Virtual offices

Amouar

Hi all,

When creating a Limited company in Ireland, Is it mandatory to have a physical office or we can use a virtual office (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_office ) ?

Thanks

pedroeibar1

No idea what wiki says, they do not count. You need physical premises, you can use 'brass plate', your accountant/lawyer might oblige if you do not have one yourself.

capefear

you can use a virtual office as your registered address for the CRO.

When you are applying for a company tax number the revenue need two address. Your registered office address which wil be the virtual office address but they will also need the address of where the business will actually be carried out, so if its your home address include that on the tr2 also

pedroeibar1

capefear wrote: »

you can use a virtual office as your registered address for the CRO.

Go do your homework.:rolleyes:
Every company is required by law to file a notice of the situation of its registered office in the State. This is the address to which all official documents, notices, court papers are required to be sent by law.

The address must be a physical location, not just a post office box number because people have the right to visit the company's registered office to inspect certain registers and documents and to deliver documents by hand. The address should be such as to enable the delivery of correspondence by An Post.

capefear

your ok I dont need to do my homework . I didnt mention a PO box as Im sure the OP would have saw that part in the CRO requirements for a registered office address. The majority of virtual office providers in Ireland have a physical location and offer their clients they use of their address for a fee as do accountants. If any paperwork is sent to the address it is then forwarded onto the client.

The revenue dont have a problem with clients using a virtual office address for their registered office either, once they know where the business is actually trading from and where the books and records are kept.

hfallada

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Go do your homework.:rolleyes:
Every company is required by law to file a notice of the situation of its registered office in the State. This is the address to which all official documents, notices, court papers are required to be sent by law.

The address must be a physical location, not just a post office box number because people have the right to visit the company's registered office to inspect certain registers and documents and to deliver documents by hand. The address should be such as to enable the delivery of correspondence by An Post.

You can use a company such as this

http://www.companyformations.ie/company-secretarial/registered-office-service/

Who can act as a "place of business" for legal reasons

Amouar

Thanks all!

So I understand from this conversation that it's fine to have a virtual office since it provides a physical address and not a PO BOX, but will also need to include home address as this is where the business will be carried out.

Please correct me if I'm wrong

dbran

Hi

You can use a virtual office as the companies registered office so long as it is in the state and a physical building.

If your intention is to have simply a "brass plate" establishment in Ireland, then depending on the type of business that you are in, when you apply to the revenue to get a VAT registration number in Ireland there is a good chance that it will be refused. That will be your real problem.

dbran

I just registered a new ltd company in Ireland. Im not there so I asked the company who did the registration to be my office as well, which they do for a charge of around 200 euro a year, and then they charge you for each piece of mail they forward to you.

pedroeibar1

dbran wrote: »

Hi

You can use a virtual office as the companies registered office so long as it is in the state and a physical building.

dbran

Sort of confusing, that :D.
I used my lawyer's office as the Reg. office for my business and was not charged a fee; he did not do much legal work for me but I have referred business to him . A friend has his co registered at his accountants - they do his books and they do not charge him either.
The Reg office just needs a physical address, it can be anywhere in the State, a family home, whatever, but not a PO Box no. I'm now VAT exempt so I was not aware of the VAT implications.

dbran

Hi

I got the impression from the OP that they were based outside of Ireland.

Naturally if you are genuinely carrying out a business in the ROI you should have no problems with registering for VAT.

However revenue are generally asking a lot more questions before new VAT registrations then they were asking a year ago.

Using a virtual office makes it harder to track down who is actually behind the business (or even if there is actually a business being carried out at all). So if you use a virtual office this will sometimes trigger more questions and ultimately refusal of VAT registration if the answers you give don't add up.

I guess "missing trader fraud" must be on the up.

dbran

Amouar

dbran wrote: »

Hi

I got the impression from the OP that they were based outside of Ireland.

Naturally if you are genuinely carrying out a business in the ROI you should have no problems with registering for VAT.

However revenue are generally asking a lot more questions before new VAT registrations then they were asking a year ago.

Using a virtual office makes it harder to track down who is actually behind the business (or even if there is actually a business being carried out at all). So if you use a virtual office this will sometimes trigger more questions and ultimately refusal of VAT registration if the answers you give don't add up.

I guess "missing trader fraud" must be on the up.

dbran

Hi dbran,

I'm based in Ireland, therefore I guess it shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks