Correspondence vs Registered Address – Differences and Setup

“Registered office address”, “delivery address” and “correspondence address” sound similar, but they mean different things – and they work differently for a company entered in the KRS (National Court Register) than for a sole proprietorship (JDG) registered in CEIDG. Below we explain, step by step: company addresses, sole trader addresses, an additional correspondence address and e-Doręczenia (e-Delivery). At the end we show how a virtual office lets you have one address for all your mail.

Company (KRS) – registered office and company address

A company (e.g. a limited liability company – sp. z o.o., a joint-stock company or a limited partnership) has a registered office (siedziba) in the legal sense: it is the locality specified in the articles of association. The KRS records this locality and the exact address (street and number).

• The company address in the KRS is public – anyone can check it in the KRS search engine. It is the official address that identifies the company in business dealings.
• Paper letters from courts and authorities go to this address – including from the tax office, ZUS (Social Insurance Institution) and the registry court. That is why someone must actually collect mail there (we describe the consequences of not collecting it below).
• The registered office determines the competent authorities. For companies registered at ul. Marcina Kasprzaka 31/119, the competent tax office is Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Wola, and the registry court is the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw, XIII Commercial Division of the National Court Register.
• A change of address must be filed with the KRS. Moving the registered office to another locality requires amending the articles of association; changing the address within the same locality is usually simpler (a management board resolution and an application to the KRS). A virtual office address can be the company address – the basis is the agreement with the operator, i.e. the legal title to the address.

Sole trader (CEIDG) – delivery address and place of business

A sole proprietorship has no “registered office” in the sense that companies do. In CEIDG, a sole trader provides several different addresses:

• Delivery address – mandatory and public. Official correspondence is sent here, and it is visible in the CEIDG search engine. This is exactly where you can enter a virtual office address.
• Permanent place of business – optional. You can provide it (it is then public) or indicate that you do not have one, e.g. when you work remotely or at clients’ premises.
• Residential address – given to the authorities, but not public. It is not shown in the CEIDG search engine.

In practice: you enter the virtual office address in CEIDG as your delivery address (and, optionally, your place of business), and your home address stays out of the public register. This does not change your tax office – we explain why below.

Additional correspondence address and the effects of delivery

An additional correspondence address is an address to which you ask business partners to send letters, when it differs from the address in the register.

• Sole trader: your address for the authorities is the delivery address in CEIDG. If you enter a virtual office address there, official correspondence goes exactly there – you do not need another address.
• Company: no separate correspondence address is entered in the KRS. A company may give business partners a different contact address (e.g. on its website, in contracts, as an additional address on invoices), but courts and authorities still write to the KRS address. If you want all letters – including official ones – to go to the virtual office, its address must be the company address in the KRS.

Legal effects of delivery. Failing to collect a correctly addressed letter (to the company address in the KRS or the delivery address in CEIDG) may, in some proceedings, mean the letter is deemed delivered – e.g. after two delivery notices (so-called deemed delivery). Deadlines then run as if the letter had been collected. In practice this means that, for example, the deadline for appealing a decision may expire before you even learn about the letter. The detailed rules depend on the type of proceedings and the method of delivery, so mail at your official address must be collected on an ongoing basis.

In a virtual office, the office staff collect your letters and you receive scans (free, unlimited scanning). You can collect the originals in person at the office, Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00. Still, check the Client Panel (available 24/7) and your e-mail regularly.

e-Doręczenia (e-Delivery) – the mailbox for electronic letters

Besides the address for paper letters, a business also has an e-Doręczenia (e-Delivery) address – Poland’s public registered electronic delivery service, i.e. an official mailbox for documents in digital form. Today the obligation to have such an address applies to practically every business entered in the KRS and CEIDG, and new businesses can apply for the address together with their registration. As a rule, e-Doręczenia is the primary channel of electronic communication with public bodies.

