When starting a business, many people face a choice: register it at their home address or use a virtual office? A home address seems the simplest option – after all, it’s “free”.
In practice, your business address affects your privacy, how clients see your company and how convenient it is to receive mail. Below we compare both options from the perspective of a business that is just starting – both a sole proprietorship (JDG) and a company.
Home address
- No additional costs
- No contract needed
- Letters arrive in your home mailbox
- Your home address public in the register and on Google
- Less professional image
- Your lease may prohibit business activity
Virtual office
- An address in an office building
- Your home kept out of the public register
- Mail collection and scans in the Panel
- A legal address for CEIDG and KRS
- The same address even when you move
- A monthly fee
| Criterion | Home address | Virtual office (VBIURO) |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | PLN 0, but at the cost of your privacy | PLN 59 net (first month PLN 1); PLN 29 with an accounting contract billed separately |
| Privacy | Your address in CEIDG/KRS, aggregators and Google | Registers show the office address, not your home |
| Image | An address in a residential estate | An address in an office building in Warsaw’s Wola district |
| Arrives in your home mailbox; you collect registered letters yourself, often at the post office | Collected by the office staff; you get an email and a scan in the Panel (free, unlimited scanning) |
Monthly cost
- Home address
- PLN 0, but at the cost of your privacy
- Virtual office (VBIURO)
- PLN 59 net (first month PLN 1); PLN 29 with an accounting contract billed separately
Privacy
- Home address
- Your address in CEIDG/KRS, aggregators and Google
- Virtual office (VBIURO)
- Registers show the office address, not your home
Image
- Home address
- An address in a residential estate
- Virtual office (VBIURO)
- An address in an office building in Warsaw’s Wola district
Mail
- Home address
- Arrives in your home mailbox; you collect registered letters yourself, often at the post office
- Virtual office (VBIURO)
- Collected by the office staff; you get an email and a scan in the Panel (free, unlimited scanning)
Registering a business at your home address – pros and cons
A home address is a natural choice for many people starting a sole proprietorship. For a JDG you enter it in CEIDG as the delivery address – this address is mandatory and public. A company states the address of its registered office in KRS, which is public as well.
Advantages of a home address
No additional costs
You pay neither for premises nor for an address service.
Convenient at the start
You enter the address you already have – without looking for premises or signing another contract.
Letters in your own mailbox
Letters come straight to you. That’s convenient as long as you’re at home when the postman brings a registered letter – otherwise you’ll be going to the post office.
Disadvantages of a home address
Loss of privacy
A business address is public in the registers. If you give your home there, it goes into a public database and from there to websites that collect company data and into Google search results.
Such entries can stay online for years, even after the business is closed. Any business partner can then check where you live in a few seconds.
Less professional image
In some industries an address in a residential estate looks less serious. An online shop usually doesn’t mind, but a consultant or a training company working with business clients may lose out.
Lease, housing cooperative and inspections
If you rent your flat, the lease may prohibit running a business there or require the owner’s consent – check it before you register. Similar restrictions can be found in housing cooperative rules.
A business address is also a place where the authorities may carry out an inspection. With a home address, the line between private life and business gets blurred.
Mail and meetings
You collect registered letters yourself, often at the post office. You’ll more likely meet a client in a café than in your own living room.
So a home address is the cheapest, but you pay for it with privacy and image. On the day of registration it’s the simplest option – but it’s worth asking yourself whether it will get in the way as your business grows.
A virtual office as your business address – benefits for a new business
The alternative is a virtual office: you sign a contract with a company that provides an address (e.g. in Warsaw) and collects the letters sent to it, while you run your business from wherever you like. We explain how to pick a provider in our article on how to choose a virtual office in Warsaw.
An office address from day one
Instead of a residential estate, your invoices, website and register entry show an office address – at VBIURO, ul. Marcina Kasprzaka 31/119in Warsaw’s Wola district. For a business client it’s a clear signal that they are dealing with a company, not a private flat.
Separating business from private life
On invoices, in your email signature, on your website and in the public part of the register you use the office address. You give your residential address to the authorities (for a JDG it is entered in CEIDG), but it is not public.
So clients and business partners won’t turn up unannounced at your door.
Mail without trips to the post office
Letters are collected by the office staff (Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00). You get an email notification about each new item, and the scan of the letter is waiting in the Client Panel.
At VBIURO scanning is free and unlimited, and the Panel and App are available 24/7 – you can check your company mail from your phone, wherever you are.
A legal address for CEIDG and KRS
A virtual office is a legal business address (details in the article is a virtual office legal). You can enter its address in CEIDG as your delivery address, and a company can have its registered office there in KRS.
Keep the office space lease agreement concluded with the provider (at VBIURO you sign it online in the order form) – it is your legal title to the address, needed e.g. for VAT registration, at the bank or during an inspection. At VBIURO the office staff are on site Mon–Fri 9:00–17:00 and will confirm to a tax office inspector that your company has a contract for the address.
What the courts say and which office is competent
In its judgment of 5 August 2014 (ref. II FSK 3549/13), the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) held that the authorities cannot refuse to issue a NIP (tax ID) solely because a virtual office address was given. The tax office may, however, check whether the business is actually operating – the type of address alone does not decide this.
For companies registered at ul. Marcina Kasprzaka 31/119, the competent tax office is the Warsaw-Wola Tax Office (Urząd Skarbowy Warszawa-Wola). Sole proprietors (JDG) deal with the tax office competent for their place of residence (PIT, VAT, NIP) – even when their business address is a virtual office.
Registration without obstacles
If you can’t use your home address (a ban in your lease, housing cooperative rules), a virtual office solves the problem: you sign the contract online and can enter the address in CEIDG or KRS straight away. At VBIURO we activate the service on the same day.
Low cost and flexibility
You don’t pay for premises, furniture or a secretary – only a monthly fee. When your company grows and you decide on your own office, you simply change the address.
Before signing, check the contract term and notice period in the provider’s contract and terms of service. At VBIURO there is no minimum contract period, and the notice period is 1 month.
What is better for a new company?
The choice comes down to what matters more to you at the start: zero additional costs, or privacy, image and convenience. If any expense above the minimum is out of the question today, you can start with your home address. Just remember that once it’s published in registers and aggregators, it stays online for a long time – changing the address later doesn’t undo that.
A virtual address costs a few dozen zlotys a month (at VBIURO PLN 59 net/month, first month PLN 1). It also grows with your business: you start with a package that includes the address and scanning, and when you need more you move up to PRO (a parcel of your letters sent once a month, an hour of conference room time per month, help with documents) or add accounting.
Think about moving house. If your business is registered at your flat, every move means changing the business address – in the register, on invoices, on your website and with your business partners. With a virtual office, the business address stays the same. For a JDG you still report your new residential address to CEIDG, but it is not public.
Summary
For a business at the start, a virtual office is usually a better choice than a home address: it protects your privacy, looks professional and sidesteps the lease problem. A home address is free, but its costs show up later – in your home address being publicly available, in your image and in collecting registered letters.
See how an address for CEIDG and KRS in Warsaw’s Wola district works – with mail collection and scanning. If you are comparing the costs of different options, see our guide how much an office in Warsaw costs.