Registration of LLC at the place of residence of the founder in Ukraine

As more and more information and work move online, and people are working remotely, the question arises as to whether having a physical address for a company is necessary. We are frequently asked about where to register a company, including limited liability companies, in Ukraine.

Today, we will discuss various legal aspects related to the address of a limited liability company, such as what address to choose as the place of registration in Ukraine, and whether it is possible to register an LLC at the founder's place of residence.

If you have questions regarding your business, please feel free to contact our employees directly for more information.

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Is it possible to use a virtual office without having a physical legal address?

While it's possible to work remotely without a physical address, you can't register a company without one. The legislation in this matter hasn't changed (at least not yet).

To associate a legal entity with a specific administrative-territorial unit, the legal address must be a real, physical one. This is necessary for control by tax authorities and other entities. Mail must be delivered to this address. Even though email is present, official correspondence often occurs through Ukrposhta. Therefore, letters must be received at the registered address.

However, the state registrar has not been required to verify documents related to the ownership/use of a property for many years. The property must be non-residential unless it is the founder's place of residence. Sometimes, an office center's address is specified without indicating the office number. Nonetheless, in such cases, it's advisable to at least arrange a contract with a post office and have a mailbox.

You may also like: Corporate Relations Between LLC Members in Ukraine: How to Open a Business with Multiple Founders?

Can an LLC have a legal address at the place of registration of its founder?

According to current legislation, it is possible to register an LLC at the place of registration of one of its founders. This is easily verified by the registrar: if the legal address matches the address of one of the founders, then registration is possible.

Advantages of registering a legal address at the place of registration of the founder:

• Such an apartment is definitely not a mass registration address. Although this issue is not as relevant now as it was, for example, 10 years ago. Then, just because the company was located at a so-called mass registration address, it could be deprived of VAT payer status and summoned for an interview by the then-tax police. No one cared that this was an office center and why enterprises should avoid them.
• Mail will definitely go to the mailbox - whether it is letters or messages that a registered letter is waiting to be collected at the post office.
• No rent needs to be paid for such a legal address (although this is already something that the co-founders will agree on among themselves).

Disadvantages of registering a legal address at the place of registration of the founder:

• All supervisory authorities have the full right to come with inspections to the apartment. Of course, in the case of a lawful appointment of the inspection.
• Image factor. A company located in an apartment does not look entirely solid. Can a company positioning itself as successful not afford to rent an office, even a small one?

Of course, we can register your LLC anywhere (within the bounds of the law). Over the years, we have seen some pretty strange decisions, such as designating an apartment as an office without converting it to non-residential status. But that doesn't make sense, because even if it's listed on paper as an office, the reality and consequences (such as potential visitors) remain the same.

If you need a legal address with mail handling services, we can provide that for you. 

Our services include:

• business planning in Ukraine; 
• company structuring and registration in Ukraine; 
• accounting and legal support in Ukraine; 
• legal consultations in various fields, and more.

If you are planning to register a business in Ukraine, please feel free to contact us!

Check out the cost of LLC registration in Ukraine here.

See the cost of business registration for foreigners here.