Register your business in Delaware

LLCs, corporations and limited partnerships register with the Delaware Division of Corporations. Sole proprietors don’t file there, but using a name other than your own means registering a trade name. Most businesses that operate in Delaware also need a state business license.

What’s different in Delaware

• Every LLC pays a flat $400 a year, due June 1. There’s no annual report. Corporations file one and pay franchise tax instead. Stay compliant has the dates.
• A registered agent is required, with a physical street address in Delaware.
• Forming here and operating here are separate. Forming registers the business with the Division of Corporations. Operating in Delaware usually also takes a business license from the Division of Revenue.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor can skip to step 6.
2. Check the name with the Division of Corporations’ entity search. It must be distinguishable from every entity already registered or reserved in Delaware. Search the web and the federal trademark database too. Not ready to file? Reserve the name for 120 days ($75).
3. Choose a registered agent with a physical street address in Delaware: you or another Delaware resident, a business authorized to do business here, or your own business if it’s located in Delaware. The agent accepts legal papers for the business and receives the state’s tax notices.
4. File with the Division of Corporations. Fill in the form for your structure and send it through the Document Filing and Certificate Request Service or by mail. Your card is charged when the filing is processed, not when you submit it. Regular processing time depends on volume. For $50 more it’s done the next business day, and for $100 the same day if it arrives before 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
5. Ask for a status certificate if your bank wants one. Some banks do. Request a short-form Certificate of Status ($50) in the comments of your filing.
6. Register a trade name if you use another name. A sole proprietor or partnership doing business under a name other than the owners’ legal names must, and an LLC or corporation can. Since February 2, 2026, trade names register statewide with the Delaware Division of Revenue through One Stop, for $25. You need a Delaware business license first, and the registration doesn’t expire. A Delaware LLC or corporation that doesn’t do business in Delaware uses a Trade Name Only license instead ($25, with a certificate of good standing), which carries no gross receipts or business income tax filings.
7. Get your business license and calendar the yearly taxes. Get your tax IDs covers the license, and Stay compliant has the yearly taxes.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of Formation ($110). The LLC then owes the $400 annual tax every year by June 1, for the year before. Keep your operating agreement with the company’s records; the state doesn’t file it.

Corporation

File a Certificate of Incorporation. The fee starts at $109 and changes with the stock you authorize. Every Delaware corporation then files an annual report and pays franchise tax by March 1, and the number of shares you authorize affects that tax as well. S corp and C corp are federal tax choices you make with the IRS afterward, not state filings. Bylaws aren’t filed with the state.

Nonprofit

A nonprofit forms as an exempt corporation: one with no stock that meets Delaware’s tests, such as being tax-exempt under section 501(c) or organized not for profit. Filing costs $109. It pays no franchise tax, but it files an annual report every year ($25). 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. Nonprofit corporations don’t need a Delaware business license and pay no gross receipts tax on most sales, though some activities, such as leasing out equipment or providing lodging, are taxed anyway. A nonprofit with employees still registers with the Division of Revenue for withholding and with the Department of Labor.

Partnership

A general partnership doesn’t have to file. It may file a Statement of Partnership Existence ($200), and one that does owes an annual tax of $400. A limited partnership files a certificate of limited partnership ($200) and owes an annual tax of $400.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. If you don’t register another entity, you’re a sole proprietor automatically. You still need a Delaware business license, and a trade name if you use a name other than your own.

Formed in another state

An LLC or corporation formed elsewhere registers with the Division of Corporations before doing business in Delaware, and keeps a Delaware registered agent. An out-of-state LLC files a Foreign Certificate of Registration ($200) and owes the same $400 every year. A corporation files a foreign qualification ($245) with a certificate of existence from its home state, then an annual report every year by June 30 ($250).

Formed here, run from another state

Many businesses form in Delaware and operate somewhere else. Delaware’s annual tax or franchise tax is still due every year, and you still need a Delaware registered agent. You also register as a foreign business in the state where you work, and pay that state’s fees. Forming in another state explains how.

What you get back

The Division of Corporations returns your completed filing by regular mail, unless you give it a FedEx or UPS account number. It doesn’t return filings by fax or email. You’ll need the formed entity for your EIN and bank account. A trade name appears in the Division of Revenue’s trade name registry a day after approval.