Where do you locate the registered office of your company, sole trader or non-profit organization?

What is the registered office?

The registered office — or seat for short — is the legal official address of your company.

The registered office is listed in the statutes — and in the written act of incorporation — published in the Belgian Official Gazette. That's why it's also going to be the registered office mentioned.

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What is the actual seat?

There is a distinction between the regular registered office and the actual seat. The actual seat is the place from which you actually carry out your business activity. Another name for the actual seat is: operating or operating office, branch or branch.

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Practical example

OFFIS® is the commercial name of one-man business Kris Beyers. He has a branch in 2610 Wilrijk. He actually carries out his business at that location under the name OFFIS. So, that's where the actual seat is. His usual seat — the legally official address — is elsewhere: at his home address in 2140 Borgerhout, Zegepraalstraat 18, because in the case of a sole trader, the home address is the official business address anyway. See “Seat and sole proprietorship” below.

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What is the tax domicile?

The tax domicile of a company is the place:

• where the effective day-to-day management of the company takes place and where accounting is kept and centralized
• where the tax authorities can effectively and efficiently control a company's tax situation.

The tax domicile is therefore in fact the main administrative seat of a company where the main management and management bodies are located, the general shareholders' meeting is held and, ultimately, senior management, administrative management and general interests are observed and represented.

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The tax domicile: the exclusive jurisdiction of the VAT administration.

The tax domicile can only be granted by the VAT Administration (FPS Finance Antwerp). This administration assumes that — if you do not have your own office permanently and exclusively — your tax domicile is located at your home or private address where you are registered in the population register of your municipality.