Cyprus company formation cost: the official fees, and what a provider adds on top

The government fees for forming a Cyprus company come to €175: the Registrar of Companies charges €10 per proposed name for name approval and €165 for the incorporation filing. Accelerated handling costs €20 more per name and €100 more for the incorporation, so the expedited total is €295. Everything above those figures in a formation quote is the provider's own price for preparing the memorandum and articles, arranging the lawyer's statutory declaration and dealing with the Registrar on your behalf. This guide separates the two parts so you can read any quote and know what you are paying for.

What does the Registrar of Companies charge?

The Registrar charges two fees at two stages, and both are published on its own fee pages. Name approval comes first and costs €10 for each name you propose. The incorporation filing follows: form HE1 with the memorandum and articles, plus the HE2 registered-office form and the HE3 naming the first directors and secretary, for a fee of €165.

These fees are identical for everyone. A solo consultant and a fifty-person group pay the same amounts, in every district, whoever files the paperwork. If a quote does not show the government fees on their own line, ask for them separately. It is the quickest way to see what the provider itself is charging.

Why the name fee is charged per name

The €10 is per proposed name, and that single detail is where formation budgets quietly grow. The Registrar rejects names that are not distinctive, that mislead, that imply a regulated activity you are not licensed for, or that sit too close to a name already on the register. Submit one name you love and have it rejected, and you pay again for the next attempt.

The founders who pay once are the ones who prepare a shortlist of two or three names they would genuinely accept, check them against the register before filing anything, and treat the first choice as a preference. Once a name is approved it is reserved for you while you complete the incorporation, which is why the name always comes first in the sequence we walk through in how to register a company in Cyprus.

Is the accelerated track worth paying for?

Often yes, if a signed contract or a client is waiting on your company number. The extra €20 on the name and €100 on the incorporation are small against the cost of a stalled deal.

What the Registrar sells is a place in a faster queue. It publishes the acceleration fees but no processing times, standard or accelerated, so any precise day-count you see in formation marketing is the provider's estimate of typical practice and never an official commitment. Budget the fee if speed matters, and start earlier than feels necessary either way. The waiting time is well spent on the things that do not depend on the certificate: your books, your banking shortlist, your first invoice template.

What does a provider charge on top, and why does it vary?

A Cyprus incorporation always involves a licensed professional, because the HE1 includes a statutory declaration sworn by the lawyer entrusted with the formation, and the memorandum and articles are filed in Greek. So the question is never whether legal work happens. It is how the work is billed and what is wrapped around it. Four things move the price:

1. 01

   The billing model

   Hourly billing is where formation budgets drift, because questions, corrections and correspondence are all billable time. A fixed fee moves that risk to the provider.

2. 02

   What sits inside the package

   Registered office, company secretary, certified copies, the first year of secretarial work. Some quotes include them, some invoice them later. Both can be fair prices for different products.

3. 03

   Whether the books are included

   Formation and bookkeeping are usually two separate purchases from two separate suppliers, which means paying twice to get started and entering the same company data twice.

4. 04

   The complexity of the structure

   Corporate shareholders, several jurisdictions or a regulated activity add genuine legal work. A single founder with one share class does not.

When you compare quotes, ask each provider for the total for your actual situation and what would change it. A starting price with conditions attached tells you very little until you know the conditions.

Our own formation service keeps the whole job in one place. We check the name, prepare and submit the registration paperwork, and register the company with the Registrar, and your Sumly books open the day you order, so the money you spend while the filing is processing is captured from the first receipt. You follow the registration status live in your dashboard. If the company is not approved, you get your money back, minus government fees already paid. A registered office address is available as an add-on, and the current price for all of it is on the company formation page.

What is not included in a company formation fee?

Registration gives you a legal entity, and several of the things that make it an operating business are separate steps with their own timelines. With us and with everyone else, expect these to sit outside the formation fee:

• Tax registration. The company obtains its tax identification number from the Tax Department after incorporation. It is a separate step in a separate system.
• VAT registration. It is not automatic and not part of forming a company. The obligation arises from what the business turns over, once taxable supplies pass €15,600 over 12 months, or sooner voluntarily.
• The registered office, ongoing. Every Cyprus company must maintain a registered office in Cyprus from incorporation, a real address where official notices are served. Providing that address as a service is a recurring arrangement with a recurring cost.
• A bank account. Onboarding runs on the bank's timetable, and it is where non-resident founders meet the most friction. No Cyprus law requires the company to bank locally, so an account with any EU or EEA bank or licensed e-money institution works.
• Bookkeeping, the annual accounts, and the audit or review. These are the real running costs, covered next.

