How to Register Your Business in Your City and State
The paperwork, in plain language, with the exact places to look for your own state and your own city.
What you need to register
The honest short list. The how for each one is in the guide.
Your structure decided. Sole proprietorship, LLC, or, later, an S-corp election. Most Builders start as a sole prop or single-member LLC.
Your name checked. Your state's business name database, USPTO.gov for trademark conflicts, and your domain, three separate checks.
Your state filing done. Articles of Organization or Incorporation, filed with your state's Secretary of State.
Your EIN. Free, direct from IRS.gov, in minutes. Never pay a third party for this.
Your local licenses checked. A general business license, a home occupation permit if you work from home, and any industry-specific license.
Your sales tax status. Register with your state's tax agency if you sell taxable goods or services, unless your state has none.
What it actually costs, start to finish
Real ranges, no promises. Add these up for a realistic total, not the lowest number you saw in one article and not the highest. Your actual number depends entirely on your state, your city, and your business type.
LLC or corporation filing fee, plus a registered agent if you are not your own, $0 to $299 a year.
A DBA if you need one, plus a general business license and any home occupation permit.
Annual or biennial state report, going forward, not a one-time cost.
Most Builders land at $100 to $1,500 for their first year, all in: state filing, a DBA if needed, a general business license, and any home occupation or industry permit. The EIN itself is always free. A handful of states, California's $800 minimum annual franchise tax and New York's LLC publication requirement (which can run $200 to $2,000 depending on the county) among the most commonly cited outliers, run well above that range on their own.
One typical LLC registration, roughly
- State filing fee (LLC, most states)
- $150
- Registered agent (yourself, no cost)
- $0
- General business license (city or county)
- $75
- EIN, always free
- $0
- You spent, to get fully legal
- about $225
Find your own state and city rules
Every range and checklist on this page is a starting point, not your final answer. The only accurate answer for your business lives with your own state and city. Four places hold it, and this guide points to all four: the SBA's own live state look-up, your state's Secretary of State (where formation actually happens), your state's tax agency (where sales tax and resale certificates live), and your city or county clerk's office (where local licenses and permits live, and the office most likely to actually answer the phone).
Start with the SBA's own state look-up
The U.S. Small Business Administration keeps a live, state-by-state tool for choosing a structure, registering, and getting an EIN free from the IRS. It is maintained by the federal government, so it stays current in a way a guide like this one cannot promise to.
Go a step further than the state. Search your state's name plus secretary of state business for formation and annual reports, search your state's name plus department of revenue for sales tax and resale certificates, and call your city or county clerk's office directly and describe your business plainly. A five-minute phone call resolves more ambiguity than an hour of searching forums, because the person answering the phone is looking at your city's actual rule, not a national approximation of it. When a blog post and your state's own website disagree, the government website wins, every time.
You now know how to register legally, in the state and city that actually apply to you. BUILD takes you from there to a real product you can sell.
Frequently asked questions
What business structure should I register as?
Most Builders start as a sole proprietorship or a single-member LLC. If you have no real risk and no customer yet, start as a sole proprietorship. You can convert to an LLC the moment there is real money or real risk on the table. If you already have real risk or a paying customer, form an LLC. An S-corp election is a later decision, made once there is enough consistent profit that the payroll and accounting overhead is worth the tax savings, not a first move.
Is an LLC required to start a business?
No. If you start doing business under your own legal name and never file anything with your state, you are already a sole proprietor, no formation paperwork required. The tradeoff is no separation between you and the business, so if the business gets sued or cannot pay a debt, your personal assets are on the table. An LLC is a separate legal entity that generally protects your personal assets, and it is the more common choice once there is a paying customer or real risk involved.
How much does it cost to register a business?
Most Builders land at $100 to $1,500 for a realistic first-year total, covering state filing, a DBA if needed, a general business license, and any home occupation or industry permit. The EIN itself is always free. A handful of states run well above this range on their own, California's $800 minimum annual franchise tax and New York's LLC publication requirement, which can run $200 to $2,000 depending on the county, are the two most commonly cited outliers.
Is getting an EIN really free?
Yes, always. Apply directly at IRS.gov, and if you are the responsible party with a valid Social Security number or ITIN and your business is in the US, you can complete the application online and get your EIN immediately. The IRS never charges for this. If a site charges you a fee to get your EIN, you are paying for a filled-out form, not the number itself, which the IRS gives out at no cost.
Do I need a business license in my city?
Often, yes, on top of your state registration. Many cities and counties require a general business license just to operate within their limits, typically $25 to $400 a year, and if you work from home, many also require a separate home occupation permit, typically $0 to $200. There is no single national list of what your city requires, since your city wrote its own rules, so search your city's name plus business license, or call your city or county clerk directly.
Do I need to collect sales tax?
If you sell taxable goods, and in a growing number of states, certain taxable services, you generally need to register for a sales tax permit with your state's tax agency before your first taxable sale. Five states, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon, have no statewide sales tax. If you buy inventory to resell, a resale certificate lets you buy it wholesale without paying sales tax yourself, since your customer pays it when you sell to them.