Why the secretary is compulsory
Key figure: Minimum directors, private company1
Company law sets 1 director as the floor for a private company and requires a company secretary on top of that; a public company needs more directors.
The secretary is the officer who keeps the registers of members, directors and secretaries, prepares the filings the Registrar receives and holds the company calendar. When nobody holds the role, the first thing that slips is the annual return.
When the owner changes tax residency
Key figure: Tax residencyIndividuals: more than 183 days in Cyprus in the calendar year, or the 60-day rule. Companies: managed and controlled in Cyprus, or (from 1 Jan 2026) incorporated or re-domiciled in Cyprus unless a tax treaty provides otherwise.
From 1 January 2026, a company incorporated in Cyprus is Cyprus tax resident unless a tax treaty provides otherwise, so moving yourself to Dubai or Portugal does not move the company.
Management and control in Cyprus remains the second test. A board that meets and decides abroad gives another country grounds to claim the company as its resident as well, and the treaty between the two then settles it.
On the Cyprus side the paperwork stays where it was: registered office, registers and annual return. What changes is the evidence. Once the owner lives abroad, the place of board meetings and the minutes that record them carry more weight, and we keep the register entries consistent with them.
When this applies
Directors and residence
Company law requires at least 1 director (private) or 2 (public), aged 18+, with no residency requirement. For Cyprus tax residency, management and control in Cyprus (board meetings and decisions in Cyprus, usually with Cyprus-resident directors) is the traditional test; from 1 Jan 2026 a company incorporated in Cyprus is also tax resident by incorporation unless a tax treaty provides otherwise.
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The annual return and its deadline
Key figure: Annual return deadline28 days
The annual return goes to the Registrar with the financial statements, within 28 days of its drafting date.
Those statements must be audited under IFRS, or reviewed if a small private company stays under the thresholds. Preparing and auditing them belongs to the accounting package; the secretarial package files the return once the directors approve the statements.
- Accounting and audit for the statements
- Registrar of Companies: financial statements and annual return
When this applies
First year
Annual return is filed with the financial statements within 28 days of its drafting date; first financial statements presented to the general meeting within 18 months of incorporation, then at least once per calendar year.
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The levy is gone, the filing fee is not
Key figure: Annual government fee€0
The annual company levy now reads €0: N.25(I)/2024 abolished it from 2024 onwards and was gazetted on 15 March 2024.
Levies for earlier years that were never paid remain due, and some Registrar guidance pages still quote the old amount. Before we take over a company, we check its record for unpaid levies from before the abolition and tell you what is outstanding.
The annual return still carries its own Registrar filing fee. That fee is not in our fact reference, so the exact amount goes into your quote.
The register of beneficial owners
Key figure: Register of beneficial ownersYes
Filing is mandatory: every Cyprus company records its beneficial owners in the register kept by the Registrar of Companies and updates the entry when ownership changes.
A share transfer, a new holding company above you or a trust taking over your shares each needs an update. The deadline for that update is not in our reference; we file it together with the change it follows, and quote it with that change.
Where the registers are kept
Key figure: Local registered office requiredYes
Required: the registered office is a Cyprus address that is not a mailbox, and the statutory registers are kept there.
Our secretarial package does not include that address. If the company has no office in Cyprus, the registered office package starts at €400.
Note
Changing the address
Must maintain a registered office in Cyprus which must not be a mailbox; statutory registers are kept there. Changes notified on form HE2 within 14 days.
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Who this is not for
The package covers one company’s statutory upkeep. It is the wrong purchase in these four cases.
- You need books, financial statements and the tax return prepared. That is our accounting package, from €1,200, with the audit fee on top.
- You need a desk or an address in Cyprus. The secretarial package includes neither; the registered office starts at €400.
- You want to close the company. A strike-off or liquidation follows its own procedure, from €1,800.
- You want a ruling on where the company is tax resident. The Tax Department decides that, and a tax treaty settles it when two countries claim the company.