What do you need to start a business in Cyprus?
The following 5 steps are required if you want to open a company in Cyprus and employ non-EU employees:
- Company registration;
- Opening an account for a company (due consideration should be given to the choice of bank, as some banks may refuse to consider an application from companies with beneficiaries from the Russian Federation or Belarus);
- Filing an application for foreign company status (it is required in order to employ foreigners from outside the EU). Since 2022 the procedure has been simplified;
- Hiring employees;
- Applying for IP-box regime, if applicable (this is a preferential tax regime for companies used to encourage research and development activities. Applicable, among others, to companies that develop computer software).
Facilitation of the rules for obtaining foreign status for companies in Cyprus:
- Shareholders of the company are foreigners with more than 50% participation
- The company must have leased office space (not a nominal office), preferably for at least 1 year
- At least 30% of key employees from the EU
- Other requirements are mostly administrative (for instance, providing audit report, Tax Clearance Certificate, etc. if the company has been operating for more than one year).
