A professional registered office can stop you using your home as the company's registered-office address. It does not automatically conceal a director's residential address, make an Irish company anonymous or delete addresses already disclosed in filings. Those are different questions, with different rules.
This matters before you order an address service or file a new company application. A founder may reasonably want a professional point for official post, but a promise that every personal address will disappear from the CRO record would be misleading. Decide which disclosure you are trying to avoid and check the actual filing field.
This guide focuses on registered-office privacy versus officer-address disclosure, rather than repeating the wider home-versus-office comparison. CRO, Revenue and legislation sources were checked on 14 October 2026. Personal-safety concerns and disputed records need tailored advice.
Start by separating the company address from the officer address
The registered office belongs to the company. It is the physical Irish location for statutory correspondence and formal legal notices. The director's usual residential address is an officer particular. A trading address describes operations; a forwarding address describes where mail is sent next. The same location can sometimes serve more than one purpose, but the roles do not merge.
Section 149 requires director residential-address details and, for an individual secretary, the relevant residential-address details, subject to the statutory exemption provisions. A corporate secretary has different particulars. Using a provider's address for the company office does not, by itself, change what an individual officer must supply.
Review address fields one by one. Do not copy the registered office into a residential-address field merely because the checkout advertised privacy. Ask the presenter to explain the field and any applicable exemption before the form is submitted.
| Address | Role |
|---|---|
| Office | Company notices |
| Residence | Officer details |
| Trading | Operations |
| Forwarding | Mail destination |
What privacy benefit does a registered-office service offer?
The service can separate your home from the company's registered-office entry. This is useful if you work from home, travel often, rent or expect to move. Instead of choosing your home as the statutory delivery point, you arrange a suitable professional address and a defined process for handling official correspondence.
The location must still meet CRO requirements: a physical address in the State, not merely a PO box, where An Post and hand delivery can reach the company and relevant statutory access requirements can be met. Privacy is not a reason to use an invented address or one whose owner has not agreed to the use.
The benefit is specific: a professional company address and mail continuity. It is not a promise that your name, ownership, officer particulars or every other address will be absent from company records. Compare services on their actual scope.
Why directors' home addresses remain a separate issue
CRO provides a specific procedure for withholding an officer's residential address in exceptional circumstances. Its guidance and T1 form distinguish that exemption from the ordinary public-record position. Buying registered-office access does not grant the exemption.
A founder should therefore check both the company office and officer information before incorporation. The issue can also arise later when an officer moves or is appointed to another company. A service provider can explain administrative requirements, but should not imply that a generic mailing arrangement overrides company law.
Use CRO instructions, not an assumed address rule from another jurisdiction.
T1 is a safety-related exemption, not a routine privacy package
Section 150(11) permits regulations concerning an officer's address where personal safety or security circumstances warrant an exemption and the other conditions are met. Ordinary convenience or a preference to avoid business post at home should not be presented as automatic eligibility.
CRO's current guidance describes three components: an A1 or B10 using the company's registered office in the relevant officer-address position; the completed, signed and dated T1; and a supporting Garda letter from Chief Superintendent rank or higher. It directs the A1/B10 through CORE with the T1 option selected and the original T1 and supporting letter sent in hardcopy.
All components must be supplied. Coordinate the application with the presenter and follow current CRO instructions for the actual submission. This article is not an assessment that a particular person qualifies, and an address-service order is not a T1 application.
If personal safety is a concern, raise it before a public filing is made and seek appropriate professional advice. Do not send a detailed threat history, identity documents or a home address into a public comment thread to ask whether you qualify.
The exemption does not retrospectively redact old filings
CRO expressly states that a T1 application is not retrospective and that registered documents already containing the residential address will not be redacted through this process. Its form likewise limits the exemption to notifications of new addresses. That is an important limit to discuss before paying anyone who promises to clean the register.
After a successful exemption, future filings still need care. The T1 form warns that subsequent disclosure of the residential address by the person or company cancels the exemption. Keep the approved position and filing instructions available to the people preparing later submissions; do not rely on a provider's memory.
An exemption decision is not a general instruction to give a false address to a bank, insurer or other authority. Check the requirements of each recipient and handle legitimate identity requests securely. The CRO exemption has a defined purpose, not unlimited effect across every system.
Moving the company office and moving house use different notifications
A company registered-office change is notified on Form B2. CRO says the notification should be filed within 14 days of the change, and its registered-office guidance explains that the change becomes legally effective when the form is registered. Obtain permission to use the new address and monitor the transition rather than treating a purchase receipt as a completed CRO update.
A change in an officer's residential particulars is dealt with separately. CRO's officer-change guidance points to Form B10 within 14 days for relevant changes, and describes B10a for certain director name or residential-address changes across multiple companies. Ask the presenter which route applies; B2 does not update the director's personal particulars.
Keep the effective dates, company records and submission evidence together. If your home served both roles, moving the company to a professional office solves only the company-address part. A genuine later house move has its own record update.