An e-Doręczenia address becomes public – it is entered in the public Electronic Address Database (Baza Adresów Elektronicznych, BAE) – only after it has been activated. Until the mailbox is active, authorities will not find your address in the BAE and letters will usually reach you on paper.

Important: a virtual office handles paper correspondence sent to your company address. It does not replace the e-Doręczenia mailbox – you (or a designated administrator) must check it regularly yourself. If your business does not yet have an e-Doręczenia address, apply via gov.pl.

Which address determines the tax office?

There is no single rule that “the company address determines the tax office” – it depends on the form of business:

• Sole trader (PIT, VAT, NIP): the competent tax office is determined by the trader’s place of residence, not by the delivery address in CEIDG. Entering a virtual office address does not change this.
• Company (CIT, VAT): the competent tax office is determined by the registered office – for companies registered at ul. Marcina Kasprzaka 31/119it is Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Wola.

Example: you run a sole proprietorship and live in Otwock, and you give a virtual office in Warsaw as your business address. You still settle PIT and VAT with the tax office competent for Otwock. A Warsaw address protects your privacy and keeps your mail in order, but it does not change your tax office. How to prepare for a possible address check is described in our guide virtual office and a tax office inspection.

Practical and legal differences between the registered office and the correspondence address

• Obligation: a company must have a registered office and an address in the KRS. A sole trader has no registered office but must provide a delivery address in CEIDG. A separate correspondence address is optional.
• Number of addresses: there is one official address in the register (the company address in the KRS or the delivery address in CEIDG). You can have several contact addresses, e.g. a separate one for complaints or orders – that is a matter of internal organisation.
• Publicity: the company address is public in the KRS. In CEIDG, the delivery address and any places of business are public, but the residential address is not. That is why a sole trader can keep their home address private by giving a virtual office as the delivery address.
• Changes: you report a change of delivery address to CEIDG online and free of charge. Changing a company address requires a resolution and an entry in the KRS, and moving to another locality also requires amending the articles of association.

A virtual office as your company address

• As the official address: you can enter a virtual office address in the KRS as your company address, or in CEIDG as a sole trader’s delivery address (and place of business). You have an agreement, i.e. a legal title to the address, so this is legal. Because the office collects your mail, the same address is also your correspondence address.
• Only as a correspondence address: a company may keep its registered office e.g. in its home town and use a Warsaw address only as a contact address for clients and business partners. Remember, however, that letters from courts and authorities will still go to the KRS address, so you have to keep an eye on two places.
• One address for everything: the simplest option is one address – both in the register and for correspondence. Separating addresses makes sense when the registered address is, for some reason, unsuitable for receiving mail.

Examples (model situations)

The examples below are illustrative – they describe typical situations, not specific clients.

How to use your addresses correctly?

If you use more than one address:

• Label them clearly – e.g. in your document footer: “Company address: …, Correspondence address: …”, so senders know where to write.
• Report changes – you report a change of the registered address to the KRS (company) or CEIDG (sole trader). Inform your regular business partners about a change of correspondence address.
• Collect mail at every address – some senders will still send letters to the address in the register. If the company address in the KRS is your home and the virtual office is used only for correspondence, you have to watch your home yourself. When the registered address is the virtual office, the office staff collect your letters.
• Contracts and invoices – as seller details you give the official business address: for a company, the KRS address; for a sole trader, the CEIDG address. You can add the correspondence address as an additional contact address.

Summary

The official address – the company address in the KRS or the sole trader’s delivery address in CEIDG – is where courts and authorities will find your business. An additional correspondence address is optional and serves contacts with business partners. In small businesses, both are usually the same place. Whichever option you choose, the most important thing is that mail at the official address is collected on an ongoing basis and the e-Doręczenia mailbox is checked regularly.

If you are not sure how to set up the addresses in your business, ask an accountant or a lawyer. If you are looking for one address for the register and your mail, see what the virtual office in Warsaw’s Wola district includes.