Frequently Asked
Questions About
Starting a North
Carolina LLC

There are several different options when it comes to starting a business in North Carolina. From a legal perspective, there are three main types of North Carolina for-profit business entities: LLCs, S Corporations or C Corporations. For many entrepreneurs, Bizee believes an LLC provides the right mix of liability protection and ease of administration.

In order to form an LLC in the state of North Carolina, there are some minimum requirements you must meet. These are a completed set of Articles of Organization, a business name and a fee you pay to the North Carolina Secretary of State. We recommend taking some other steps before formally starting your LLC:

• Research your target market to make sure there’s a demand for the products and services you provide.
• Read industry guides to give you a starting point in your niche.
• Create a comprehensive business plan that defines the most important aspects of your North Carolina business.
• Write an Operating Agreement that covers how you will run your LLC.

After you’ve formed your North Carolina LLC, you will also need to review your business license requirements, understand ongoing filing needs, set up a separate business bank account and get an accountant.

In North Carolina, you register a business by completing and filing your Articles of Organization with the North Carolina Secretary of State. You will need to gather pertinent information about your business, fill out the form and send it to the Secretary of State with your filing fee. This will officially form your LLC in North Carolina.

You can file your Articles of Organization on the Secretary of State website or mail it in. Alternatively, Bizee can guide you through every step of the process by getting details from you and filing the form on your behalf — for free! There’s no additional charge for our basic LLC filing service, so all you need to do is pay the North Carolina state filing fee.

At the time of writing the fee charged by the North Carolina Secretary of State is $125. You can always check the latest Wyoming filing fees here. You can also pay an additional $100 or $200 for expedited filing through Bizee, which will create your LLC faster. The amount of the expedited fee is dependent on how quickly you want your filing processed. Some LLC filing services do charge you extra to prepare and submit your filing documents, but at Bizee, we do this for free — so you only pay the state fee.

Once you’ve gathered all of your information together and filed your Articles of Organization (or had Bizee do it for you), it can take 3-5 business days for the North Carolina Secretary of State to legally create your LLC. If you pay an additional $100 or $200 expedited fee, your LLC can be formed in as few as 24 hours or the same day, respectively.

The name of your North Carolina LLC needs to be unique, so you’ll need to check if it's already been claimed by another business. You can do that via the North Carolina Secretary of State website, or by using our fast and simple Business Name Search tool.

There are a few ways to register your North Carolina LLC name.

• If you’re forming a new business and your business name is unique in North Carolina and meets state naming rules, you simply include it in your Articles of Organization.
• If you want to change the legal name of your business, file an Amendment of Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State.
• If you just want to do business under a different name, file an Assumed Business Name Certificate with your local register or deeds office, or we can do that on your behalf.

If you want to prevent people from using your business name across the U.S., you can file a trademark for the name. We can help.

In several other states, the formal documents that you file to form a corporation or LLC might be known as Articles of Incorporation. In North Carolina, this document is called your Articles of Organization, and it performs the same functions as the Articles of Incorporation.

No, the State of North Carolina does not permit the formation of a Series LLC. A Series LLC is a special type of LLC where you create one “overall” business and then have individual, series LLCs within it, each counted as separate legal entities.

Yes, all legal business entities in North Carolina, including LLCs, must have a Registered Agent at all times. When you use Bizee for your filing, we provide a free North Carolina Registered Agent service for the first year.

If you wish to change your North Carolina Registered Agent you can do so by filing a Statement of Change with the Secretary of State. Here at Bizee, we provide a free North Carolina Registered Agent service for the first year if you file through us. If you’ve been using a different Registered Agent and want to switch to us, we’ll file the Statement of Change on your behalf.

If you need to know the Registered Agent of a specific North Carolina business, you can perform a North Carolina Registered Agent search within the state's business database.

As an LLC, any business profits you earn will be reported on your personal 1040 filing and reported and taxed as “pass-through” income. You will typically need to pay:

• Self-employment or payroll tax on all business profits
• Federal income tax on profits after you meet your tax-free allowance
• Sales tax for selling taxable products and services

North Carolina charges a 4.75 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods. You may also need to pay sales tax if you provide a taxable service, or additional sales tax if you sell or provide certain products or services. You can find a full list of NC sales and use tax rates here.

You will need to register as a sales tax vendor with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. You can complete this process online.

The base rate for North Carolina sales tax is 4.75 percent, and there may be additional sales tax depending on your region, county or city. Once you know your overall sales tax amount, calculate the value of all your taxable products and services. Then, multiply that by your sales tax rate to understand how much you will need to pay.

Once your LLC’s sales tax registration with North Carolina Department of Revenue is approved, you will receive instructions on how often you must file a sales tax return and pay sales taxes. Returns and payments may be due monthly, quarterly or annually.

Some businesses will need to pay a corporate franchise tax in North Carolina, however it does not apply to LLCs unless your LLC is treated as a C Corporation for tax purposes.

If you're forming a business in North Carolina you'll likely need a business license of some kind in order to operate. The types of business licenses you need will vary depending on your type of business, industry, location and various other factors. We can research the types of business licenses you might need for you.