Every country requires an official address for a company. When you register a company in Estonia, you have 2 options for the legal address:
- an address in Estonia, offered by a licensed virtual office service provider if your company does not have a permanent office in Estonia, or
- the address of your company’s management board (in your home country).
- If your management board is located outside Estonia and you use your foreign address as your company's legal address, you must appoint a licensed contact person. Their role is to receive and forward official mail to you.
Typical senders include:
- Tax and Customs Board (EMTA): tax return reminders, audit notices, payment demands,
- Business Register (RIK): annual report reminders, registration decisions,
- Statistics Estonia: reporting reminders and mandatory survey invitations,
- Other authorities: permits, inspection notices, or court documents.
Official notices are sent to the legal address provided by your virtual office service provider or contact person.
- Keep this cooperation active so you receive important documents.
- Failing to respond to these notices can lead to consequences, including the company being closed or, in serious cases, the revocation of e-Residency.
Importance of a legal address
A legal address is the official address of your company where you receive official notices, procedural documents, and letters from public authorities. This information is publicly available in the Business Register.
It plays an important role in how your company is recognized and operates both in Estonia and abroad:
- Compliance and communication: ensures your company can always be reached by authorities, partners, and service providers.
- Credibility and transparency: the address is publicly visible in the Business Register and helps build trust with potential customers and partners who may wish to see where your business is based.
- Tax residency considerations: legal address does not automatically determine tax residency, but it can be one of several indicators authorities may consider when assessing where a company is managed.
Your legal address must always be valid and kept up to date. You can change it in the Business Register, but this may require supporting documentation and a state fee.
The role of a contact person
A contact person receives and forwards procedural documents and the declarations of intent addressed to your business. The address of the contact person is considered the address of your company in such case. Once a document reaches your contact person, it is considered legally delivered to your company.
The contact person ensures that legal communications reach you in due time. They have no legal rights or authority to act on behalf of your company.
E-residents do not need to grant their contact person any rights to act on behalf of their company and the contact person does not need to be a shareholder, board member, or employee.
Only the following may act as a contact person:
- licensed provider of trust and company services,
- advocate or owner of a law firm,
- a sworn auditor or audit firm,
- tax representative of a non-resident for the purpose of the Taxation Act, or
- a notary.
Note
The contact person's appointment has a fixed term (usually one year) and must be renewed before expiry.
If the term is not extended in the Business Register and the company does not have a mandatory contact person, this serves as the basis for initiating the deletion of your company.
You can read more about contact person and provider of company services from Commercial Register Act § 24 and Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention § 8.
You can read more about legal address from Commercial Code.
Finding a service provider
The virtual office service providers listed on our Marketplace have the required operating license, which you can verify on their profile pages.
Many service providers offer packages that include additional services, such as accounting, invoicing, tax or business consultations, and more. Use Marketplace filters to find a provider that best suits your company's needs.