--- title: "The First 18 Months of a Cyprus Company in the AI Era, Deadline by Deadline" date: 2026-10-28 author: "Sofia Ramirez" featured_image: "https://sqmagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/first-18-months-cyprus-company-ai-era-deadline-deadline.jpg" categories: - name: "Artificial Intelligence" url: "/artificial-intelligence.md" tags: - name: "SP" url: "/tag/sp.md" --- # The First 18 Months of a Cyprus Company in the AI Era, Deadline by Deadline A new company in Cyprus looks quiet after the certificate arrives. It is not. The state starts a clock on the day of incorporation, and the clock has several dates in the first year and a half. A missed one can hold up the bank as well. This is the calendar, in the order you will meet it. ## Day 1 to day 60: the tax number Every new company applies to the Tax Department for its tax number within 60 days of incorporation. The Tax Department takes the application online only, through its Tax For All portal. The number comes first because everything else hangs on it. VAT, provisional tax and payroll all need it. Apply in the first week, not in week eight. ## Day 90: the register of beneficial owners The company files its beneficial owners in the Registrar’s register within 90 days. A beneficial owner is a person with more than 25% of the company. The register is not public. It is open to the authorities and to banks. The filing repeats. Each year the company confirms the entries in a window from 1 October to 31 December. Put the window in your calendar once. A company formed in the spring meets it in its first autumn. Banks read this register in the same way they read your passport copy. If it is empty or out of date, the account application stalls. ## Before the first hire: employer registration If you plan to hire, register as an employer with the Social Insurance Services before the first person starts. The date is not a number of days. It is an event, so the calendar cannot warn you. Write it next to the hiring plan. ## When turnover reaches €15,600: VAT VAT registration is due once turnover in 12 months reaches €15,600. After it the company files a VAT return each quarter. The threshold is a rolling figure, not a calendar year. Check turnover at the end of every month. A company that sells services to businesses in other EU member states needs a VAT number from its first invoice, whatever the turnover. Registration for the EU trade list, VIES, is a separate step. Do it before the first cross-border invoice, not after. Sales to consumers in other member states are a different case. They go into one quarterly return once they pass €10,000 a year. ## 31 July and 31 December: provisional tax Provisional corporate tax is paid on 31 July and 31 December of the year. The yearly return follows. The return for 2026 is due by 31 January 2028. So the company pays tax on an estimate during the year and settles the difference later. A first-year company often has no profit yet. The dates still apply, and a nil estimate is still a figure someone has to prepare. Losses are worth tracking from the start. From 1 January 2026 a tax loss carries forward for 7 years, up from 5. A start-up that loses money in year one keeps the loss to set against profit in later years. That only works if the first return records it correctly. The rate that the estimate uses is 15% from 1 January 2026. ## Month 18: the annual return The annual return, form HE32, is filed with the financial statements 18 months after incorporation, and then every year. The Registrar’s fee is €20. Eighteen months is the longest wait in the calendar. It is also the date people forget, because nothing happens for a year and a half. The financial statements behind it need a full set of books. They also go to an auditor. Every Cyprus company has its yearly accounts checked by an auditor licensed in Cyprus, a dormant one included. A company under €300,000 of turnover and €500,000 of assets two years in a row takes a review in place of the audit, for financial years that begin on or after 6 February 2026. ## Keeping the dates in one place The deadlines come from three offices: the Tax Department, the Registrar and the Social Insurance Services. They do not share a calendar. Founders who run the company from abroad miss them most, because no letter arrives at their door. The simplest fix is a list of the dates with an owner for each one. For the steps up to the certificate, see [the registration timeline](https://legarithm.io/cyprus/company-formation/). After the certificate, the dates above are yours or your accountant’s. This is general information. Confirm your own tax position with an adviser.