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In Rhode Island the business registry is kept by the Business Services Division of the Department of State. Its search tool is the Corporate Database, which covers active and inactive businesses at no cost. You can search by entity name, a person such as an officer or director, the registered agent, the identification or filing number, the business address, the stated purpose or the NAICS code. Many people search for a "Rhode Island secretary of state business search", and the Business Services Division of the Department of State is where to run it.
Rhode Island LLC and corporation search tips
The division publishes its own search guide, and its tips save time:
- Name, individual and address searches need at least the first two letters or numbers.
- Begins with is the default name search. Exact match does not ignore entity endings or punctuation, so an exact search for "Ocean State Bakery" will not return "Ocean State Bakery, LLC".
- Full text search accepts AND, OR and the * wildcard, for example cust* and des*.
- Soundex returns names that sound alike, which helps with spelling variants.
- For a registered agent, begins with needs the name exactly as filed. Use contains for a partial name.
- Add leading zeros when you search by identification number.
Search the active database first. It also keeps businesses revoked for less than a year. Older and closed records sit in the inactive database. Trade names, the state's version of a DBA, are kept in a separate Trade Name Database. Our DBA search guide covers that side.
Reading a Rhode Island record and its status
Open a result to see the entity's details, its filings and its standing. The word that matters most is Revoked. Under the division's revoked entities guidance, a business is revoked when it fails to file an annual report, pay taxes or a filing fee, or keep a registered agent or office. Revocation is not a dissolution. The business keeps owing annual reports and the $400 minimum tax until it is formally closed.
Getting back to good standing takes two agencies. First you apply to the RI Division of Taxation for a Letter of Good Standing, with a $50 check. Then you file the Department of State's reinstatement forms with that letter. When the reinstatement goes through, the Revoked label comes off the record. Our business entity status guide compares these labels with other states.
Name rules and holding a name in Rhode Island
An LLC's legal name must end with "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company". The state's standard is "distinguishable upon the record", set out in its Name Availability Guidelines. A name fails that test if the only difference is:
- an article, a plural, or an obvious misspelling (Boyz vs. Boys)
- an abbreviation, such as RI Appraisers, LLC vs. Rhode Island Appraisers, LLC
- a variation of the same word, or a different entity ending
- an added number without consent, punctuation, capitalization or spacing
- a number written as a digit, a Roman numeral or a word
Corporate names are checked only against active records in the Corporate Database. Trade names are checked against the trade name records for one city or town. Either way, the search is preliminary and the final determination is made at filing. If you want to hold a name, the LLC filing guide points to a Reservation of Entity Name for $50, which holds the name for 120 days. Our LLC name search guide explains how to test variants before you commit.
Annual reports, tax and certificates
LLCs, business corporations and partnerships file an annual report starting the calendar year after they register. The window is February 1 to May 1. The LLC report costs $50, with a $2.50 enhanced access fee shown for online filing. A $25 late fee is applied on June 1. The report holds no financial or ownership information. Each January the state mails a courtesy reminder to the registered agent, so keep that address current. File on the annual report page.
Separately, every incorporated business owes at least the $400 minimum corporate tax to the RI Division of Taxation each tax year. It applies even if the business did nothing and made no profit.
Formation costs $150 for an LLC, $230 for a business corporation, $35 for a non-profit and $150 to register a foreign LLC. The department says it processes filings within two business days.
Proof of standing comes as a Certificate of Status, ordered from the entity's record. It costs $22 online, or $7 for a non-profit. Other types confirm legal existence, or that a business was dissolved, withdrawn, canceled or revoked. A certificate does not prove taxes are paid, and anyone can check that a certificate is genuine with the department's verify tool. See our certificate of good standing guide for when you need one.
Free weekly data on new Rhode Island entities
Rhode Island posts a free Weekly Export of New Entities. Each file lists the businesses formed the week before as ASCII tab delimited text, with field names on the first line. It covers new filings only, so it suits lead lists better than a full copy of the register.
Registered agent in Rhode Island
A Rhode Island registered agent, which the state also calls a resident agent, must be a Rhode Island resident or an entity qualified to do business in the state. The agent needs a Rhode Island street address and has to be available there during normal business hours to accept service of process. The Department of State says PO boxes and shipping or postal company addresses, including virtual business addresses, do not meet the standard.
The agent's name and address show on the public record. An owner who serves as agent from home therefore lists a home address as the resident office, so some owners pick someone else. Being named agent gives no ownership or decision power in the business.
Changing the agent's name costs $20, and changing the agent's address is free, according to the state's LLC filing guide. Each January the department mails the annual report reminder to the registered agent, so keep that address current. A business that fails to keep an agent or office can be revoked, and a revoked business still owes its reports and the $400 minimum tax.
Our Rhode Island LLC page shows where the agent fits in the Articles of Organization, and how to be your own registered agent covers the do-it-yourself route.
Starting a company here? Read our guide on how to start an LLC in Rhode Island.
Business license in Rhode Island
The Rhode Island Department of State forms businesses and registers trade names. The pages we read do not describe a general state business license, and the Department's certificate of status says it does not show that tax duties are met. Tax registration is the next office.
The Department's start a business page sends you to the Division of Taxation after formation. Incorporated businesses owe at least the state's $400 minimum corporate tax each tax year, even if no business was done. If you have employees or make retail sales, you complete the Division's Business Application and Registration form online to create sales and unemployment tax accounts. Without employees or retail sales, an account is created when you file your first business tax return.
The Division's Taxpayer Portal is where you pay taxes, apply for a Letter of Good Standing and renew a tax license, according to the same page. The Department's trade name page says the Business Application and Registration form also gets you a retail sales permit.
We did not read city or town licensing rules or any professional board. Ask your city or town hall and the board for your trade. Our Rhode Island LLC page covers formation, and business license lookup covers general lookups.