The rule that does not exist
For a Cyprus Private Company Limited by Shares, the registrar prescribes no minimum share capital.
That is not an interpretation but a gap in the rules: there simply is no provision naming an amount. What the registrar does require is short, and it concerns people rather than money:
- at least one shareholder
- at least one director, at least 18 years old
- a company secretary
- a registered office in the Republic, expressly not a PO box
There is no residence requirement for directors or shareholders at registration. Tax residency is a separate matter and is routinely confused with this one; it turns on management and control, see the guide to tax residency.
Where the circulating figures come from
Three amounts keep appearing, and each has an origin that has nothing to do with Cyprus law.
€1,000. The most common figure in offerings. It became a default because it is round and offends nobody. It is not prescribed.
€1. This figure appears, among other places, in the AI summary Google served above the search for forming a Cyprus company on 12 October 2026:
Share Capital: Minimum share capital of €1.
That is not a rule either. At best it describes that you can form a company with a single one-euro share, not that you must.
€25,629. This amount is real, but it applies only to public companies. For a private limited, the form at issue in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, it is irrelevant.
Authorised or issued: the distinction that matters
Two terms that get mixed up in advisory conversations and mean quite different things.
Authorised capital is the ceiling in the articles: the maximum up to which shares may be issued without amending them.
Issued capital is what has actually been subscribed.
An authorised ceiling of €10,000 with €100 issued is entirely ordinary. The ceiling costs nothing and saves a shareholders’ resolution later, when new shares are to be issued.
Why this used to cost money, and no longer does
Until 18 December 2018 a capital duty of 0.6 % fell on authorised share capital. A generous ceiling was expensive then: €100,000 of authorised capital cost an extra €600.
Since its abolition the registration fee is a flat amount:
| Registration | Fee |
|---|---|
| Company with share capital | €165 |
| Company without share capital | €235 |
So the level of capital no longer affects the fees at all. Cost breakdowns that still add 0.6 % are at least seven years old. What formation actually costs is in the guide to the cost of a Cyprus Limited.
Liability when the capital is small
Liability is limited to the unpaid portion of the shares subscribed. Hence “limited by shares”.
Subscribe for €1,000 of shares with €100 paid up and you are liable in an insolvency for the outstanding €900. Subscribe for €100 and pay it, and you are liable for nothing further.
Where an amount does matter
Three places, and none of them is the registrar:
The bank. No account and no evidence of payment are needed for registration. For opening an account, though, banks and payment providers look at how the company is capitalised. That is the institution’s requirement, not the state’s, and it differs from one to the next.
Counterparties. Larger clients occasionally look at the register extract.
The notional interest deduction. Cyprus law allows a notional interest deduction on new equity that reduces taxable profit. Since corporate tax rose to 15 % in 2026, it works against a higher rate and is worth more than before. The details are in the guide to corporate tax.
What we could not confirm
- The conditions of the notional interest deduction in detail. That it exists and benefits from the higher rate is documented. Which kinds of equity qualify, which reference rate applies and which caps exist, we did not check for this article.
- What capitalisation banks in Cyprus actually expect. Institutions publish nothing binding on this, and accounts of experience contradict one another.
- Whether €25,629 for public companies is unchanged in 2026. The figure comes from a conversion out of pounds and has stood for years; we found no change, but also no current official confirmation.
The question behind the question
People asking about minimum capital usually want to know something else: whether forming the company is affordable and what comes afterwards. The capital is the smallest item in that, often zero.
What actually takes work every month is the books. Volk Accountant produces VAT 4 and VIES from the same invoices you write anyway, and your accountant gets their own access on every plan through the accountant portal.
Which legal form and which set-up fit your case is best answered by someone who knows the case: Cyprus setup from one place.