Changing your registered office or address: what to notify

Moving your registered office or changing your address looks like an administrative detail, but it touches the commercial register, the articles of association and a long list of bodies that need to know where to find you. Getting it wrong means missing official communications, receiving reminders and, in the worst cases, forfeiting rights. Let’s look at what changes depending on the type of move, and what must be notified, and to whom.

Registered office and address are not the same thing

First of all, a distinction that makes all the difference:

The registered office (the municipality or, more precisely, the registered place of domicile) is an element that in the AG and the GmbH appears in the articles of association. Moving it to another municipality touches the articles.
The mailing address (street, number, box) is a detail entered in the commercial register but that, as a rule, is not in the articles of association. Changing it within the same municipality is simpler.

Different procedures follow from this.

Change of address within the same municipality

This is the lightest case. If you move to a new office but stay in the same municipality of your registered office, as a rule:

there is no need to amend the articles of association;
it is enough to notify the new address to the commercial register, so that it is kept up to date and the company remains reachable;
no notarial deed is required for a mere change of street.

Light as it is, this step must not be skipped: an outdated address at the register means notifications that never arrive.

Moving the registered office to another municipality or canton

Here things are more demanding. Transferring the registered office to another municipality (all the more so to another canton) as a rule entails:

an amendment to the articles of association, resolved by the competent body (the members’ meeting in a GmbH, the general meeting in an AG);
a public notarial deed certifying the amendment of the articles;
entry in the competent commercial register, which makes the change effective.

A transfer between cantons also has tax effects: the reference canton for taxes changes, with possible differences in rate and practice. It should therefore be planned with an eye on the tax calendar too, not just on the logistics of the move.

What to notify, and to whom

Updating the register is necessary but not sufficient. A change of address must be communicated to the whole network of bodies and counterparties that write to the company. In practice:

Commercial register: the primary notification, from which many others draw.
Cantonal tax administration (direct taxes) of the reference canton.
Federal Tax Administration for VAT, if the company is liable.
AHV/IV/EO compensation offices (state social insurance) and insurers for BVG (occupational pension), UVG (accident insurance) and allowances, if there are employees.
Banks where the company holds accounts and credit relationships.
Corporate insurers (liability, property, D&O).
Clients and suppliers, also updating the billing data.
Service providers: contact points, utilities, lease agreements, digital providers.

A common mistake is to update the register and forget one of these parties: official mail keeps going to the old address and deadlines run anyway.

The case of the domiciled company

If the company is domiciled with a registered-office provider, changing the domiciliation is an operation to be coordinated carefully: the official contact point changes, and both the register and all connected bodies must be updated. Moving from one domiciliation provider to another, or from domiciliation to your own office, requires the same discipline as a real move, taking care to ensure continuity in receiving mail during the transition.

Mistakes to avoid

Informing only some bodies: the list must be completed in full, not halfway.
Underestimating the tax effects of a transfer between cantons.
Not managing the transition period: without mail forwarding, communications with deadlines are lost.
Forgetting commercial documents: letterhead, invoices, email signatures, website and profiles must be aligned for consistency and for legal reasons.

In summary

Changing address within the same municipality is a simple notification to the register; moving the registered office to another municipality or canton requires an amendment of the articles, a notarial deed and a new entry, with tax effects to be planned. In both cases the real work is informing everyone — register, tax authorities, social insurers, banks, counterparties — so that no official communication is lost.

Do you need to move your registered office or change your contact address without risking lost communications? SIH ONE’s domiciliation service manages the registered office, notifications and continuity of correspondence for you.