CYPRUS SUBSTANCE SOLUTIONS
Build real substance in Cyprus—offices, directors, governance, and ongoing compliance.
We help businesses establish and maintain economic substance in Cyprus by providing office rental, local directors, board meeting support, personnel recruitment, and ongoing compliance management. From initial assessment through implementation and year-round maintenance, we ensure your company meets Cyprus substance requirements while protecting tax residency and treaty benefits.
Substance Solutions
We ensure the establishment of Substance in Cyprus while mitigating any potential tax-related concerns with foreign tax authorities.
In today’s global landscape, the challenges and complexities faced by businesses have intensified. Achieving business and economic substance in the island has become crucial both for taking advantage of the islands tax benefits but also reducing the risk of foreign tax authorities challenging the tax residency of the Company.
Tax authorities have grown increasingly vigilant and stringent in their efforts to combat tax avoidance. In many cases, tax optimization strategies are now viewed with suspicion and subject to scrutiny, often being perceived as potential tax abuse or evasion, mainly due to inadequate implementation and a lack of tax expertise.
Our partners specialize in ensuring the proper execution of these strategies by assisting in the analysis of business structures and the establishment of comprehensive substance solutions tailored to the unique requirements of each client.
Our services to enhance your company’s substance in Cyprus include:
- Office rental, whether physical office space or virtual office solutions.
- Dedicated telephone lines
- Secretarial and administrative support services
- Personnel recruitment, including advertising and screening candidates based on your criteria.
- Drafting employment contracts and providing advice on employment law as needed.
- Aid with immigration processes and the registration of employees with the Civil Registry and Migration Department.
- Management of the client’s business operations.
By providing these services, we enable businesses to navigate the evolving international tax landscape effectively and maintain compliance while optimizing their operations.
Why Economic Substance Matters in Cyprus
Since the OECD and G20 launched the BEPS initiative in 2013, tax authorities worldwide now expect companies to prove that management and decision-making happen where they claim residency. For Cyprus, this means companies need to demonstrate real economic substance on the island.
Getting substance right allows your business to:
- Secure Cyprus tax residency status
- Access the competitive 12.5% corporate tax rate
- Benefit from Cyprus’s Double Tax Treaties
- Avoid challenges from foreign tax authorities
Without proper company substance in Cyprus, residency status may be disputed, leading to double taxation or lost treaty advantages.
Cyprus Substance Requirements
Key indicators of substance compliance in Cyprus include:
- Maintaining a registered and physical office in Cyprus
- Having locally resident, qualified directors
- Holding board and shareholder meetings in Cyprus, with minutes recorded and stored locally
- Keeping accounting and statutory records in Cyprus
- Operating local corporate bank accounts
- Ensuring company contracts and commercial documentation are signed and stored on the island
These criteria form the framework that regulators and tax authorities look for when assessing Cyprus corporate substance.
How We Deliver Substance Solutions
Our process is designed to be practical and sustainable:
- Assessment – Review of your existing structure against current Cyprus substance requirements
- Implementation – Establishing offices, directors, records, and governance procedures
- Ongoing maintenance – Board meeting support, accounting, payroll, and continued monitoring
This ensures your substance in Cyprus isn’t just achieved but also maintained year after year.
Who Needs Substance Solutions?
- Holding companies – to protect treaty benefits and prove tax residency
- IP structures – to meet the Cyprus substance test for IP companies under the IP box regime
- Financial and trading entities – to show that real decision-making and risk management take place in Cyprus
- International groups – to reduce exposure to double taxation and build credibility with regulators and investors
Request a Substance Assessment
Every business has different needs. Whether you’re building a holding company, setting up an IP structure, or simply reinforcing compliance, our team will design a tailored plan for your company.
Contact us today to request a Cyprus substance assessment and safeguard your company’s position.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s the demonstration that your company has a genuine presence in Cyprus – offices, directors, staff, and decision-making – not just a registration on paper.
They include local directors, board meetings in Cyprus, office presence, bank accounts, and keeping records on the island.
Yes. Cyprus substance requirements for holding companies are critical to secure tax residency and treaty protection.
By aligning governance (directors, board meetings), operations (offices, employees), and administration (records, banking) with ongoing compliance support.
Yes — the substance test for IP companies is stricter. Cyprus requires development or management of IP to take place locally in order to qualify for IP box benefits.
Begin the Process
If you need to establish or strengthen economic substance in Cyprus, our team is ready to assist. From office setup and local directors through board meetings and ongoing compliance, we provide assessment, implementation, and year-round maintenance to ensure your company meets Cyprus substance requirements and protects tax residency.