Indiana Certificate of Authority

In this Article:

• How to Get a Certificate of Authority in Indiana
• When do you Need an Indiana Certificate of Authority?
• Indiana Annual Report Requirements

Related: Get an Indiana Registered Agent

If your company was not incorporated in Indiana, but you wish to do business there, you need to file a Foreign Registration Statement with the state.

Acquiring Indiana Foreign Qualification allows a company formed in Delaware or any other state to legally transact business in Indiana.

Please note: information on this page is accurate to the best of our knowledge. However, requirements and costs can be changed by states at any time and Harvard Business Services cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

How to Get an Indiana Certificate of Authority:

The Indiana Secretary of State makes things simple by requiring the same form (Foreign Registration Statement, State Form 56369) to be filed regardless of the entity type. Additionally, most LLCs and corporations pay the same fee for this filing: $125. Non-profit corporations pay a reduced fee of $75.

All entities must also provide a Certificate of Good Standing from their home state, dated within 60 days of the Indiana filing.

Finally, you must also appoint and list an Indiana Registered Agent, which must be maintained at all times. We can provide this service at a cost of just $99/year.

Harvard Business Services can assist with your application so you don’t have to deal with the Indiana Secretary of State directly. We do charge our own fee for this service, in addition to state fees. The exact fee can vary based upon whether your company is already filed and whether you need us to obtain additional documents to meet the state’s requirements. Please contact us for an exact quote.

How Do I Know If I Need Authority to Do Business in Indiana?

Indiana maintains its corporate statutes on the website of the Indiana General Assembly. There, you can view the state’s business regulations, which include some examples of activities that do not constitute transacting business. This list is similar to those provided by other states and include activities such as:

• maintaining accounts in financial institutions;
• selling through independent contractors;
• conducting an isolated transaction completed within thirty (30) days that is not conducted in the course of repeated transactions of a like nature;
• if the entity is a nonprofit corporation, soliciting funds if otherwise authorized by Indiana law

[source: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/laws/2019/ic/titles/023#23-0.5-5]

This is not an exhaustive list and there may be additional activities that do not constitute doing business.

Keep in mind that even if an Indiana Certificate of Authority us not required for a specific activity, a bank, vendor or another party can still require one in order to establish a relationship.

Indiana Annual Requirements

Once you have Indiana Foreign Qualification, state law requires a biennial report to be filed by all corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships every two years.

Regardless of the entity type, the filing fee for the biennial report is $50 ($20 for non-profits). Reports and fees are due every other year in the anniversary month of the business’s registration in Indiana.

Please note that this requirement is independent from requirements you may have in Delaware or other states.