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North Cyprus Reference

Company incorporation does not by itself authorise trading

Rule record · last verified 20 September 2026

In force. Start date not confirmed in this record.

Rule

Incorporating or registering a company with the Registrar of Companies (RKMMD) does not by itself authorise every commercial activity. A separate municipal for-profit business permit is a distinct statutory requirement: the Municipalities Law requires anyone wishing to engage, for profit, in a business, profession, trade or craft within a municipality's boundaries to obtain a permit from that municipality, in addition to company incorporation.[1]

Exceptions

  • This Rule confirms the MUNICIPAL layer only, as a general principle. Depending on the specific activity, premises and sector, further sector-specific licences or registrations (e.g. tourism, financial services, construction) may also be required — these were deliberately not catalogued sector-by-sector and must not be assumed to be the same stack for every company.
  • The initial company tax-registration step (as opposed to the confirmed annual filing obligation) was not independently located and is not addressed here.

Where this rule comes from

Instrument
Municipalities Law, No. 51/1995, Article 81(1)(A)
Authority
Assembly of the Republic (Cumhuriyet Meclisi), TRNC
Jurisdiction
Turkish Cypriot administration (TRNC)
Basis
Legislation · asserted by us within this jurisdiction
Verification
Primary source verified. We read the primary text ourselves on 20 September 2026.
Legal review
Not yet reviewed by a named legal reviewer.

Editorial note

The broader 'structural layer map' question (q-invest-licensing-structural-layer-map, covering 7 layers with mixed evidence quality) is deliberately NOT published here — only this single, cleanly-evidenced municipal-permit layer is within item 22's approved scope. The full map remains open/research-needed.

History of this rule

  • — Published following Founder approval. (version 1, First published)

Sources for this rule

Numbered in order of first use. Each entry names the kind of source it is and the day we read it.

  1. [1]
    Municipalities Law, No. 51/1995

    Municipalities, TRNC (Belediyeler) · Legislation and gazettes · original in Turkish · accessed 19 September 2026 · source record

Cite this record

https://northcyprusreference.com/en/rules/company-incorporation-insufficient-for-trading

Identifier company-incorporation-insufficient-for-trading · Open data · challenge this rule