Required website disclosures cannot simply be removed for privacy
CRO's letterhead guidance requires the registered office among the particulars on business letters and order forms, including electronic media. For a limited-liability company's website, it describes disclosure on the homepage or on a readily accessible page identified from the homepage.
Choose an appropriate statutory office if you do not want a home to serve that public company-address role. Then display the correct company information where required. Deleting legal company information without assessing the disclosure rules is not a substitute for choosing the right address.
Document-specific rules still matter. The company-law rule for business letters is not the complete test for every invoice or consumer checkout. The linked website and invoice guides cover those wider requirements.
A professional office is not proof of where the business operates
Keep address privacy separate from business evidence. Revenue's TR2 form asks for the business address and registered office separately, and the business-address field states that a tax adviser or accountant address is not acceptable. A company should describe its real operating arrangements rather than using a correspondence location as a substitute for the facts.
Similarly, do not assume a bank or payment provider accepts a registered-office agreement as every kind of address evidence it requests. Read the actual request and ask what document is needed. An overseas founder may need to explain management, work, records and trading locations as well as the Irish office.
Protecting privacy means supplying required information through suitable channels, not making contradictory claims about premises or residence. The provider should clearly identify what the address agreement authorises and what it does not include.
Two fictional examples show the different outcomes
First, a fictional consultant is forming an LTD and does not want the family home used as the company office. A professional registered-office service can meet that specific need once the address and terms are confirmed. The consultant must still review the residential information required for the director role; the address order alone does not suppress it.
Second, a fictional director has an existing company and is concerned about a home address disclosed in earlier filings. Ordering a professional office may be useful going forward, but it should not be sold as erasing the earlier record. If personal-safety circumstances may justify T1, obtain advice on that distinct process and its limits.
Neither example is a register search or a promise of exemption. They illustrate why the first question should be which record or use you want to change, rather than whether a package uses the word privacy.
Questions to ask before buying an address service
A good proposal describes permitted use, activation, mail handling, renewal and the current total payable. It should distinguish the annual address arrangement from changing an existing company's CRO office and from any specialist officer-address work.
Confirm the allocated address before putting it on forms or commercial materials. Ask who receives CRO and Revenue notices, who is notified and what happens when a document needs action. An address helps maintain a reliable delivery point; the company still needs someone responsible for responding.
- Is this permission to use a physical Irish registered office, and when does it begin?
- Which official correspondence is accepted, notified and forwarded under the terms?
- Does a separate Form B2 filing need to be ordered for our existing company?
- Does the provider clearly distinguish company-address privacy from officer-address disclosure?
- If an approved Registered Office Agent arrangement is used, which entity and filing details apply?
- What happens at renewal, during an address change or if the service ends?
- Are record custody, inspection arrangements, general parcels and office use included or separate?
A practical address-disclosure checklist
Review the actual documents, not just the order confirmation. Keep the company office, officer particulars and business location in separate entries, with a named person responsible for each change. Where a special exemption is in issue, ask for the applicable instructions before anyone submits the next filing.
After a change, review company-controlled contact materials and keep useful submission evidence. If you see inaccurate information, ask the relevant organisation about its correction process. Do not assume a new registered-office entry silently rewrites every document or third-party record.
- Identify the address and record you are concerned about before selecting a service.
- Check incorporation drafts and officer fields before approval.
- Obtain the provider's permission and confirm the correct address.
- Review existing filings separately from proposed new disclosures.
- Treat T1 eligibility, supporting documents and later filing controls as specialist issues.
- Arrange the appropriate B2 or officer update, rather than assuming one form covers both.
- Check official correspondence and company-controlled website information during the transition.
How StartCompany.ie can help with the company office
StartCompany.ie provides a professional registered-office address in Ireland, with receipt and forwarding of official CRO and Revenue correspondence under the agreed service terms. The team reviews the company details, completes required checks and confirms the allocated address before use.
The product is a 12-month address service. Renewal is arranged separately and the checkout does not create an automatic subscription. An existing-company Form B2 filing is a separate service. Office rental, general parcel handling and annual-return filing are not included in the address product.
Review the current total payable and scope on the service page. This guide does not claim that a T1 application, retrospective address removal or a personal-security service is included. Tell the team what company-address arrangement you need, while obtaining separate advice for officer disclosure or safety concerns.
StartCompany.ie service
Registered Office Address
Official information and next steps
Official sources checked on 14 October 2026. This is a guide to choosing a company-address service and understanding its privacy limits, not an assessment of T1 eligibility or a promise to remove public records. Follow current CRO instructions and seek tailored advice for personal-safety or disputed-disclosure issues.
- CRO: registered-office requirements and effective address changes
- Companies Act 2014, section 149: officer particulars
- Companies Act 2014, section 150: safety-related address exemption
- CRO: withholding an officer's residential address
- CRO: Form T1 and non-retrospective limits
- CRO: changing the company registered office
- CRO: changing company officer information
- CRO: company letterhead and website disclosures
- Revenue: Form TR2 distinguishes business and registered-office addresses