The deed names only the municipality; the street address is filed separately
What's included
For founders incorporating from abroad, for companies hosted at an accountant's or a lawyer's office, and for companies moving an office they already have. We arrange the registered address and the certified mailbox filed beside it, through how the register works.
The address on the Register filing
The deed names only the municipality. The application to register it must state the address, street and house number included (Normattiva: Disposizioni per l'attuazione del Codice civile, Art. 111-ter).
Domiciliation at a third party's office
The Register's own guidance records that many capital companies name a professional's office as their registered office, with meetings held there (Registro Imprese: sede legale e unita locali).
The agreement behind the address
No statute names or regulates a domiciliazione contract. It rests on a lease, a loan for use or a service agreement, disclosed the way fiduciary arrangements are.
An address that can be reached
Post has to reach somebody who can act on it. For partnerships and sole traders, unreachability is itself a cancellation ground (Art. 3(1)(a) D.P.R. 247/2004).
The company's own PEC
The certified mailbox is filed with the Register alongside the office. Registering or changing it carries no state charge.
The director's personal PEC
Since 2025 the sole director, the managing director or the board chair must hold a digital domicile of their own, separate from the company's.
Where it goes next
The registered office is one of three alternative connecting factors under TUIR Art. 73(3), developed on corporate tax residence in Italy. No statute defines "virtual office": a lighter address option is covered separately.
How the process works
- The municipality goes into the deed. The deed of incorporation names the municipality where the registered office and any secondary offices sit, and nothing more.
- The street and number go into the Register filing. It must state the address "including the street and house number, where its seat is located" (Normattiva: Disposizioni per l'attuazione del Codice civile, Art. 111-ter).
- The PEC is filed alongside the address. Registering or changing a certified mailbox costs EUR 0 stamp duty and EUR 0 secretarial fee (CCIAA Romagna: tabella diritti di segreteria, rev. 16).
- The director registers a personal digital domicile. It may not coincide with the company's own (CCIAA Milano Monza Brianza Lodi: domicilio digitale degli amministratori). By 31 December 2025 for existing companies
- Both appear on the visura. Address, digital domicile and registered office are shown side by side on the public extract (Registro Imprese: visura guidance).
- A later change is a directors' declaration. Inside the same municipality the directors file the new address; the general Register deadline is 30 days (Art. 2196 c.c.).
Next step
Not sure the address you have would satisfy the Register?
Tell us where the company is registered today and who holds the premises.
Tell us about your caseWhat the Register requires of the address
Two rules decide whether an address can be filed at all; one reported refusal shows the line.
- Sit in the municipality named in the deed of incorporation
- Carry a street and a house number on the Register filing
- Not be a P.O. box: a 2015 Rome refusal is reported, not settled practice
- Hold the administrative centre of the company's affairs
- Match where the business is really run: third parties may rely on either
- Reach somebody who can act on a registered letter
- Carry the company's own PEC, never one shared with another company
- Stay current: a later change is a directors' declaration to the Register
Moving the registered office
Which path applies turns on one fact: whether the new address stays in the same municipality. Inside it, a Register filing at EUR 65 stamp duty plus EUR 30 secretarial fee (CCIAA Romagna: tabella diritti di segreteria, rev. 16). Across a boundary the deed itself changes, so a members' resolution with notarial minutes is unavoidable (Normattiva: Codice civile, Art. 2480).
A notary's own fee sits on top of the three items below and has no official schedule: fixed notarial tariffs for company deeds were abolished in 2012 and are negotiated case by case.
| Scenario | Legal instrument | Notary required | Cost | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Within the same municipality | Register filing (directors' declaration) | No | EUR 65 stamp duty + EUR 30 secretarial fee | No dedicated deadline; the general 30-day Register rule applies (Art. 2196 c.c.) |
| To another municipality: deed amendment | Members' resolution, notarial minutes | Yes | EUR 156.00 stamp duty on the notarial deed | Notary must file within 30 days (Art. 2436(1) c.c.) |
| To another municipality: registration tax | Fixed statutory-amendment tax | N/A, part of the same amendment | EUR 200 | Paid together with the deed filing (Art. 26(2) D.L. 104/2013) |
| To another municipality: Register filing stamp duty | Register filing, società di capitali | N/A, part of the same amendment | EUR 65.00 | Paid together with the deed filing |
| Annual chamber fee after the move | Diritto annuale: a chamber fee, not a tax on income, owed to the chamber covering the office as at 1 January (CCIAA Marche: diritto annuale 2026) | N/A | Set by the receiving chamber; may change if the province changes | Assessed each year on the 1 January position |
A decision flow starting at "Moving the registered office," branching into two paths. Path A, same municipality: Register filing only, then no notary, then EUR 65 plus EUR 30, then done. Path B, different municipality: deed amendment, then members' resolution with notarial minutes, then notary files within 30 days, then a layered cost of EUR 156 plus EUR 200 plus EUR 65, then check which chamber is now owed the annual fee.
