Virtual Address for an LLC: State Rules, Registered Agents and Setup
An LLC needs two addresses that the law treats differently: a business address that appears on filings, invoices and Google, and a registered agent address where the state can serve legal papers. A virtual address from an operator such as Regus, HQ, Spaces or Signature covers the first job completely — and, paired with the right service, supports the second. This catalog lists 88 virtual office locations across New York, Miami, Houston and Chicago, with plans starting at $47 per month and a median price of $103. Here is how the rules actually work in those four states, what USPS and FinCEN require in 2026, and how to set everything up without renting a single square foot.
What a virtual address can and cannot do for an LLC
All 50 states require an LLC to name a registered agent in its formation documents — a person or company present at a physical street address in the state during business hours to accept service of process. In New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois, a PO box does not qualify as a registered office, and the secretary of state rejects filings that list one.
A virtual address at a staffed business center is a real street address in a commercial building — 260 Madison Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, for example, is a Regus center with reception on site — so it works for the LLC's principal office line, contracts, invoices and a Google Business Profile. Texas draws the sharpest legal line: Business Organizations Code § 5.201 says the registered office may not be solely a mailbox service or virtual office, which means the agent role in Texas needs an actual person answering for your company, not just a suite number.
The pattern most single-member LLCs use therefore has exactly two line items: a virtual office plan for the public-facing address and mail handling (from $47 per month across the 88 locations here), plus a commercial registered agent — national providers such as Northwest Registered Agent or CT Corporation typically charge in the range of $100–$300 per year. Both addresses can sit in the same city, and the agent's address never has to appear on your website.
State rules in the four biggest catalog markets
New York is the expensive outlier. The New York Department of State acts as the default agent for service of process for every LLC, and LLC Law § 206 adds a publication requirement: within 120 days of formation you must run a notice once a week for six consecutive weeks in two newspapers designated by the county clerk of the county listed as the LLC's office. In Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens that means roughly $1,200–$1,600 in newspaper fees plus a $50 certificate of publication filing; in upstate counties the same notice costs a few hundred dollars. The county on your New York virtual office plan — 22 locations in this catalog, from $47 per month — directly sets that bill.
Florida keeps things simpler. The Florida Division of Corporations requires a registered agent with a Florida street address and an annual report due May 1 with a $138.75 fee for LLCs; filing late adds a $400 penalty. A Miami virtual office — 13 catalog locations run by HQ, Regus and Spaces, median $103 per month, from the Corporate Center in Aventura to Dadeland — fills the principal office line on the Sunbiz filing.
Texas and Illinois sit in between. The Texas Secretary of State charges $300 to file a certificate of formation and, under BOC § 5.201, expects a registered office that is more than a mailbox; Houston is the largest market in this catalog with 31 locations, from Brookhollow Central III to two centers by the airport. The Illinois Secretary of State requires an in-state agent and a $75 annual report; Chicago offers 22 catalog locations from $47 per month, from North LaSalle in the Loop to Hyde Park on the South Side.
Setup: Form 1583, EIN, banking and FinCEN
Before any US provider may receive your LLC's mail, USPS Form 1583 — the federal Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent — must be on file. It takes two forms of ID (one government photo ID plus one document confirming your home address), and under a May 2024 USPS rule the notarization must come from a notary commissioned in a US state or DC; foreign notaries no longer qualify. Most centers handle it in one video-notary session, or a staff member at the front desk witnesses your signature in person for free.
For the IRS, a virtual address is simply a mailing address: Form SS-4 for an EIN accepts it, and the number is issued immediately online or in about four weeks by mail. The address you give the IRS does not have to match your registered agent's — many owners route tax mail to the virtual address and legal service to the agent.
Federal reporting moved decisively in the LLC owner's favor this year. On August 14, 2026, FinCEN's final rule under the Corporate Transparency Act took effect, permanently removing beneficial ownership (BOI) reporting for US-formed companies — a domestic LLC no longer files ownership data with the US Treasury at all. Banks, however, still verify addresses under FinCEN's customer identification rules, which is exactly why a staffed tower such as 250 Park Avenue passes compliance checks that a PO box or a CMRA mismatch fails.
FAQ
Can a virtual address serve as my LLC's registered agent address?
Usually not by itself. All 50 states expect an agent physically available during business hours, and Texas BOC § 5.201 explicitly bars an address that is solely a virtual office or mailbox service. The standard setup is a virtual business address from $47 per month for everything public-facing, plus a commercial registered agent at roughly $100–$300 per year for service of process.
Will banks and the IRS accept a virtual business address for my LLC?
The IRS accepts any US mailing address on Form SS-4, so the EIN is not an obstacle. Banks apply FinCEN customer identification rules and want a genuine street address: centers such as 600 Third Avenue in Manhattan or 111 W. Jackson in Chicago are staffed commercial buildings, which is why they clear checks that PO boxes fail. Expect some banks to also keep the owner's home address on file alongside the business one.
Does my LLC still report its owners and address to FinCEN?
Not since August 14, 2026: FinCEN's final rule permanently removed BOI reporting for US-formed companies. State duties remain unchanged — Florida's $138.75 annual report, Illinois's $75 report and New York's $9 biennial statement all still require a current business address on file, and your virtual address satisfies each of them.