Your business address as a sole trader in Germany

A person starting a standing commercial activity generally registers it with the competent local Gewerbeamt. The filing describes the activity and the relevant business establishment. The authority may ask for identity evidence, permits for regulated activities and evidence that the stated address can be used.

An Olea address can provide the genuine business or administrative address for that filing. It must not be used to hide another permanent operating site. If you run a shop, warehouse, workshop, kitchen, studio, venue or a similar site, that location may also need to appear in the relevant registrations.

• A selectable address at an available German partner office
• A real street address rather than a post-office box
• The approved use-of-address document after the applicable onboarding milestone
• Address and mail-receipt arrangements for the approved business and recipient names
• Digital Mailbox at every available location after activation
• Mail Pickup or recurring Mail Forwarding where the location supports the option
• Access for active customers to request separately booked and paid workspace at participating locations

• Accurate identity, residence, activity and trading-name information
• Any licences, permits or professional approvals your activity requires
• Clear information about other premises or operating sites
• The Gewerbeanmeldung and any later changes the local authority requires
• The Fragebogen zur steuerlichen Erfassung and the other Finanzamt steps
• The complete Impressum and updates to invoices, contracts, banks and platforms

The Gewerbeamt and the Finanzamt do different jobs. The Gewerbeanmeldung records the trade and the relevant establishment. The Finanzamt registers the activity for tax and determines matters such as the competent tax office, the Betriebsstätte and the Ort der Geschäftsleitung from the facts.

The Olea address can be used as your Geschäftsanschrift for correspondence and in the tax-registration process. It does not by itself move your management, create a fixed place of business or determine where Gewerbesteuer is due. Those outcomes depend on where you genuinely manage and carry on the business.

A commercial website or online shop generally needs a serviceable address under § 5 DDG. Publishing the Olea address can keep your home off the public-facing Impressum while formal correspondence can still be received. You remain responsible for the other information required for your business, activity and legal form.

Using an Olea address can also separate your home address from invoices, contracts, supplier records and everyday correspondence. It cannot guarantee that a home address will never appear in non-public authority records, or in documents where the law or a provider requires a residential address.

An ordinary sole trader is not automatically entered in the Handelsregister. You should use the personal name the law requires and may add a business designation where that is permitted. A person registered as an eingetragener Kaufmann or eingetragene Kauffrau uses the e.K. designation and follows the applicable Handelsregister process.

Buying an Olea address does not create an e.K. registration and does not limit your liability. If the business grows or changes legal form, take appropriate legal and tax advice and update every record that uses the address.

The address can support bank, payment-provider and marketplace onboarding, and Olea can receive eligible posted verification letters. Each provider applies its own KYC, activity, location and eligibility rules, so Olea cannot guarantee approval.

Google’s rules for Business Profiles can require genuine customer-facing activity and may restrict virtual offices. Nothing about the address, a nameplate, signage or occasional workspace access promises Google verification.

Once Olea confirms activation and the Gewerbeamt process is complete, you can use the approved address for the registered trade, your Impressum, Finanzamt correspondence, invoices, contracts and eligible business mail. Keep Olea’s approved names and every authority and commercial record aligned whenever the name, the activity or the address changes.