Register your business in Nevada

LLCs and corporations file with the Nevada Secretary of State. The formation packet says to file at www.nvsos.gov¹, and the state’s startup guide calls the online site the ORION Business Portal¹³. One Department of Taxation page still sends you to SilverFlume¹⁴.* Use the Secretary of State’s filing screen and confirm the fee before you pay. A sole proprietorship does not file articles. It still needs a state business license before it conducts business, unless it qualifies for an exclusion (see Sole proprietorship below).

What’s different in Nevada

• Formation is more than the articles. An LLC pays $75 for the articles and $350¹ for the initial list and state business license filed with them.
• The yearly bill is a list plus a license. An LLC list is $150⁴. A profit corporation’s license is $500², and the list depends on shares.
• A missed list can end the charter. After default, the charter is revoked on the first day of the first anniversary of the month after the month the filing was required⁴.
• A trade name is a county filing. It is not filed with the Secretary of State, and the statute sets no single fee.
• Paper expedite is extra. 24-hour service is $125 for most filings. The packet does not state a processing time for ordinary online filing beyond this: filing online may reduce processing time¹.* Check the receipt date on the screen.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, limited partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor skips the articles, gets an EIN first, and files only the state business license (see Sole proprietorship below), then goes to step 6. Pick an entity compares them.
2. Check the name on the Secretary of State’s records. An LLC name must include limited-liability company, limited liability company, limited company, or limited, or Ltd., L.L.C., L.C., LLC, or LC. Company may be abbreviated as Co. It must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other names on file or reserved. Not ready to file? A reserved name is held for 90⁴ days for $25¹. Search the web and the federal trademark database too.
3. Choose a registered agent. The agent is an individual at least 18, a named office or position in the business, or a commercial registered agent authorized in Nevada, with a physical address in Nevada. The agent must be available during normal business hours. A post office box can be a mailing address and cannot replace the street address. Changing the agent later is $60¹.
4. File online at nvsos.gov. The initial list and state business license must be filed with the articles. The fee depends on the structure, below. Regular paper service is no extra fee, processed in the order received. A card payment adds 2.5%¹. You can avoid that fee by paying by check or in person.
5. Ask for expedited paper service only if you need a date. It is added on top of the filing fee, per item. 24-hour service is $125 for most filings, $50 for a name reservation and $25 for a registered-agent change. Two-hour service is $500. One-hour service is $1,000¹.
6. File a fictitious name if you use another name. Details are below.
7. Calendar the anniversary. Under the statute, proof of payment authorizes the company to transact business until the last day of the anniversary month in the next calendar year⁴.
8. Get the EIN once the filing is accepted. For an LLC or corporation, the IRS says to form your entity through the secretary of state before you apply for an EIN¹¹. The state business license is already done: under Nevada law, an entity that files an initial or annual list gets its state business license when it files that list⁵. Get your tax IDs covers the EIN and the state tax accounts.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization for $75. With them, file the initial list ($150) and the state business license ($200), $350 together. The company is managed by managers, or managing members. A series LLC is optional and allows multiple divisions inside one LLC¹. A restricted LLC is a separate checkbox on the same form. The packet does not ask you to attach an operating agreement.

The annual list is $150, due on or before the last day of the month in which the anniversary of organization falls. The statute adds that the Secretary of State may allow a different due date. The state business license for an entity that files a list is paid with that list. A notice is sent 90 days before the due date. Missing the notice does not excuse the penalty. Timing matters both ways: a list received more than 90 days early counts as an amended list for the prior year⁴, and a postmark before the due date does not prevent a late fee².

If the list or the fee is late, the company is in default. The added penalty is $75. Then the charter is revoked on the first day of the first anniversary of the month after the month the filing was required. A late state business license is $100, and a late business-license fee is also treated as a missed annual list⁵. Reinstatement costs $300, and reinstatement also requires the missed lists, fees and penalties. It is not available after the charter has stayed revoked for 5 consecutive years, and reinstatement needs a new distinguishable name if someone else has taken the old one⁴.

