How and why to use a bulk registration address?

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

One of the most significant criteria for a good legal address is its mass character. What is it and what threatens the address of mass registration of an enterprise? Why are such addresses created and is there a chance to protect ourselves from such a misfortune.

Definition

The very concept of “mass registration address” applies to legal addresses where 10 or more legal entities are officially registered. There is also a reverse term for this - "non-mass address" - one that was used for registration by less than ten companies. Since modern business life is developing quite rapidly, there are a dime a dozen addresses with a large number of organizations registered there. For example, it can be a variety of office complexes and business centers.

In fact, it may seem that there is nothing to worry about. However, in practice, everything does not look so harmless at all. Today on the Internet you can find a huge variety of offers regarding the sale of a legal address. Options are offered a wide variety - from the actual rentalone square meter of a real-life office with the obligation to transfer to you as soon as possible all the correspondence that comes in your name, to the frank offer of forged documents. This is where the problems begin. The latter method is most often used by one-day firms, cooperation with which is extremely dangerous.

History of Appearance

Before the Unified State Register of Legal Entities was created in Russia, or, more precisely, until July 2002, registration of legal entities was carried out by a variety of bodies. At the same time, in some regions of the country, registration was required to provide information about the so-called “legal address”, although such a requirement was not confirmed by law, and such a term is not enshrined in any regulations at all. To prove the actual location in certain regions, it was also required to provide documents confirming the right of the organization to be located at a specific address: a lease agreement, a certificate of ownership, and so on. Despite the fact that such claims were unfounded, this practice has become firmly established and has survived to this day.

Over time, a vicious practice has developed when, during the state registration of a company, applicants who do not want to show the actual location of their enterprise or simply do not need the maintenance of an office simply enter the address provided to them by an intermediary registrar in documents.

As a result of such actions, the tax inspectorate came to the attention ofa large list of enterprises with the same registration address. Thus, the concept of “mass registration address” entered our lives. As a result, at the beginning of 2006, the Moscow Federal Tax Service sent out a "black list" to banking and credit organizations with recommendations to exercise caution when opening accounts for such enterprises. This was done as part of the fight against one-day firms, but such a “black list” still exists today, however, changes are made to it constantly.

Check

Today everyone can check whether the company's location is registered as a mass registration address. The Federal Tax Service offers to do this openly, right on its website. We can immediately say that this list does not include addresses at which business centers, large office complexes or large administrative buildings are officially located. It is clear that few enterprises simply cannot be registered at such addresses, because the very purpose of their existence is to rent out premises for offices of various companies.

Where to check the address for "mass character"

So you want to track down a firm that you think has a mass registration address. Checking this is very simple: go to the site https://service.nalog.ru/addrfind.do and in the window that opens, select the parameters we need:

• region - select the desired one from the drop-down list;
• district;
• city;
• settlement;
• street;
• home.

Next, we solve a simple digitalcaptcha and click the "Search" button. In the next window you will see the number of organizations registered at the address you have chosen.

The service is absolutely free and available to anyone. Importantly, the information there is updated fairly regularly, which guarantees more or less up-to-date information.

Signs of inauthenticity

Is it so scary to find a mass registration address? In itself - no, it is much more important when choosing a business partner to detect signs of unreliability of his legal address. This can be done based on the following criteria:

• the location of the company is listed not only as the address of mass registration of individuals (IP), as well as enterprises of other forms of ownership, but also communication with most of them is impossible; for example, correspondence sent to such an address is returned with the marks “addressee has left” or “due to the expiration of the storage period”;
• this address does not exist in reality or the building that used to be there is destroyed;
• in fact, the address is conditional, for example, it is assigned to an unfinished building object;
• at the indicated address there are state authorities, military units, consulates, diplomatic missions, etc.;
• there is an official statement from the owner, where he prohibits the registration of legal entities at the address of the specified property.

If at least one of the listed circumstances is clarified, and the applicant has not submitted other documents to the registration authorities confirmingthe opportunity to contact him at such an address, then he will be recognized as unreliable. In this case, the court may decide to liquidate such an enterprise.

Risk of using purchased address

What can threaten an enterprise that has bought a mass registration address. The consequences can be varied, it all depends on the honesty of the intentions of the parties who made the deal.

Negative consequences include the following:

• a package of documents for renting an office or other property may turn out to be fake, and the premises themselves may not exist at all;
• you can get a refusal to register if it is proved that the location of the company is the address of mass registration and is on the "black list" of the tax service; however, the legality of such a refusal is very doubtful, but in such cases you can’t really argue;
• sometimes there may be difficulties with opening a current account, however, there are no legal grounds for this either, but who wants to have a conflict with the bank where they are going to be served;
• difficulties in receiving correspondence; if a letter from the Federal Tax Service does not reach the recipient registered at such an address, but returns back - this may become an unofficial basis for a personal visit by tax officials to the company's office with a sudden check; and if this fails, the company may be liquidated by the court on the initiative of the Federal Tax Service;
• if at the address specified during registration, employees of the tax or internal affairs bodies (on the instructions of the Federal Tax Service) do not actually find the enterprise - this mayserve as a basis for enrolling the company in the rank of one-day firms; this will be followed by a refusal to deduct VAT and other unpleasant "surprises" for its counterparties.

So, although the definition of a legal address, as well as the concept of, in fact, “mass character” is not enshrined in law, if you received a mass registration address, the tax office will most likely have several questions for you.

Blacklist of the Federal Tax Service

As mentioned above, the consequences of getting the company's registration address out of favor with the Federal Tax Service can be very different. Although this behavior of the tax authorities is not supported by any laws, in practice, all those whose legal address is registered as a mass one and is blacklisted are at risk of facing it.

How to deal with it? To be honest, no way. You will either have to negotiate with the tax office and try to prove to the inspector that your company is really located where it is registered, or simply change the address to a non-mass one.

Conclusion

Despite the fact that there is still some cause for concern, you should not write down in the "mass" all the addresses where a large number of enterprises are registered. In fact, it's better to just check everything carefully and try to avoid such addresses, where a myriad of organizations are registered with a fairly small area.