |
| Corporate tax | 15% from 2026, 12.5% from 2013 to 2025 | Tax Department |
| Real GDP growth in 2025 | 4.8% in Cyprus, 1.4% in the EU | Eurostat |
| Companies on the register | 212,827 on 30 September 2026, with 12,708 registered since 1 January | Registrar of Companies |
| Population | 996,571 in 2026 | Eurostat |
| Double tax agreements | 68 numbered entries on the Ministry of Finance list | Ministry of Finance |
The register holds one company for every 4.7 residents, and the GDP per head, €41,000, sits just under the EU average of €41,600. A company that sells abroad reads these figures differently from one that sells on the island, so the answer starts with where your customers are. To begin, register your Cyprus company with us, from €1,699 before VAT with the state fees, the registered office and the secretary for the first year.
