First Year of a Cyprus Company: Deadlines and Filings
Incorporation takes a few days. What follows is a rhythm of registrations, returns and payments that then repeats every year.
The formation itself is the part clients focus on. It is also the part that takes least time. The twelve months after it are what determine whether the company is in good standing or quietly accumulating penalties.
The first weeks, registrations
- Tax registration and tax identification code
- VAT registration, where compulsory or chosen voluntarily
- VIES registration, if you will supply EU businesses
- Registration as an employer with the Social Insurance Services
- Registration of each employee, including a director on the payroll
- Access to the government portal for electronic filing
- Initial submission to the UBO register
None of these are optional extras. Each one unlocks a filing obligation that starts running whether or not the registration was done.
Every month
PAYE and social insurance contributions for the previous month’s payroll, including GESY, are due by the end of the following month. This is the most frequent deadline a small company has and the easiest to let slip in a quiet period.
Every quarter
The VAT return and payment are due by the 10th of the second month after the quarter ends. Cyprus operates three staggered quarterly cycles, so your filing months depend on which cycle you are on rather than on the calendar quarter.
31 July
The first provisional tax instalment for the current year, based on your own estimate of taxable profit. Individuals also file their personal return for the previous year by this date.
31 December
The second provisional tax instalment. Before paying it, revise the estimate. If the year has gone better than expected, this is the moment to correct the figure rather than discover the problem after the year closes.
The number to hold on to is 75%. Your provisional estimate must reach at least 75% of the final liability. Fall short and a 10% surcharge applies.
This is why the December instalment matters more than the July one. In July you are guessing; by December you know how the year has gone, and you can still revise upwards. Most underestimation surcharges are paid by companies that set a figure in July and never looked at it again.
Into year two
The financial statements are prepared and audited, then approved at the annual general meeting. A new company must hold its first AGM within 18 months of incorporation. The annual return to the Registrar (HE32) is filed within 28 days of its annual return date, together with those statements. The corporate income tax return comes later still: by 31 March two years after the year end for tax years up to 2025, and by 31 January two years after the year end from the 2026 tax year.
This lag is the reason a company can feel compliant while being behind. The first corporate tax return falls due long after the first year of trading ended, by which point the records either exist in usable form or they do not.
The pattern underneath
Monthly payroll, quarterly VAT, two provisional instalments, one audit, the annual return and the tax return. Once it is running it is unremarkable. The difficulty is always the first cycle, when none of it is habit yet.
The compliance calendar on this site generates the next twelve months from today’s date and lets you export the dates to your own calendar.
Written by Antonis Lappas, BSc, FCCA. This is general information, not advice on your circumstances. Rules change, check the date on this article, and speak to us before acting on it.