The initial list asks two questions about trade-restraint investigations. Under the statute, a company files the statement and pays the fee only if it has at least 25 percent of the Nevada market for a product and, in the past five years, five or more trade-restraint investigations that ended in a fine, a penalty or a forced divestiture⁴. That fee is $100,000¹. The short instructions above the form say “any” investigations, but the form and the statute use the narrower test described above. Most new businesses will answer no.

Professional LLC

The professional packet uses the same articles fee. The name must include a professional designator such as PLLC, and the last name of at least one current or former member. With the articles, each manager or member needs a certificate from the licensing board¹. The organizer must be a person and must show a license. If you are not sure the work requires this form, check with a legal professional.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation. The fee is based on the value of the authorized shares times the par value in the articles. Shares without par value are counted at $1 each. When the share value is $75,000 or less, the formation fee is $75 and the list fee is $150. The list fee tops out at $11,125. The formation fee tops out at $35,000. The bands between those ends are on the corporation fee schedule. The same schedule applies to domestic and foreign corporations, close corporations, professional corporations, and nonprofit cooperative corporations².

A profit corporation’s state business license is $500. A professional corporation’s license is $200. The annual list is due on or before the last day of the month in which the anniversary of incorporation falls⁶. A late list is $75, and a late license is $100². S corporation status is a federal election. Nevada’s tax page does not describe a separate state income return for it.

Nonprofit

A nonprofit corporation under NRS chapter 82 files articles for $50. The annual list is $50. The default penalty is $50. Reinstatement is $100⁷. There is no state business license fee for a domestic nonprofit corporation under NRS chapter 82². A nonprofit LLC is different: a nonprofit LLC keeps the state business license unless it has 501(c) status, in which case the fee is not charged¹. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for businesses that operate for profit.

Limited partnership

A limited partnership files a certificate for $75. A limited-liability limited partnership files a registration for $100⁸. The annual list for entities other than corporations is $150, or $200 for an LLLP. As with an LLC, the state business license is paid with the list unless the entity is exempt³. The Secretary of State’s packets do not set out a formation filing for a general partnership.* Check the Secretary of State before you assume a general partnership has nothing to file. The state business license in the next section still applies.

Sole proprietorship

No articles. You need a state business license before conducting business in Nevada, and the fee is $200. Get your EIN before you apply: the Department of Taxation’s start page says you need an EIN before you apply for a business license¹². Because you do not file an annual list, renewal is due the last day of the month of the license anniversary. If you do several kinds of work, one state business license covers a natural person's combination of activities⁵. A name other than your own is a fictitious name.

The license chapter excludes a person who runs the business from home and whose net earnings from it are not more than 66 2/3 percent of the average annual wage for the preceding calendar year. If you claim that exclusion, or another one in the chapter, you file for a certificate of exemption from the Secretary of State, applied for every year⁵ instead. The statute does not print the dollar figure behind that wage line, and it changes each year.* Check the current figure with the Secretary of State before you claim it.

Fictitious names

File a certificate for any assumed or fictitious name that differs from the legal name of each owner. File with the county clerk of each county where the business is conducted, no later than 1 month after the business starts using the name. By statute, the name cannot include Corporation, Inc., Limited-Liability Company, or LLC unless the business actually is that kind of entity. Skipping it is a misdemeanor, and you cannot sue on a contract made under the name until the certificate is filed. Also, a county may, by ordinance, make the certificate expire 5 years after filing⁹. The statute does not print a filing fee.* Ask the county clerk before you pay.

Formed in another state

An LLC formed elsewhere registers for $75. On the form, you declare the company is in good standing where it was formed¹. You need a Nevada registered agent. A corporation uses the same share schedule as a Nevada corporation, plus the license fee for a profit corporation. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed set of articles, an initial list, and a state business license. Under the statute, proof of payment authorizes the company to transact business until the last day of the anniversary month in the next calendar year. You will need the filed articles for an EIN and a bank. The Secretary of State sends the annual notice 90 days before the due date. If the charter is ever revoked, reinstatement needs a new distinguishable name if someone else has taken the old one⁴.