What does a Cyprus company cost to run?

Plan for four recurring items: the annual return, the financial statements with their audit or review, tax on profits, and the bookkeeping itself.

Every year the company files an annual return, form HE32, with the Registrar. The filing fee is €20, the return is filed within 28 days of its made-up date, and the first one falls due about 18 months after incorporation. We cover the mechanics in the HE32 annual return guide.

One cost you can cross off: the €350 annual company levy was abolished from 2024 by Law 25(I)/2024. Guidance still circulating online treats it as payable; it is not, though levies owed for 2011 to 2023 remain due.

The company must also keep proper accounting records from day one and prepare annual financial statements, which are audited by a statutory auditor. The smallest private companies can have a review instead of a full audit, where net turnover stays at or under €300,000 and gross assets at or under €500,000, both for two consecutive years. Profits bear corporate income tax at 15% from tax year 2026, with 2025 profits still at 12.5%. Once the business crosses the VAT threshold, quarterly VAT returns follow, and cross-border B2B sales bring monthly VIES submissions.

The bookkeeping line is the one you control. It can be a monthly bill from an accounting firm or software you run yourself; Sumly plans start at €39 per month, with the detail on the pricing page, and the plan you choose is a separate decision from who forms the company.

Can you deduct what you spend before the company exists?

Not against income tax, and it is worth being clear because the opposite claim circulates widely. Cyprus income tax law has no special window for pre-establishment expenses. Deductibility is governed by the ordinary test of art. 9(1) of the Income Tax Law, expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in the production of income, and the formation costs themselves, being capital in nature, are not deductible at all.

VAT is where a real look-back exists. On its first VAT return the company can recover input VAT on services received up to 6 months before registration and goods bought up to 3 years before, provided the goods are still on hand and the invoices are kept. That makes the paperwork habit valuable from the moment you decide to start, and it is one reason we open your books before the certificate arrives. The full picture, including what counts and what does not, is in pre-establishment expenses in Cyprus.

Questions people ask

Frequently asked

How much does it cost to register a company in Cyprus?

The government fees are €175 on the standard track: €10 to the Registrar of Companies for approving one company name and €165 for the incorporation filing. Accelerated handling adds €20 to the name and €100 to the incorporation, bringing the expedited total to €295. Whatever a formation provider charges for preparing and filing the documents comes on top, and that part varies between providers.

Is there still an annual levy on Cyprus companies?

No. The €350 annual company levy was abolished for 2024 onwards by Law 25(I)/2024, and levies already paid for 2024 were refunded. Levies owed for the years 2011 to 2023 remain payable, so an older company with arrears still has to settle them. A company formed today has no annual levy to budget for.

Do I have to pay in share capital when I register?

No. Cyprus has no minimum share capital for a private limited company, and nothing needs to be deposited in a bank before incorporation. Most founders register with a small nominal capital, often €1,000 or less. The capital is a figure in the incorporation documents rather than a cash cost of forming the company.

Why do formation quotes differ so much between providers?

Because the government fees are the small, fixed part of the total. Quotes differ on the service around them: how the legal work is billed, whether a registered office and company secretary are bundled or invoiced separately, whether anything is included for the first year, and whether bookkeeping comes with it. Ask every provider to show the Registrar's fees as their own line so you can compare like with like.

Can the company deduct what I spend before it is registered?

Not for income tax. Formation costs are capital in nature and not deductible, and Cyprus income tax law has no special window for expenses incurred before establishment. VAT works differently: once the company registers for VAT it can recover input VAT on services received up to six months before registration and on goods bought up to three years before, provided it keeps the invoices.

What does Sumly's company formation include?

The name check with the Registrar, all registration paperwork prepared and submitted, and the company registered with the Cyprus Registrar of Companies. Your Sumly books open the day you order, so early receipts are captured from the start, and you can follow the registration status live in your dashboard. If the company is not approved, you get your money back, minus government fees already paid. A registered office address is available as an add-on if you need one.