How to Domicile a Company in Belgium, Step by Step

What it means to domicile a company

To domicile a company, you register its seat at a provider's address. That seat is the official address listed in the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (CBE), Belgium's business register. You therefore do not have to work there.

The provider receives your post, keeps it and alerts you when something arrives. Many plans also include scanning, forwarding or a meeting room on request.

Three profiles use this option most:

• Self-employed people who run their business from home through an SRL.
• Start-ups that want to keep fixed costs low.
• Foreign groups that need a Belgian address.

Registered seat versus place of business

The CBE draws a clear line between the two. It records the seat on one side and establishment units on the other. An establishment unit is any place where you actually operate: a shop, a workshop, a practice or an office.

For example, a consultant may domicile a company in a business centre and meet clients in a room in Leuven. In that case, the room must also appear as an establishment unit. An approved business counter handles that registration.

What Belgian law requires

Domiciliation follows strict rules, because shell firms could hide behind a borrowed address. Corporate service providers fall under the anti-money laundering law of 18 September 2017. Therefore they must identify each client, its representatives and its beneficial owners.

If they suspect wrongdoing, they report it to CTIF, the Belgian financial intelligence unit. Moreover, they must appear in the register of corporate service providers kept by the FPS Economy.

Documents you will need

Expect to hand over a full file:

• An identity card for each director.
• The coordinated articles of association and the enterprise number.
• The list of beneficial owners from the UBO register.
• A clear description of the real activity.

A provider that asks for nothing should worry you. It clearly ignores its own legal duties.

Duties that stay with your business

Your SRL or SA keeps all its disclosure duties. First, the seat address must appear on invoices, the website and emails. These documents also show the enterprise number, the legal form and "RPM" followed by the competent court.

Second, someone has to collect the post without delay. Indeed, a letter from the court registry or the tax authority can start a response period. Finally, any move of the seat requires a formal decision and publication in the Belgian Gazette.

The contract, clause by clause

Read the contract before you send documents. Four clauses deserve close attention:

That last clause matters most. Without a timely move, official letters can go missing.

How much does it cost to domicile a company?

Prices vary widely by city and by service level. A plan limited to the address and post handling costs a few tens of euros per month. However, phone answering, daily scans or an office on demand quickly push the bill up.

For instance, a firm that receives little post can choose monthly collection and scans on request. So compare offers over a full year, set-up fees included. Our article on the benefits of a virtual office puts figures on the savings.

Domicile a company in five steps

When you set up a new SRL, the new address goes straight into the incorporation file. For an existing one, follow our guide to leaving a home address for a provider. Our guide to CBE registration then covers the remaining formalities.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a provider without declaring where the activity really takes place.
• Letting post pile up for weeks.
• Ending the contract before the new seat appears in the Gazette.
• Signing with a provider that cannot prove its registration.

Each mistake creates avoidable admin trouble. A simple log of incoming post prevents most of them.

Foreign groups

Foreign groups often domicile a company to host a branch or a Belgian subsidiary. The rules differ by structure, though. Our guide for foreign companies compares the options. And if you are weighing an address against a shared desk, read our comparison of a coworking space or domiciliation.