Do I Need To Register In All 50 States If My Llc Is A Service Provider And Completely Online

Setting up a limited liability company (LLC) is like shooting fish in a barrel to exercise in any state. Many businesses choose to form equally an LLC considering it offers beneficial tax options and protects an individual's personal assets from being collected in a lawsuit.

You lot tin can class an LLC in any state regardless of where yous are based; nevertheless, information technology probable makes nearly sense to class an LLC in the land where y'all live. Many businesses class LLCs across multiple states, but you lot must be aware of each country's requirements for establishing and maintaining an LLC.

Hither is how a business tin effectively establish LLCs in multiple states.

Man in button down shirt writing seriously while on phone in front of laptop

Deciding Where to Form Your LLC

Before you lot decide to form multiple LLCs across the country, you must decide which state volition be the "home" (and offset) state of your business.

Here are some factors to consider when deciding on your LLC'south home state:

Exercise the majority of your transactions, also as operations, occur in this state?
What are the requirements to form an LLC in this state? How quickly will the country allow your LLC to be upwardly and running?
What taxes and fees do you need to consider? Some states, similar California, impose an annual $800 franchise tax on all LLCs.
What additional state permits and licenses are required?
Is the state considered pro-business?
What are the requirements to maintain your LLC in this country?

Registering Your LLC

Several steps are required to register your LLC in whatsoever land. Mostly, the requirements are to:

Choose a business proper name for your LLC and decide whether that proper name is available in your state.
Engage a registered amanuensis.
Draft manufactures of organisation and file them with the country.
Create an operating agreement.
Obtain your Employee Identification Number (EIN).
Enquiry permits, licenses, and tax data specific to your state.
Maintain your LLC by complying with annual reporting requirements.

Deciding if You Demand Additional LLCs

In one case you determine on your LLC's "abode" state and annals it, you can start setting up additional LLCs in other states. If your LLC has a meaning amount of its small business operations in a identify other than the home state, you must annals the LLC in that state. This doesn't crave creating a new LLC, simply you must gain permission from the new land to operate your business.

Registering your LLC in a land other than the home state is called "foreign qualification," and the LLC gear up upward in that land is considered a strange LLC. Different states define what amount of business organisation activities will require an LLC to register every bit a foreign LLC. Mostly, the factors that require a business concern to register as a strange LLC are:

Your business concern has offices, warehouses, or retail stores in the state.
You have employees in the state.
You hold regular, in-person meetings with clients, investors, or managers in the state.
Your business concern has a license in the state.

If your LLC has only a small connexion to the state—like a bank account—it won't exist plenty to require registering a foreign LLC. The exceptions differ from land to state, just generally a nominal connection is not enough to require registration.

Registering a Foreign LLC

The process to annals for a foreign LLC is similar to establishing a new LLC in your home state. Each state may have different requirements, merely generally a business must comply with the post-obit:

Conduct a name search : Determine whether your business organization name is taken. If it is, you may need to establish a "doing business organisation as" (DBA) or fictitious name. It is possible for an LLC to have several DBA names. Yet, a DBA isn't a business organization entity and doesn't offer whatever legal protection.
Engage a registered agent:A registered agent is a person who will receive legal and other documents on behalf of your business, such equally subpoenas, regulatory and tax notices, and correspondence.
File an application for a strange LLC: Some states crave a certificate of good continuing to verify that you are legally authorized to operate.

This portion of the site is for informational purposes simply. The content is not legal advice. The statements and opinions are the expression of author, not LegalZoom, and take not been evaluated past LegalZoom for accuracy, abyss, or changes in the law.