What is a registered office
The registered office is the legal and tax address of your company: the address recorded in the commercial register and in the tax records of the country where you incorporate the company. It is the address to which the local tax authority sends notifications, requests and, where applicable, penalties, and it determines where your company is considered to be established.
Do not confuse the registered office with the operating base. The operating base is the physical place where you work; the registered office is only the legal address. You can have the company registered in Portugal and work from Spain without any problem, provided that address meets the requirements of the register.
When you do not want to or cannot rent an office, there are registered office services (also called virtual office or tax address) that provide a valid legal address for registration, receive your mail and digitise it so you can check it from wherever you are.
What is a tax representative
The tax representative is a natural or legal person resident in the country who acts before the tax administration on behalf of your company. They receive notifications, file or review returns and keep you informed of the tax authority's requests when the company has no physical presence in the territory.
It is not the same as the director: the tax representative does not manage your business or make decisions for you. Their role is exclusively tax-related and administrative, and it is a common figure in the EU for companies without a permanent establishment that need to register for VAT or obtain a NIF as non-residents.
When they are mandatory
Not all companies need them, but in practice they are essential when no partner or director resides in the country. These are the most common situations:
Key points
- Obtaining the NIF or CIF as a non-resident: Portugal, for example, requires a tax representative to process it
- Registering for VAT without a permanent establishment in France, Italy or Germany
- Incorporating a company without having your own office or premises in the country
- Receiving official notifications and responding to tax authority requests without residing there
- Avoiding penalties for not responding to communications that only arrive at the registered office
Registered office and tax representative by country
Each country regulates these arrangements differently, but the concept is the same everywhere: your company needs a local address and, depending on the case, a representative before the tax authority. These are the annual maintenance costs in each jurisdiction, with the registered office and tax representative included:
Key points
- Portugal: LDA or Unipessoal, 4-8 weeks
- Andorra: SL or SLU, 2-6 weeks
- Dubai: Free Zone or Mainland, 1-3 weeks
- France: SAS or SASU, 3-6 weeks
- Germany: GmbH, share capital of €25,000, 6-14 weeks
- Italy: SRL or SRLS, 4-10 weeks
How Filnet handles your registered office and tax representative
At Filnet we include both arrangements in the incorporation package for each country: you don't have to travel, rent an office or find a local agent on your own. We provide the legal address that meets the registry requirements and, where the regulations require it, the tax representative who acts before the tax authority.
We also handle official correspondence: we receive notifications at your registered office, digitise them and alert you to any request so that no deadline is missed. This way, your company's day-to-day operations are covered even if you never set foot in the country.
If you are still deciding where to open a company, compare the options in our guide on where to open a company in Europe or check what opening a branch in Europe involves if you would rather not set up a company from scratch.
