a) If you know which type of business that you want to start (i.e. corporation, Limited Liability Company, partnership, trade name, etc.), you can find those forms on our website. You may also file online.
b) If you are unsure as to what type of business (i.e. corporation, Limited Liability Company, partnership, trade name, etc.), you may need to contact an attorney, as this office is unable to assist in that determination. You may also contact a local SCORE office or Counselors to America’s Small Business office for assistance.
a)
If you have received a Notice of Intent to Revoke, you must submit a completed annual report to this office within 30 days of the date of the notice (or within 60 days if it is a foreign corporation/LLC). Failure to do so will result in the revocation of your charter. If the charter is revoked, a reinstatement form will be required and filing fees will be significantly higher than that of an annual report. You may also file your annual report
online. You will then be prompted to enter your charter number and renewal ID (both of which can be obtained by calling our office).
a)
You can request certified or plain copies of documents in writing to this office either by fax (with credit card information) by mail (with a check or money order) or online through our
Commercial Database. See the Fee schedule for more information.
a) You can reserve a name by sending in a name reservation form by fax (with credit card information) or by mail (with a check or money order). This will reserve your name for 60 days. Prior to the expiration of this reservation, you may request (by fax or mail) to have the reservation extended for 30 days for no additional charge. This reservation can only be extended twice.
b) You would only need to reserve the name if you were waiting for an extended period of time to file your documents and/or if you were concerned that someone else may immediately file for the same name. In filing your Articles or Trade Name, the name becomes unavailable to others.
a) The physical address of our building is 8585 Archives Avenue. We are located behind the State Archives Building, which is on Essen Lane Between I-10 and I-12.
a) You may add or delete a registered agent by filing the Change of Registered Office or Agent form. You may add or delete a manager/member or officer/director by filing either the Notice of Change of Member/Manager form or the Notice of Change of Officer/Director form. These documents can also be filed online.
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a) From the Homepage, you can access the
Commercial Database link. From there, you will type in the business name (without the corporate ending, i.e. L.L.C. or Inc.) and click “search”. A list of businesses will then appear. Click on the “details” button next to the name of your business. All of the information regarding your business will appear on your screen. If the annual report is due to be filed (or up to 4 weeks prior to the due date), you will see a bar at the top of the page that says “Print Annual Report Form for Filing”. You may also file the Annual Report
online.
a) If your corporation/company is no longer doing business, owes no debts, has no assets, and has no immovable property, it can be dissolved by Affidavit. The form can be found in our forms section or the Affidavit can be filed online.
b) If your corporation/company is no longer doing business but owes debts, has assets or has immovable property, a long form dissolution must be filed. Please consult an attorney or see our website for statutes pertaining to dissolution.
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a)
Yes. The yearly filing of an Annual Report is a requirement. Make sure the report is signed by the appropriate individual. It can then be returned to this office by fax or mail. The Annual Report can also be filed
online.
a)
The Registered Agent information can be found on our website. From the Homepage, you can access the
Commercial Database link. You will then type in the business name (without the corporate ending, i.e. L.L.C. or Inc.) and click “search”. A list of businesses will then appear. Click on the “details” button next to the company name. All of the information regarding the business, including the registered agent, will appear on your screen.
a)
Yes. We will do a preliminary search for name availability. Please call our office for this information. You can also check name availability on our website. From the Homepage, you can access the
Commercial Database link. Type your proposed business name (without the corporate ending, i.e. L.L.C. or Inc.) and click search. A list of business names or similar business names will appear. If a domestic or foreign corporation/company has been revoked, the name will not be available until 3 years following the revocation date. Keep in mind that these are preliminary searches. There are many rules that govern name availability and a more thorough search will take place once you submit your documents to be filed.
a) If you are registered to do business in another state and wish to qualify here, you will need to submit either the Application of Foreign Corporation for Certificate of Authority or Application of Foreign Limited Liability Company for Certificate of Authority. Along with this form, and the fee, you will need to submit a certificate of good standing or existence from the Secretary of State of your home state. This certificate must be less than 90 days old. All of this documentation can be submitted via fax (with credit card information), mailed to this office (with check or money order) or filed online.
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a) You can obtain certificates and/or certified copies online. There will be a code at the bottom of the certificate/certified copy which will allow you to print numerous certificates/certified copies (with the same date) for a period of 120 days.
b) You can also request a certificates or certified copies by fax (with credit card information) or mail (with check or money order).
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a) A trade name, by definition, is a word or group of words, name, symbol, device or any combination thereof used by a person to identify his business, vocation or occupation and distinguish it from the business, vocation or occupation of others. Trade names do conflict with limited liability companies and corporations. The applicant for a trade name can be a person, corporation, limited liability company or partnership. DBA’s are not filed with this office. They are filed at the parish level by the local Clerk of Court’s office. Any questions regarding DBA’s can be addressed to the Parish Clerk of Court.
a) No. The Secretary of State's Office does not keep tax ID numbers. Please contact the Department of Revenue for tax ID numbers and any other tax related information.
a) The commercial division has several fax machines. It may take an hour or two to have the faxes hand delivered to the appropriate individual. The employees in telecommunications are unable to tell if a fax is received until it is entered into our computer system. Please allow adequate time for faxes to be delivered and entered into the computer before calling to check the status.
a) All documents can be mailed to:
Mailing address Louisiana Secretary of State
Commercial Division
P.O. Box 94125
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125
Physical Address Louisiana Secretary of State
Commercial Division
8585 Archives Ave.
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
b) If faxing:
Annual Reports and Reinstatements: 225.932.5312
Original Filings and Amendments: 225.932.5314
Certified Copy Orders: 225.932.5313
GeauxBiz.com: 225.932.5319
Name Reservations: 225.932.5314