A German business address for your international company

An independent branch remains part of the foreign parent rather than becoming a separate company. A registrable branch is entered in the Handelsregister under the rules applicable to its parent and needs a German address at which it can be reached. Olea can provide that registered and serviceable-address role and the supporting evidence. The parent remains responsible for the branch, and the notary and the register court control the filing and its outcome.

The registered branch address is not automatically the tax location of the activity. Employees, agents or premises elsewhere in Germany may determine where a permanent establishment sits and which Finanzamt is competent, whatever address appears on the register entry.

A GmbH or UG subsidiary is a separate German entity. Its articles, notarial formation, capital, filing and tax registrations are separate from Olea and are handled by the founders, the parent and their advisers. Olea can provide the inländische Geschäftsanschrift required under § 8 Abs. 4 GmbHG and the supporting evidence.

Because the company may not exist at the point address evidence is needed, the setup identifies the contracting founder or parent and the intended company name first, and the record is updated once the company is registered. That two-stage shape is the reason the journey above separates the address document from full activation.

A tax permanent establishment is created by facts – premises, activity, or certain dependent-agent arrangements – under §§ 10 and 12 AO. It is not created, moved or removed by choosing a correspondence address. If the German activity happens at an employee’s home office, a warehouse, a customer site or other premises, advisers may conclude that tax or trade registration has to follow that location, and an Olea address is not a substitute for it.

The same applies in the other direction. A company can hold a German registered address while its management sits abroad; the Ort der Geschäftsleitung follows where the business is actually directed, not the address on the register entry.

• Olea provides the available address, the Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung after the applicable gate, approved-name mail setup, Digital Mailbox and access for active customers to request separately booked and paid workspace
• You provide accurate parent-company, director, ownership, activity and intended-use information, and any further evidence requested during review
• Your advisers choose the structure and prepare the documents; the notary notarises and submits the filing
• The register, the Gewerbeamt, the Finanzamt, banks and platforms each make their own decision

The canonical proof of address is the Nutzungsüberlassungserklärung. For a branch, the foreign parent already exists before the filing, but the final branch name has to match the registered record. For a new subsidiary, evidence may be needed before incorporation while full verification of the company needs its registered documents. The release and activation milestones come from the approved workflow rather than being inferred from the sequence described here.

Once Olea confirms activation, the approved entity or branch name can receive eligible business letters through the selected mail workflow. Gewerbeanmeldung, Finanzamt registration, VAT, licences, banking and platform onboarding remain separate processes controlled by the relevant authority or provider, and each keeps its own timetable.

When describing the address to an authority, a bank or a counterparty, describe it as the registered or correspondence address of the German branch or company. It is not the permanent establishment, the place of management or the tax residence, and describing it as one of those misstates what the service does.