Register your business in Utah

LLCs and corporations file with the Division of Corporations and Commercial Code¹¹. A sole proprietorship has no formation line on the fee schedule. The filing creates the company. Licenses and permits is the step that covers permission to do the work.

What’s different in Utah

• The office is the Division of Corporations, inside the Department of Commerce. You file in the Business Registration System, using a UtahID³. All fees are non-refundable².
• The annual report follows the anniversary month, not a single statewide day. It is due on the last day of the anniversary month, which is the calendar month the formation became effective. You may file up to 60 days before that day. This is the rule unless the division sets a different period by rule⁵. The section that says so took effect October 1, 2026.
• The renewal price on the fee schedule is $18 for an LLC and $18 for a corporation. The LLC and corporation renewal lines are marked as including a 5 dollar surcharge for the state's single sign-on portal¹.
• A DBA is a state filing, called a D.B.A. It is $22¹ and lasts three years from the day of registration¹³. It is not a county filing.
• The linked fee schedule is titled Fiscal Year 2026 and effective July 1, 2025¹. It does not say the figures changed on July 1, 2026. Check the amount on the payment screen before you pay.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Pick an entity compares them. The division will not choose for you.
2. Check the name on the business search. It has to be distinguishable on the division's records. Adding LLC, L.L.C., or "limited liability company" does not make one name different from another⁷. An LLC name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company," or an abbreviation L.L.C., LLC, L.C., or LC. "Limited" may be abbreviated "Ltd." and "company" may be abbreviated "Co." A corporation name must contain "corporation," "incorporated," or "company," or a word of similar import, or an abbreviation such as Corp., Inc., or Co.⁶ Search the web and the federal trademark database too. A state search does not clear a federal trademark.
3. Reserve the name only if you are not ready to file. It is $22¹ and lasts 120 calendar days⁸. You can transfer the reservation. The transfer does not add days.
4. Choose a registered agent. Utah requires one for a domestic filing entity, a registered foreign entity, and a D.B.A.⁹ The address is a street address in Utah, and a Utah mailing address if it is different¹⁴. You can serve if you give that address. A later change filing is $17¹.
5. File the formation document through Utah’s Business Registration System. You will sign in with UtahID and select Formations & Registrations. Most filings are processed immediately, and a filing that needs a manual review can take 5 to 7 business days². The renewal instructions, a different page, say processing is currently 7 to 10 business days³.* Those two pages do not use the same window. The fee schedule lists an expedited processing fee of $75¹ per filing and does not say how much faster that is.
6. File a D.B.A. if the name you will use is not the legal name. Select the DBA filing option in the Business Registration System. The deadline and fee are below.
7. Put the anniversary month on a calendar. The report can be filed early. The window is below and on Stay compliant.

By structure

LLC

File a Certificate of Organization for $59¹. The company is formed when the certificate of organization becomes effective and at least one person becomes a member. The certificate states the name, the street and mailing address of the principal office, and the registered-agent information. If the company will have a series with limited liabilities, the certificate has to include notice of that limit. A professional services company has to include the information in section 16-20-903 on the certificate¹⁰. If you are not sure the work is a professional service, check with a legal professional before you use that path.

The annual report is due on the last day of the anniversary month, which is the calendar month the formation became effective. You may file up to 60 days before that day. This is the rule unless the division sets a different period by rule. The anniversary month is the calendar month in which the formation becomes effective, or, for a company formed elsewhere, the month its Utah registration takes effect⁵. The section says “each calendar year.” It does not say the first report waits until the year after formation.* Use the date the filing system shows. The renewal fee on the schedule is $18. The LLC and corporation renewal lines are marked as including a 5 dollar surcharge for the state's single sign-on portal. A late renewal is listed at $10¹. The schedule does not say on which day that late fee starts.* Check the total in the portal.

The division may start administrative dissolution if the annual report is still unfiled 60 days after it is due, if a required fee is unpaid for six months, or if the company has no registered agent for 60 days in a row¹⁵. The company then has 60 days after the division serves notice, to fix the problem or show that it does not exist. If that does not happen, the division signs a statement of administrative dissolution. The company still exists, but it may only wind up or apply for reinstatement¹⁶. The statute in force since October 1, 2026 is the rule, and it calls this administrative dissolution. The division’s LLC page still says a delinquent status is fixed by renewing online, and an expired status is fixed by reinstating⁴. Read the notice you receive. It lists each condition you have to fix.

Reinstatement is listed at $54. The same schedule says a reinstatement also costs 18 dollars for each year the renewal or annual report was missed, plus a 10 dollar delinquency fee. It does not say whether the listed fee already includes one of those years.* Check the total before you pay. You may apply at any time after the dissolution if the name is still available. The company keeps the name for five years after the dissolution takes effect. Every application, an LLC’s included, has to state that the company has paid any tax, fee, or penalty it owes the State Tax Commission, or is current on a payment plan with it¹⁷. The Tax Commission certification under Corporation below names corporations and nonprofits, not LLCs. You file the application for reinstatement online. Voluntary dissolution is no charge. A short-form certificate of existence is $12. A long form is $20¹.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation for $59. The name must contain "corporation," "incorporated," or "company," or a word of similar import, or an abbreviation such as Corp., Inc., or Co.⁶ The annual report uses the same anniversary-month rule. The renewal fee on the schedule is $18. Reinstatement of a domestic corporation is $54¹. For a business corporation, a nonprofit, a benefit corporation, or a professional corporation, the division reinstates only after the State Tax Commission certifies that the company is in good standing¹⁷.

S corporation status is a federal election on Form 2553¹⁸. Utah’s treatment of that election is on Get your tax IDs. This page does not pick the election.

Nonprofit

File articles for $59. Reinstatement of a domestic nonprofit is $30¹, and the Tax Commission good-standing step above applies. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS.

Partnership

The fee schedule lists a general partnership filing at $27, a limited liability partnership statement of qualification at $70, and a limited partnership certificate at $70¹. Use the line that matches the structure you chose. A general partnership is not formed the way an LLC is formed by a certificate.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. You still register for the taxes that apply on Get your tax IDs, and you still check local licenses. A name other than your own is the D.B.A. below.

Business names

A D.B.A. is a person doing business in Utah under a name that is different from that person's legal name. The D.B.A. chapter does not apply to a corporation or a limited liability company that does business under its true name. True name means the legal name¹¹. File no later than 30 days after the business starts operating under that name. The fee is $22. It lasts three years from the day of registration. Renewal is $18, beginning 60 days before it expires. If it is not renewed, the division notifies the registered agent. If it is still not renewed within 30 days after that notice, the registration is permanently expired and someone else may claim the name¹³. Cancellation is no charge¹. A D.B.A. has to keep a registered agent. The filing does not decide a trademark dispute. The certificate has to carry a notice that approval does not authorize a name that violates someone else’s rights.

Formed in another state

A foreign LLC registers for $59. A foreign business corporation registers for $59¹. You still need a Utah registered agent, and you still file the annual report on the anniversary of the Utah registration. Foreign entities and DBAs cannot reinstate¹⁹. If you are not sure the work counts as doing business in Utah, check with a legal professional. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

Utah also has a decentralized autonomous organization filing, at $300¹. That is a different statute from an LLC. Use it only if that is the structure you chose.

What you get back

A filed company you can use for your EIN and your bank, once the certificate is effective and, for an LLC, at least one person is a member. A certificate of existence is a separate order. The annual report is the filing that keeps the company in good standing. State tax accounts are a separate step on Get your tax IDs.