Registered office
The registered office decides where the authorities find you.
Every company registered in France declares a registered office. It appears in the trade register and on the “Kbis”, it determines which court registry and which tax office are competent, and it is at that address that time limits start to run.
What it coversA registered letter nobody collected still takes effect.
The registered office is more than a line on the “Kbis”. It settles which commercial court registry has jurisdiction, which business tax office applies, and which municipality levies the property-based business contribution (“CFE”). It also appears on invoices, on commercial documents and in the legal notice on the website.
Taking an address from a third party rests on a written contract. The provider has to be licensed, the contract runs for at least three months and renews tacitly, and the court registry is told it exists. The company, for its part, undertakes to report any change and to take notice of its mail.
We are a licensed provider ourselves: your company is registered at our address, we follow the official correspondence and say so as soon as a letter starts a time limit running. We work in French, German and English.
What it covers
From the registered address to the mail that arrives there.
The registered office
The address entered in the trade register and shown on the “Kbis”, together with the court registry and the tax office that follow from it.
The domiciliation contract
A written contract with a licensed provider, for at least three months, renewable by tacit agreement, and notified to the court registry.
Official correspondence
Receiving letters from the tax authorities, URSSAF, the court registry and judicial officers, with immediate notice whenever a letter opens a time limit.
Address and fixed establishment
An address on its own creates no fixed establishment, and it prevents none either. What settles the point is the human and technical resources actually present. See tax advisory
Moving the office
A decision by the competent body, an amendment to the articles where the address appears in them, a notice in an authorised legal gazette and an amending entry in the register.
Mandatory particulars
Carrying the address and the identifiers onto invoices, commercial documents and the legal notice on the website, in the same form everywhere.
Frequently asked
On the address, the contract and the mail.
The questions foreign groups ask most often when they register a French company or move its office.
The office
Is a domiciliation address enough to register a company?
Yes, provided it rests on a contract with a licensed provider. The court registry asks for the evidence at registration, and the address then becomes the registered office.
Does domiciliation create a fixed establishment?
An address alone is not enough to create one. What counts is the human and technical resources actually present, their permanence, and the authority to bind the company.
The reverse holds as well: a company with a domiciliation address may perfectly well have a fixed establishment elsewhere in France, at an employee’s home or on a site. The question is settled on its own terms, in writing.
Can the company be domiciled at its director’s home?
Within the limits the law allows, yes, and often only for a fixed period where the lease or the building rules stand in the way. For a director resident outside France the question does not arise: a French company’s registered office is in France.
In practice
What happens to mail from the authorities?
It goes to the registered office, and the time limit runs from the attempted delivery rather than from the reading. A registered letter nobody collected still takes effect. That is why following the mail matters as much as the address itself.
How long does a domiciliation contract run?
Three months at least, renewing tacitly unless notice is given. In practice the real term follows the financial year or the main lease.
What does moving the registered office involve?
A decision by the competent body, an amendment to the articles where the address appears in them, a notice in an authorised legal gazette and an amending entry in the register. The “Kbis” is updated afterwards, and the commercial documents follow.
What goes with it
What follows the address.
Next
Tell us where your French mail
arrives today.
The address on the “Kbis” and the last letter you had from the authorities are enough to see whether the office holds and whether anything is going astray. We work in French, German and English.
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