GmbH registration with digital domestic business address pursuant to § 8 para 4 No. 1 GmbHG possible even without access to domestic business premises

The need for a digital domestic business address in the German commercial register

Not least due to the Corona pandemic, many new (digital) forms of work have emerged, making it possible to live and work entirely detached from a physical location. Until now, however, the requirement of having a domestic business address to business premises for the registration has always been a problem for self-employed freelancers and digital nomads or „knowledge workers“ as well as for remote traders with their own GmbH, UG or comparable German legal form. People who wanted to work predominantly abroad or frequently change their location could previously only get around this problem by renting virtual offices or co-working spaces or by using the service at a delivery recipient’s c/o („care of“) at their physical business address.

Die deutsche Version dieses Artikels finden Sie hier: GmbH-Eintragung mit digitaler inländischer Geschäftsanschrift auch ohne Zugang zu inländischen Geschäftsräumen möglich.

Digital domestic business address now possible

BIEBINGER – Wirtschaftskanzlei (short BWK or BIEBINGER) has now successfully contended for a new legal position for its clients by winning a test case before a higher regional court: German companies can now be incorporated and managed with a „digital“ domestic business address (even without a domestic business address to physical business premises). A physical domestic business address leading to a digital-post service provider is sufficient. The specific case involved the domestic business address of a UG (limited) similar to a German GmbH in the form of

Sample man GmbH
Scanbox #12345
Ehrenbergstr. 16a
10245 Berlin

which leads to a scanbox at the digitization service provider, Dropscan GmbH – www.dropscan.de („digital domestic business address“). There is no labeling/marking of the company itself, in the form of a mailbox or sign on the building there. All postal items including registered mail or parcels to Dropscan customers with a “Scanbox #…” address are accepted. This address meets the requirements of § 8 para. 4 no. 1 GmbHG. Here you can find the general terms and conditions of Dropscan GmbH. This should be possible with other digitization service providers as well, but the effort to set a precedent is greater.

Concrete example based on digital business model

The starting point in the test case was a client pursuing a purely digital business model via smartphone and laptop. She had no physical means of production and accordingly did not require any business premises. The client therefore did not have any business premises in Germany and did not want to award a lease or service contract to a person with business premises just so that a domestic business address would be available for registration in the commercial register. Making a private residential address available for the domestic business address was a fortiori out of the question, as private and business matters were to remain strictly separate. Only the service of Dropscan GmbH, which receives mail items on behalf of the client, digitizes them and forwards them to the customer, e.g. as a searchable, colored pdf file, by e-mail or via cloud systems, met the client’s high demands. Accordingly, the client only wanted to purchase this digitization service. The digital domestic business address assigned in the process serves as the only physical access address both vis-à-vis the business partners, the registry court (as the domestic business address) and the other critical authorities such as the tax office, the trade office and e.g. the chamber of industry and commerce, as the postal address. Other communication in the form of e-mail, telephone, website, social media, etc., runs digitally, with no physical connection. In addition, separating the domestic business address and the seat of the company was desired in order to avoid having to change the domestic business address when changing the seat of the company.

It is of fundamental importance that postal items including legal documents can be served. Accordingly, the customer authorizes Dropscan GmbH to accept mail items on his behalf. The digital domestic business address does not serve the purpuse of deception or of blocking deliveries – on the contrary.

Options for the use of the digital domestic business address

As a result of the landmark decision won by BIEBINGER – Wirtschaftskanzlei, it will now be possible for any (digital) entrepreneur to work permanently from a location of their daily choice (e.g. Munich, Buxtehude, Paris, Fuerteventura, Bejing, Miami or wherever in the world), while still being able to conduct and settle business via a reputable, trustworthy German GmbH or similar German legal form with a German business address. Digital nomads and knowledge workers can thus save significant costs for postal access to physical business premises in Germany. It also eliminates expenses and superfluous correspondence with authorities or business partners if a change of business address were to be expected.

Benefits in the setup of companies

Via the integrations offered by Dropscan GmbH (e.g. Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Amazon AWS S3, Microsoft Azure, sevDesk, Slack, AccountingButler, Evernote, box.com, SFTP-Server, WebDAV etc.), every incoming mail item is digitized and searchable. The inbox can be digitally assigned to any number of people within the company for processing or checking, or made available anywhere in the world on any device. The incoming mail of several years can be searched in seconds for any string of characters (e.g. invoice number, sum of money, words, sentences).

Support from BIEBINGER with all-inclusive pricing

If you are considering conducting your German business only with a digital domestic business address, BWK supports you with our tailor-made product „Boundless360 – the digital domestic business address in the commercial register“ in order to have the digital domestic business address entered in the commercial register both in the case of a business formation and in the case of a subsequent change of the domestic business address in the commercial register (as already explained: even in the case of registered companies, a separation of the seat of the company and the domestic business address can be carried out subsequently).
Outside of the package price, we can also assist you in setting up your business or in communicating with the Trade Licensing Office and the Tax Office to defend the discrepancy between the company’s seat and the digital domestic business address.
At a fixed price that is advantageous for you, BWK offers you 100% digital support and availability at short notice at all times in order to quickly overcome all German bureaucratic hurdles for the registration of the digital domestic business address for your project. BIEBINGER – Wirtschaftskanzlei works paperless itself and understands the special needs of internet entrepreneurs, digital nomads and all people who want to live an independent life in a modern way without a fixed location.

Note: The legal advice of BIEBINGER – Wirtschaftskanzlei is directed exclusively to legal and honest business models. Activities that promote tax fraud or the evasion of laws or legal purposes are not supported by BWK.