Register your business in New Jersey

LLCs, corporations, nonprofits and limited partnerships form with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. Sole proprietors and general partnerships don’t form anything. Forming is only the first of two filings in New Jersey: the second, Form NJ-REG, registers the business for taxes, and it is covered in Get your tax IDs.

What’s different in New Jersey

• Forming and registering for taxes are two separate filings. The Division’s order is get an EIN first, then file the certificate of formation, then Form NJ-REG. Every business does the tax registration, sole proprietors included.
• The annual report is due on the last day of the month in which the business completed its formation. It is easy to lose track of. The state may not send a reminder, and the penalty is revocation after two consecutive missed annual reports. Stay compliant has the details.
• Your filed documents are downloaded, not mailed. The Division’s annual report portal says its documents are downloaded from the online confirmation page, since they are not mailed. Look for the same download link on your formation confirmation page.*

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership skips to step 7. Licensed professionals have their own rules for professional corporations and professional LLCs, which we could not confirm here.* Check with your licensing board and the Division before you file.
2. Check the name. New Jersey requires a name that is not the same as, or similar to, another active entity. Review names on file through the Division’s business name check: free to review names online; a phone check at 609-292-9292 carries a fee. Check the web and the federal trademark database too.
3. Reserving the name is optional. It holds a name before you file. An LLC name or a corporate name reservation costs $50. Business.NJ.gov says reserved names are available for 6 months, but the Division’s own page says the length depends on the type of business. Check the official source for your entity type before you rely on a date.*
4. Choose a registered agent. A registered agent is required, and it can be the owner or someone else with a New Jersey address. Register Your Business explains the role.
5. File the certificate online. Use the New Jersey Business Formation online service (njportal.com). The Getting Registered page lists each filing. The fee depends on your structure (below). We found no published processing time for online formations, so check the official source for current timing.* Your formation document displays a 10-digit Entity ID.
6. Get an EIN once the entity is on file. The IRS says to form your entity through the secretary of state before you apply for an EIN, and warns that applying earlier can delay the EIN. The Division’s Getting Registered page lists the order the other way round, get an EIN first, then file the certificate of formation, then Form NJ-REG, so you may see both. Either way the EIN comes before Form NJ-REG, and the IRS issues it immediately online. It is free from the IRS. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
7. File an alternate name or trade name if you use one. An LLC, corporation or LP files Form C-150G with the Division for $50, good for five years, renewable for five-year periods. Register it before you use it: the late charge is $50 for each year the name was in use. A sole proprietor or general partnership files a trade name with the County Clerk's office in the county where the business is located. We could not confirm the county fee or term, so ask the clerk.* The alternate names page has the form.
8. Register for taxes with Form NJ-REG. It is a separate filing, covered in Get your tax IDs.
9. Calendar the annual report. It is due on the last day of the month in which the business completed its formation, every year.

Faster filing

Expedited service is for fax, in-person and courier filings only. It gives 8.5 business hours processing for $25 per LLC filing, and the corporation, nonprofit and LP fee is on the alternate names and expedited service page. A same-day fax filing costs $50 and a two-hour filing costs $500 per document, both listed on the fee schedule. Expediting is not available for a corporation’s annual report.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of formation ($100). The LLC then files an annual report every year, $75, due on the last day of the month in which the business completed its formation. If the LLC is taxed as a partnership with more than two members, New Jersey also charges a yearly filing fee for each member. Stay compliant has the amount and due date.

Corporation

File a Certificate of Incorporation ($100). The corporation files an annual report every year, $75, due on the last day of the month in which the business completed its formation, and owes a minimum Corporation Business Tax even in a year with no profit. S corp or C corp status is a tax choice, not a different formation filing.

Nonprofit

File a Certificate of incorporation ($50). The annual report is $30. We could not confirm the nonprofit due date, so don’t assume it matches the LLC month.* Check the annual report portal. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. The rest of this series is written for businesses, so the tax, licensing and funding pages may not fit a nonprofit. Check with a legal professional for the nonprofit steps.

Partnership

A general partnership files no formation document. It registers for taxes with Form NJ-REG and, if its partners use a trade name, files it with the County Clerk's office in the county where the business is located. A limited partnership files a Certificate of limited partnership ($100). A limited liability partnership files a Certificate of formation ($100) and an annual report ($75).

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. If you don’t form another entity, you are a sole proprietor automatically. You still register for taxes: Form NJ-REG, with no formation filing first. If you use a name other than your own, file a trade name with the County Clerk's office in the county where the business is located.

Formed in another state

A business formed elsewhere registers in New Jersey before doing business here. A foreign LLC files a Certificate of registration ($100), a foreign corporation files a Certificate of authority ($100), and a foreign nonprofit pays $100. You need a Good Standing Certificate from your home state. The name rule is the exact name on the home-state formation document, unless it is taken in New Jersey. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

Watch out for look-alike offers

The Division’s warning concerns private companies that offer to prepare and file formation and annual report forms for a fee. File directly with the state, and check the total when you file.

What you get back

A filed business gets a Certificate of Formation or Certificate of Authority that displays your Entity ID. Save it from the confirmation page: you need it for your bank account and, in New Jersey, your tax registration. The business also appears in the state’s public records.