Registered office in Romania: requirements, options and costs
The registered office in Romania is your company's official address: where ANAF and the courts send notices, and where the company is entered in the Trade Register. There are three ways to set one up — your own home, a leased space or a virtual office — and each needs different documents. Here is what to file, what it costs and what a hosted office does not allow.
What a registered office is and what it is for
The registered office is the address at which the company legally exists. It appears on the registration certificate, on invoices, in contracts and in every public register. Without a declared office the Trade Register will not register the company and the file is rejected.
In practice it does three things: it sets the tax office you belong to (the ANAF unit for that sector or county), it receives official correspondence — reminders, tax assessments, court summonses — and it gives third parties a place where the company can be found. If registered letters from ANAF keep bouncing back from the office, the company risks being declared fiscally inactive: VAT number cancelled, and invoices its customers can no longer deduct.
The office does not have to be an office in the everyday sense. It can be a flat, a house, commercial premises or an address made available by a hosting provider. What matters is a document proving the company has the right to use that space.
The three options: own home, lease, virtual office
The choice comes down to one thing: whether you have a space in Romania you can use. If you do, you file the land registry extract or a loan-for-use agreement. If you do not, you lease or use a virtual office.
| Option | What you need | Cost | Duration | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your own home | Land registry extract; in a block, the owners' association consent or the administrator's declaration | 0 lei | Unlimited | People living in Romania who accept a personal address on public records |
| A relative's or friend's space | Loan-for-use (comodat) agreement signed by the owner, plus proof of ownership | 0 lei | As set in the agreement | People with someone willing to lend an address |
| Leased premises | Lease with a clause allowing use as registered office | The monthly rent | As set in the lease | People who need physical premises anyway |
| Virtual office (lawyer or provider) | Hosting contract issued by the provider | 330–700 lei a year on the market; €130 a year with Start4 | Usually 12 months, renewable | People living abroad or working remotely |
Pros and cons in short. Your own home costs nothing, but your personal address becomes public and, in a block, you depend on the neighbours. A lease only makes sense if you need the physical space — otherwise you are paying for an office to get an address. A virtual office is the fastest and depends on nobody, but you cannot carry out activity at that address.
Registered office in an apartment: what you need from the block and the neighbours
You can set the registered office in the flat you live in, including in a block. What you need on top depends on one thing: whether any activity takes place at that address.
If activity takes place at the office — you receive customers, keep stock, work there with employees — you need the consent of the owners' association and of the directly affected neighbours: those you share walls with, above and below. Consent is given in writing, signed by each neighbour, and goes into the file. A single refusal can block this route.
If the office is only an address — the typical case of a consultant, a developer or an online shop shipping from elsewhere — you do not need the neighbours' consent. A declaration from the administrator that no activity takes place at the office is enough. It is a short form, signed by the administrator or the association's president.
If you live in a detached house with no owners' association, you need nothing beyond the title deed or the loan-for-use agreement.
The documents that prove the office: ownership, loan-for-use, lease
The Register asks for a single document for the office, but it has to be the right one. Three types are accepted: the land registry extract, the loan-for-use agreement and the lease.
The land registry extract (extras de carte funciară) proves the property belongs to you or to a shareholder. You get it from ANCPI, online or at the counter, and it must be recent: an extract several years old may be refused.
The loan-for-use agreement (contract de comodat) is the route for space granted free of charge: by a parent, a partner, a friend. It is signed between the owner and the company being formed, with the exact address, the duration and a clause stating that use is free. The owner attaches proof of ownership.
The lease is used when you pay rent. The signed lease goes into the file, with a clause allowing the space to be used as a registered office. The full list is in our guide to the documents needed to open a company in Romania.
Virtual office: how it works, what it includes and what it does not allow
A virtual office means a provider — a lawyer, an accountant or a specialised firm — makes their address available as your registered office, under a contract. You have no physical space there: you have a valid address at the Register and someone receiving post on the company's behalf.
What it normally includes: the hosting contract you file, receipt of official correspondence, and a notice when something arrives from ANAF or the courts. What it does not include: an office to work from, storage space or the option of receiving customers. No activity takes place at a hosted office — if you need a physical location, you declare it separately as a working point.
The market cost of a registered address in Bucharest or another city is between 330 and 700 lei a year, depending on the city and the services included. With Start4 the registered office service costs €130 a year, in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Brașov, Iași and Sibiu. An office at a lawyer's works the same way: it is hosting, with the contract signed by the practice.
If you own a space and want to offer it as a registered office to other companies, you can sign up as a provider on the offer your office page.
Registered office and working point are not the same thing
The registered office is the company's legal address. The working point (punct de lucru) is where the company actually carries out its activity. They can coincide, but they need not.
An example: the company has its office hosted by a provider in Bucharest and a leased workshop in Ilfov county. The workshop is declared as a working point at the Trade Register, with its own lease and, where needed, the neighbours' consent. A company has one registered office and as many working points as it wants.
When the difference matters: if you only work online, the office is enough. If you open a shop, a practice or a warehouse, the working point is declared before activity starts there, and the CAEN codes are authorised for that address.
Changing the registered office after incorporation
The office can be changed at any time, through an amendment at the Trade Register. You need the document for the new space — land registry extract, loan-for-use agreement, lease or a new hosting contract — and the shareholders' resolution approving the move.
If the new office is in another county, the tax office changes too, and the company transfers to the register of the new county. The registration certificate is reissued with the new address, and invoices and contracts are updated.
The most common case: the hosting contract expires and is not renewed. The company is left with a lapsed office at the Register, which can lead to fiscal inactivity. The fix is either renewal or a change of registered office filed in time.
How Start4 does it
Registered office hosting costs €130 a year. The Business package, at €699, includes the first 12 months; the Start package, at €399, is for those who already have an office. The hosting contract is generated automatically from the company's details and goes to the Register with the rest of the file — there is nothing to sign separately with the provider.
Our lawyer files the application under a power of attorney: you do not need an electronic signature. The 152 lei ONRC fee is included, the minimum share capital is 500 lei from 2026, and the company is registered in 3–7 working days.
If you already have a space, you use that one and we check the document before filing. If you do not, you pick the city and the office is sorted. Start from open an SRL in Romania, or read the complete guide to opening a company in Romania first.
Frequently asked
Can I use the flat I live in as the registered office?
Yes. If no activity takes place there, the title deed or loan-for-use agreement is enough, plus the administrator's declaration that no activity takes place at the office. If you receive customers or work there with employees, you need the consent of the owners' association and of the directly affected neighbours.
How much does a registered address in Bucharest cost per year?
On the market, between 330 and 700 lei a year, depending on the city and the services included. With Start4 it costs €130 a year, in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Brașov, Iași and Sibiu, and the Business package already includes the first 12 months in its price.
What is a loan-for-use agreement for a registered office?
It is the contract by which the owner of a property grants it to the company free of charge as its office. It is signed between owner and company, with the exact address and duration, and filed at the Trade Register with proof of ownership. It is the typical route for an office at a parent's or friend's home.
Can I carry out activity at a virtual office?
No. A hosted office is a legal and correspondence address: notices arrive there, but you have no office, warehouse or way of receiving customers. If you need physical premises, you declare them separately as a working point, with their own contract for that space.
How do I change a Romanian company's registered office?
Through an amendment at the Trade Register: you file the shareholders' resolution and the document for the new space — land registry extract, loan-for-use agreement, lease or hosting contract. If you move to another county, the company transfers to the register and tax office of the new county.