The PEC obligations tied to the address
One street address may be shared by several companies. One certified mailbox may not: a ministerial directive requires exclusive ownership by the individual company (CCIAA Roma: domicilio digitale delle imprese).
| Situation | Rule | Consequence | Article / Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| One PEC per company | A PEC address may not be shared by more than one company, even at a shared domiciliation address | No shared mailbox permitted, regardless of a shared street address | Direttiva MISE / Ministero della Giustizia, 13.07.2015, ex Art. 8 L. 580/1993 |
| PEC lapses or becomes invalid | The company falls out of compliance with the domicilio digitale requirement | Ex officio cancellation from the Register | CCIAA Roma, PEC guidance |
| No active PEC: company | Sanctioned under Art. 2630 c.c. (doubled by Art. 16 D.L. 185/2008) | EUR 206 to 2,064, reduced to EUR 412 if paid within 60 days | Art. 2630 c.c.; CCIAA Genova |
| No active PEC: individual entrepreneur | Sanctioned under Art. 2194 c.c. (tripled by Art. 5 D.L. 179/2012) | EUR 30 to 1,548, reduced to EUR 60 if paid within 60 days | Art. 2194 c.c.; CCIAA Genova |
| Director's own PEC | The sole director, managing director or, failing those, the board chair must hold a personal digital domicile, not the company's | In force from 31 October 2025; existing companies had to comply by 31 December 2025, and the duty attaches again on any later appointment or renewal | Art. 13(3) D.L. 159/2025; CCIAA Milano Monza Brianza Lodi: domicilio digitale degli amministratori |
A single building representing one domiciliation address, with three company name plates attached to it: Company 1, Company 2 and Company 3, each with its own, separate certified-mail PEC envelope. Below, a forbidden panel shows the same three companies connected instead to one shared envelope, crossed out, stating visually what the rule does not allow: one shared PEC used by more than one company.
Problems we solve
An address nobody reads
For partnerships and sole traders, unreachability at the registered office is itself an express ground for cancellation from the Register (Art. 3(1)(a) D.P.R. 247/2004).
An address chosen for appearances
Where the registered seat and the real one differ, third parties may rely on the real one (Normattiva: Codice civile, Art. 46). The mismatch shields nobody.
Two companies, one mailbox
Sharing a street address under a domiciliation arrangement is lawful. Sharing the certified mailbox at that address is not, however many companies share the building.
A PEC left to lapse
An invalid or expired domicilio digitale is subject to cancellation from the Register on the Register's own initiative.
The wrong chamber after a move
The diritto annuale is owed to the chamber covering the office as at 1 January. Move province before year end and the bill changes hands.
Next step
Already registered at an address that no longer works?
Tell us what the visura shows and where the company is really run. We will say what to file first.
Tell us about your caseWhy work with us
From our practice: the first assumption we meet is that any address will do, provided somebody receives post there. It survives until the street-and-house-number rule and the reported P.O. box refusal come up.
The mistake we see most often is treating a shared domiciliation address and a shared PEC as the same convenience. Not incorporated yet? Start at Company in Italy: company registration in italy. Already trading? Start the onboarding form.
By Marta De Luca, Regulatory and Licensing Lead, Milan office. Marta De Luca works on authorisations: who has to be licensed in Italy, by which authority, and what the file has to contain. Four years inside the compliance function of an Italian payment institution taught her what a supervisor actually reads.
Reviewed by Giulia Mancini, Head of Corporate Formation. Updated 13 September 2026.
Tell us about your case
Tell us where the company is registered now and what you want to change, and we will say what the move takes.
Frequently asked questions
What is the sede legale of an Italian company?
The place that, according to the deed of incorporation and the Register's own working definition, holds the administrative centre of a company's affairs. Under Art. 46 of the Civil Code it functions as the company's legal domicile, the same way domicile functions for a natural person.
Can the registered office be a P.O. box?
In practice, no. The Register-filing application must state a street and a house number, and practitioner commentary reports that the Register Judge of Rome refused, in 2015, to register a change of registered office to a P.O. box.
Can I use my accountant's or lawyer's office as my Italian company's registered office?
Yes. The Register's own guidance confirms this is common professional practice: many capital companies name a professional's office as their registered office, with board and shareholder meetings held there.
What happens if my company's real place of business differs from its registered address?
Third parties may treat the real, actual seat as the company's seat too, so a mismatch protects nobody, least of all the company itself.
Do I need a notary to move my registered office?
Only if the move crosses into a different municipality, because the deed of incorporation states only the municipality, and changing it amends the deed itself.
What does it cost to move within the same municipality?
EUR 65 stamp duty plus a EUR 30 secretarial fee, filed with the Register directly, with no notary involved.
Which chamber of commerce do I pay the annual fee to?
Whichever chamber covers the registered office as at 1 January of the relevant year; moving the office, especially to another province, can change who is owed the fee.
Does my company need its own PEC, even if it shares an address with other companies?
Yes. A ministerial directive requires the PEC to be held in the exclusive ownership of a single company, so several companies sharing one domiciliation address may still not share one certified mailbox.
What happens if my company's PEC lapses or becomes invalid?
The company risks ex officio cancellation from the Register, plus a fine of EUR 206 to 2,064 under Art. 2630 of the Civil Code, reduced to EUR 412 if paid within 60 days.
Does the director need a personal PEC too?
Yes. Since 2025 the sole director, managing director, or, failing those, the board chair, must register a personal digital domicile that may not coincide with the company's own; existing companies had to comply by 31 December 2025.
Can an unreachable registered office get my Italian company struck off?
For partnerships and sole traders, unreachability at the registered office is itself an express cancellation ground under the Register's own rules.
Is a "virtual office" the same thing as a registered office?
No. No Italian statute defines "virtual office"; it is a commercial term for a lighter, non-legal-domicile product, covered separately with its own VAT-registration scrutiny.