Start a Corporation in Arizona

Yes. Arizona DBAs last five years. You can renew for another five years by filing online for a Trade Name Renewal and paying the $10 fee.

If you are just starting your business, then you can become your own statutory agent right away. When you are filing your formation documents, there is a spot available for you to fill in your statutory agent’s information—simply put your name and street address in that space, and you’re then your business’s statutory agent.

If you have already formed your Arizona LLC or Arizona corporation and wish to become your own statutory agent, the process is pretty straightforward. You will file a Statement of Change form. There are different forms for LLCs and corporations. For LLCs, this is three-page document with a $5 fee. For corporations, there’s a slightly different form with no fee. On both forms, there is a place for you to write your name and street address as the new statutory agent.

Yes! There are a couple of ways you can do that.

• File a Registered Agent Statement of Change form with the Arizona Division of Corporations.
• The change form is available instantly if you place an order with us.
• It’s a simple process, but if you’d like more specifics, visit our guide on how to change your registered agent in Arizona.

You can file Arizona articles online, by mail or in person. For online filings, you’ll need to create an account with eCorp (the Arizona Corporation Commission’s online filing system). Paper filings must be submitted with a cover sheet to:

Arizona Corporation Commission
Corporate Filings Section
1300 W. Washington St., Phoenix, Arizona 85007

Once the Arizona Corporations Commission approves your Articles of Incorporation, they will send you a Notice of Publication form. This is a form that you’ll need to complete and send to your local newspaper. To fill it out, you’ll need to provide the following information about your corporation:

• Business name
• File number
• Business addresses
• Statutory agent name and addresses

Once you’ve completed the Notice of Publication, you’ll send it to a newspaper in the county where your statutory agent is located, ask them to run it in three consecutive issues, and pay the publication fee.

After your publication has run in three issues, the newspaper should send you an Affidavit of Publication, which is your proof that you’ve met the publication requirement. If for some reason you don’t receive an Affidavit of Publication within a month or so, call the newspaper to request it.

Once you have received the Affidavit of Publication, you can either file it with the Arizona Corporations Commission or you keep it with your company’s records. Keep in mind that if you file it, the information it contains (including member names and addresses) will become part of the public record.

The Arizona Corporations Commission will accept your Affidavit of Publication either by email or by mail. Be sure to include your corporation’s name, file number, and your contact information in your request.

If you don’t publish your corporation within 60 days of receiving a Notice of Publication from the Arizona Corporations Commission, your corporation could be administratively dissolved.

You can get an EIN directly from the IRS. The application is free, and most businesses can apply online. However, if you don’t have a social security number, you’ll need to submit a paper application form. Can’t bear to fill out yet another application? Hire Northwest to get your EIN for you. Just add on EIN service during checkout when you sign up for our incorporation service.

New corporations must provide information about each beneficial owner and their company applicant. (Corporations formed before 2024 don’t need to give company applicant information.) You’ll also need to provide some basic company information.

Beneficial owner and company applicant information: 

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Residential or business street address
• Personal identification document (such as a driver’s license or passport), including the ID number

Company information:

• Legal business name
• Any DBAs/fictitious business names
• Business street address
• State of incorporation
• Employer Identification Number (EIN)

Yes. Any time information that’s required on the BOI Report changes, (such as the chief officers, company name, or address) you’ll need to file an updated report within 30 days. You can file your updated report for free through FinCEN’s E-Filing system.

No. Unlike the information on your Arizona Articles of Incorporation, your BOI Report won’t be publicly available. The only groups that will be able to access BOI Report information are US government agencies, law enforcement, and financial institutions (for customer verification purposes).

Yes, there are 23 classes of exemption from the BOI Report. The most common exemptions include:

• Large operating companies
• Most financial companies, such as banks and credit unions
• Investment companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Insurance companies registered with a state or federal agency
• Public utilities companies registered with a state or federal agency
• Tax-exempt entities

Corporate bylaws cover basic policies and procedures for issues such as company finances and management. Bylaws should cover a range of topics, answering key questions like those below:

• Meetings: When and where will meetings for shareholders and directors be held? How many attendees are required to transact business? What are the procedures for voting or proxy voting? How do you call a special meeting? What actions can be taken without a meeting?

• Stock: How are stock certificates issued and transferred? How is voting affected by issues such as corporate stock owners or fractional shares?

• Directors and officers: How many directors must there be? Which officer positions are required? What powers do they have? How do you fill a vacancy or remove a director or officer?

• Finances: What are the procedures for retaining profits, issuing dividends, and paying bills? Who can withdraw money from the corporate bank account or sign checks?

• Records: Where is the corporate book to be kept? What information will be maintained? How are requests for review or access honored? Can records or copies be kept or distributed digitally?

• Amendments and emergencies: Who can amend bylaws and how? Can emergency bylaws be adopted in the case of disaster?

According to AZ Rev Stat § 10-206 (2019), bylaws can make other provisions as well, assuming additions are in accordance with state law. For example, AZ Rev Stat § 10-627 (2019) states that Arizona bylaws can restrict the transfer of shares.

Creating bylaws can be overwhelming—where do you start? Northwest can help. We give you free corporate bylaws when you hire us to form your Arizona corporation. We know what kinds of topics and questions corporations need to address, and we’ve spent years refining and improving our forms. We offer many other free corporate forms as well, including templates for resolutions and meeting minutes.

Arizona corporations are required to pay a $45 filing fee to submit their report each year. Forget to file? There’s a $9 a month penalty. After 90 days unpaid, the ACC will send you a Notice of Pending Administrations Dissolution. Roughly 60 days after that, the state will dissolve your corporation. Yikes.

The Arizona corporate net income tax rate is a flat 4.9%. There’s a minimum tax of $50.

Arizona has no sales tax per se, but the state has a Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT). This is a gross receipts tax that sellers pay on their income from retail sales. Businesses are allowed to pass the TPT onto customers, so it typically ends up appearing similar to a sales tax. The state TPT rate is 5.6%, but cities and counties can tack on their own TPTs, so the total rate can be as much as double the state rate.