Register your business in Washington, D.C.

LLCs and corporations register with the Corporations Division of the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection¹². You file online in BOSS (formerly CorpOnline)¹. A sole proprietorship has no formation filing unless you use a trade name. The license to do the work is a later step.

What’s different in Washington, D.C.

• The LLC fee table and the form use different names. You file Articles of Organization, form DLC-1². The table calls that filing a Certificate of organization and lists $99³.
• A corporation’s fee follows authorized capital. It starts at $99⁴. A summary page lists every domestic for-profit entity at $99⁶.
• The repeating filing is biennial, not an annual report. Form BRA-25¹⁰ is $300³ for a for-profit entity. It is first due April 1 of the year after the calendar year the filing became effective¹⁴.
• The formation filing names the owners. It asks for each person who owns more than 10 percent, or a smaller share if that person controls financial or operational decisions or directs day-to-day operations. The District has required that information since January 1, 2020¹⁰.
• A registered agent needs a District street address. You need a physical street address in Washington, D.C. It cannot be a P.O. box, a third-party mailbox such as FedEx or UPS, or an address outside the District¹⁰.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership, or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor with no trade name can skip the formation filing. Pick an entity compares them. The District’s tax on an unincorporated business is on Get your tax IDs.
2. Search the name. On corponline.dlcp.dc.gov, search the records before you file. An LLC name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company," or the abbreviation L.L.C., LLC, L.C., or LC¹². A corporation, LLC, or partnership name must include a suffix such as Inc., LLC, PLLC, LLP, LP, or PC¹⁰. The name must be distinguishable on the records of the Mayor¹⁶. Section 29-103.01 is the rule. Search the federal trademark database too. A reservation is optional. Section 29-103.03 holds the name for 120 days¹³. The LLC fee table lists the reservation at $50³.
3. Name a registered agent with a District street address. An individual who works for the entity may be the registered agent. The address must be a physical street address in Washington, D.C. It cannot be a P.O. box, a third-party mailbox such as FedEx or UPS, or an address outside the District. Anyone who serves more than 50 entities must file as a commercial registered agent on form RA-1¹⁰. Changing the agent later is $50³ on the LLC fee table.
4. File in BOSS. Registration covers a nonprofit or for-profit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, or statutory trust¹. The fee depends on the structure, below. The form lets you set the effective date as the filing date, or a date up to 90 days ahead, not a past date¹². Online filings are paid by card. The DLC-1 instructions do not add a separate card fee.* Read the payment screen. A walk-in LLC filing adds $100² for one-day service. The expedite schedule also lists $50 for three-day service, and an expedited service fee is required for every walk-in customer at the Business License Center. Those expedite amounts have been in effect since January 1, 2012. Expedited service may be limited or unavailable for mail, and it is available for some web filings⁷.
5. List the owners the form asks for. Formation filings and biennial reports include beneficial ownership: each person who owns more than 10 percent, or a smaller share if that person controls financial or operational decisions or directs day-to-day operations. That District requirement has been in place since January 1, 2020¹⁰. The Corporations Division says a federal beneficial-ownership report is a separate filing. This page does not say who must file that federal report.
6. Register a trade name only if you will use one. A trade name is the name the business uses that is not its true legal name. It is optional, and not required in order to do business. If you use a name that is not the registered legal name, you must register it¹⁰. Details are below.
7. Put the biennial report on the calendar now. The first BRA-25 is due April 1 of the year after the calendar year the filing became effective¹⁴. Section 29-102.11 is the deadline. The FAQ describes the later reports as April 1 every two years after the first report¹⁰. The for-profit fee is $300. A late report, after April 1 of the year the report is due, adds $100³ for a for-profit entity and $50⁶ for a nonprofit. Stay compliant has the later years.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization, form DLC-1, for $99. The company has one or more members². A series certificate, if you use one, is an extra $220. The form’s instructions say a professional LLC’s name uses “professional limited liability company,” PLLC, or P.L.L.C., and the purpose has to be a licensed professional service. Closing the company later is a statement of dissolution for $5. Coming back after an administrative dissolution is $300³.

Corporation

File articles of incorporation⁴. The corporation fee table is:

• $99 for authorized capital up to $100,000⁴.
• $550 for authorized capital from $100,000 to $500,000⁴.
• $1,100 for authorized capital from $500,001 to $1,000,000⁴.
• $1,650 for authorized capital of $1,000,001 or more⁴.

The summary of filing fees says domestic for-profit entities are $99⁶.* That matches the lowest corporation band and the LLC fee. It does not match the higher bands. Use the corporation table, and read the total before you pay.

A professional corporation’s fee page lists articles of conversion at $99 and sends other filings to the business corporation fee table¹⁷. A new professional corporation should use the business corporation table unless the screen names a different form.

S corporation status is a federal election. The District taxes an S corporation on the corporation return: Get your tax IDs.

Nonprofit

File articles of incorporation for $80⁵. The biennial report for a nonprofit is $80, and the late fee is $50⁶. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

Registration covers a nonprofit or for-profit corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, or statutory trust¹. A general partnership is not on that list. If the partners use a name that is not their own legal names, that name is a trade name, below.

A limited partnership and a limited liability partnership do have to register. The limited partnership fee page lists a certificate of limited partnership at $99⁸. The fee pages do not list a fee for a limited liability partnership formed in the District.* Read the fee on the BOSS screen before you pay.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. A sole proprietor with no trade name skips corporate registration¹⁸. Sales tax and a Basic Business License can still apply.

Trade names

Register the trade name in BOSS if you will use one. The DLCP trade-name page describes the conditions. The fee is $55 to register, $55 to renew, and $55¹¹ if the renewal is late. The term is two years, renewed by April 1 of the expiration year¹⁰.

The trade name page says a late renewal, with the late fee, can be filed through August 31 of the renewal year, and that an unrenewed name is canceled on September 1¹¹. Renew by April 1 of the expiration year¹⁰ to avoid the late fee.

Formed in another state

An LLC formed elsewhere files a foreign registration statement for $220. A foreign name registration or renewal is $200³. You still need a District registered agent. The summary page lists foreign for-profit entities at $220 and foreign nonprofits at $80⁶. The foreign-entity fee page lists the foreign registration statement at $220 for a business corporation, LLC, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited cooperative association, or statutory trust⁹, so a corporation formed elsewhere does not use the tiered domestic table. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed record in BOSS, and a confirmation you can download. Keep it for the EIN, the tax registration, and the bank. A certificate of good standing is $50³ if a bank or a license office asks for one. The biennial report, not a yearly report, is the filing that keeps the record active.