Registered Address \ Mail Forwarding

[VectraMan]

I've been thinking about it as I expect to move soon, and it's going to be painful enough for all my personal stuff let alone the business stuff.

Are banks and VAT okay with PO boxes? I thought they weren't.

[Gonzo]

Are banks and VAT okay with PO boxes? I thought they weren't.

No. The bank were not OK with the PO Box address. I haven't bothered to ask HMRC either.

[XLMonkey]

No. The bank were not OK with the PO Box address. I haven't bothered to ask HMRC either.

Companies House will not accept PO boxes as registered addresses. HMRC don't like it (but, oddly, they will still use it!).

In practice, you can use Badgers Retreat for anyone on the "supplier" side of your business, including HMRC etc. The only reason for having a "proper" business address is for the customers, so that you can issue invoices and such like that look professional.

I use a local virtual office service that handles mail and provides a telephone answering service. Runs to about 80/month, not sure whether its worth it just for the extra street cred with the client. Will make that decision when the renewal negotiation comes around....

[Denny]

Probably nothing wrong with it, I just prefer to keep business and personal stuff separate.

I guess it depends on your address, I just don't think mine would look terribly professional on the company paperwork.

Would you want to deal with a company with the address "Bedsit F, 3a Sh1t Street"?

I see your point about not wanting a domestic addy on the letterhead, however I'm not sure that PO boxes don't imply something dodgy (which is what all scammers use) and that Regus Offices are a bit pretentious.

After all, we are freelancers, not micro businesses or bigger employing staff of our own and needing company offices to hold meetings in or entertain clients or manufacture goods etc.. Therefore a decent home address shouldn't really be that offputting on business stationery for freelancer consultancy services that rely largely on electronic communication and the phone to carry out business, provided it's not some council estate addy or, in your own words, some dingy bedsit somewhere in an unattractive location which could imply to potential cleints that you're not very successful or making enough money to live someone more salubrious.

The other reason I prefer to use my own addy rather than a contrived business addy which I can't actually work in is that I work out of my home office a lot and would prefer to use my premises addy as my main place of work on my contract. If I don't actually have another office to use which I can put on the WS then this makes the client site addy an inevitability for putting down instead, which I definitely don't want. Also there are limited dispensations you can claim against your own home office if you use part of it for business purposes. Can't see how this can be done with only a PO box number on your stationery.

In fact, I don't put my addy on my stationery, even though I should, according to Companies House. I just put the company no and VAT no. on it on the grounds that the work I carry out is all virtual (by computer and phone) and because the business addy is not so much an office, just an address for correspondence and a desk area to house my computer rather than being used as useable space as office premises to entertain clients or employ on-site staff). AFter all why bother putting the location addy on, if no one needs to visit it and we live in the age of e-mail? Also I expect that this CH ruling is based on the assumption that those with limited companies are running bigger or growing operations with useable office space being an intrinsic part of any growing business. The way we work - as one man bands operating a limited co - is a highly perverse way of being in business and highly untypical of most limited co businesses which is what CH would be basing their rules on (not to mention that these rules derive from pre e-mail days, therefore having an e-mail addy should be an acceptable alternative for virtual consultancy run businesses).

Look on any freelance (sole trader) consultancy service letterhead (which is what we should be really, if only we were allowed to work this way through EBs if inside IR35) then you will find that the business addy, if offered on their stationery, is normally always a home addy too.

[xoggoth]

You are right there on that gonzo site. My work internet gives

"You have tried to connect to a Website believed to contain inappropriate content."

But then it also tells me this site is extreme

http://www.ratatak.com/

Bizarre!

[Mustang]

I just didn't want to give out my home address. Works well with junk mail too - I know that anything sent to the PO box was triggered from business mail.

The other benefit is that any initial moves from my home address will be within this area so I don't have to change my business address.

[Lockhouse]

The other benefit is that any initial moves from my home address will be within this area so I don't have to change my business address.

That was one of the other reasons I picked a mailbox service. I was renting at the time whilst looking for a place to buy in the same area and didn't want to move all the company stuff twice.

There were two more reasons:

Firstly; a few years ago when no-one really understood IR35 I wanted to look more like a "real" business than a bloke working from his shed.

Secondly; I also have a sideline business operating through my ltdco and I don't want my home address broadcast to all & sundry (nothing dodgy by the way!).

[Bluebird]

The other thing you could do is give your house a 'name' so that

123 Anywhere St

become

My Company House
123 Anywhere St

Looks good and as long as the postie is happy it's ok [ I would think ]