Most companies first meet the tax authority at their own head office not in a deep tax audit but in an operation-status verification visit: the team arrives, looks at the signboard, asks for the lease, counts working people, and checks whether the company is really at this address. This seemingly light session is the gateway deciding whether the company is classed as normally operating or as an address risk — with chain consequences for invoices and bank accounts.
When the tax authority physically inspects the head office
Common inspection occasions include: post-establishment verification when the company starts using invoices or falls into risk management scope; periodic review of companies showing non-filing signs across several periods; before or during tax refund processing, where the authority must confirm the taxpayer real presence and capacity; on address change or managing-authority transfer; and verification following complaints or inter-agency coordination. Not every company is physically inspected, but the more risk signs — an address shared by many companies, no signboard, invoice-sensitive business lines — the higher the chance of a visit.
In form, the directly managing tax authority team comes to the registered address, works with the representative or staff present, and draws a verification record of the actual state. In many verification cases the company receives no advance notice — precisely why presence status must be right every day, not only on appointment days.
What the team checks: five presence-sign groups
First, identification signs: the company-name signboard affixed at the address as required, matching the registered name. Second, premises use rights: a valid lease, landlord papers, or the company own use-right certificate where the premises belong to the company. Third, people: staff actually working on site, someone able to answer about basic company operations, signs of genuine office life. Fourth, substance and activity: equipment, goods or tools fitting the business lines, documents and accounting books kept at the head office or an explainable storage place. Fifth, reachability: the registered phone number answers, mail sent there is received — the team may verify through whether the company received documents previously sent.
Good preparation is not theatre: a genuinely operating company only needs four things always ready — a correct signboard, the lease and legal file in one folder at the head office, at least one person on site who understands the company and knows to call the accountant or representative when needed, and retrievable books and documents. A company renting a serviced office should agree in advance with the operator on the tax-team reception process and same-day notification to the company.
Absence at inspection and a fled-address finding: process and exit
If the team arrives and cannot meet the company — no signboard, nobody at the address, a landlord who says it does not know this company — the tax authority records the verification minutes and typically adds notification, re-verification or confirmation steps with local government and the landlord. With sufficient grounds, the authority issues and publicises a notice that the taxpayer does not operate at the registered address and updates the tax-code status; the immediate consequences are suspended invoice-use validity, counterparties seeing the abnormal status, and banks tightening transactions.
The exit for a wrongly concluded company, or one genuinely back in operation, comprises: contacting the managing tax authority at once, filing a written explanation with presence evidence (lease, signboard photos, utility bills, payroll for staff at the address), requesting re-verification at the address, and completing outstanding filings. Where the company has truly moved away, the right exit is not explaining at the old address but completing the address-change registration to the new address and explaining the transition. Remember: a not-operating-at-registered-address status never expires by itself — only the company proactively working with the tax authority closes the file.
A physical head-office inspection does not examine the company past — it examines the company physical present at its declared address. Signboard present, people present, papers present, mail arriving: those four simple conditions are the entire secret to every verification ending in fifteen friendly minutes. This draft is pending review by the QA Council.
Frequently asked questions
When does the tax authority physically inspect the head office?
At operation-status verification occasions: after establishment when the company starts using invoices or falls into risk scope; periodic review of companies not filing for several periods; during tax refund processing; on address change or managing-authority transfer; and on complaints or inter-agency coordination requests. Verification visits are usually unannounced, so presence at the head office must be correct on every ordinary working day.
What is checked — signboard, staff, lease?
Five groups: the company-name signboard at the address; premises use rights (lease, landlord papers); real people working on site and able to answer about company operations; equipment, goods, books and documents fitting the business lines and retrievable; and reachability via the registered phone and document reception. Results are recorded in on-site verification minutes — the company should field someone who understands the situation and calls the accountant or representative immediately for questions beyond on-site authority.
What if nobody is at the head office during inspection?
The team records minutes of not meeting the company at the address, and the tax authority runs supplementary verification steps such as an explanation-request notice and confirmation with local authorities and the landlord. A single absence with a reasonable, evidenced explanation (all staff travelling, a force majeure event) does not equal a fled finding; but ignoring notices and remaining absent leads to the taxpayer-not-operating-at-registered-address notice with invoice and tax-code-status consequences.
What happens on a fled-business-address finding?
The company not-operating status at the registered address is publicised, e-invoice use validity is suspended, and banks and counterparties checking the status create obstacles. Removal requires proactively contacting the managing tax authority, explaining in writing with evidence of genuine operation at the address (or completing an address change if moved), supplementing missing filings and requesting re-verification. The status does not lift automatically — waiting only deepens consequences.
How should a serviced-office company prepare for inspection?
Agree in writing with the building operator on the tax-team reception process: reception confirms the company rents and operates in the building, calls the company contact the same day of the inspection, and can present the company file folder on site when asked. The company simultaneously ensures a compliant signboard in the building, a valid lease, and immediate mail forwarding by the operator — these three factors decide whether a serviced-office verification runs like an ordinary-office one.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council