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DQ News: Are You Operating Your Business in Multiple States? What You Need to Know

As a small business owner, it can sometimes feel like you’re expected to be an expert in tax and state law. One common area of confusion and misconception is conducting business in multiple states. By law, if your company plans to conduct business in any other states than your state of incorporation (or LLC formation), then you may need to register your business in those states. This process is called foreign qualification.

For example…

• You have a restaurant in Florida and decide to expand into Georgia and South Carolina. Once you have locations open in those states, you’re doing business there and will need to file a foreign qualification in both Georgia and South Carolina.
• You incorporated your business as a Delaware LLC, but are physically located in New York. You’ll need to file a foreign qualification to conduct business in New York. (For this reason, it’s often best for small companies with fewer than five shareholders to incorporate in their home state.)
• You live in Washington and your business partner lives in California. You incorporated your company in Washington, but recently your partner has been finding and meeting with the bulk of your clients near his home in California. You’ll need to file a foreign qualification in California.
• You’re a consultant who performs the majority of your work online, with clients in multiple states. In this case, you do not need to file a foreign qualification. Just because you’re making money from clients in other states doesn’t mean you’re transacting business there, according to the law.

What is meant by “doing business?”

In today’s mobile/virtual world, it can be difficult to know just what constitutes doing business in a state. If you’re uncertain whether your particular business needs to foreign qualify, you should check with your attorney or accountant. However, here are some general questions to answer:

• Does your LLC or corporation operate out of any physical presence in the state (i.e. office or retail store)?
• Are you frequently conducting in-person meeting with clients in the state (and not just conducting business via email/phone)?
• Does a significant portion of your company’s revenue come from the state?
• Do any of your employees work in the state? Do you pay state payroll taxes?
• Did you apply for a business license in the state?

If you answered yes to any of these, your business may need to file a foreign qualification in the appropriate state.

Why is a foreign qualification important?

Foreign qualifying your company in states where you conduct business is your legal obligation. Failing to properly register your company could result in:

• Fines and interest for any time when you were not foreign qualified (in addition to paying the standard fees that should have been paid)
• Liability for back taxes for the time when you were not foreign qualified
• Inability to sue in a state where you are not registered

You’ll want to foreign qualify in as few of states as possible. After all, with each foreign qualification comes filing and/or annual fees, additional laws to learn, and added paperwork. However, you simply can’t overlook your business’s legal requirement to foreign qualify; it could end up costing you much more in the long run.

From Small Business Trends

Are You Operating Your Business in Multiple States? What You Need to Know

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