Register Your Mississippi Foreign Corporation
A Mississippi foreign corporation is a corporation that does business both in the state it was originally formed in and Mississippi. All foreign corporations must registered paperwork with Mississippi to legally conduct business. In order to register as a Mississippi foreign corporation, you'll need to file a Mississippi Certificate of Authority with the Mississippi Secretary of State. This costs $500 for a profit corporation and $100 for a non-profit corporation. You'll also need to attach a certificate of good standing.
You can follow our comprehensive guide below to register as a foreign corporation on your own. If you’d rather skip the headache, we can handle the paperwork for you.
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GET STARTEDHow to Register as a Foreign Corporation in Mississippi
To legally register as a foreign corporation in Mississippi, your business must go through a process called foreign qualification. This tells the state of Mississippi that you are legally operating within its boundaries.
Foreign qualification is not the same as starting a new Mississippi business. Your business itself is the same, but your business range expands to a new jurisdiction. Some of the steps are similar to registering a new business, but there are less of them. For instance, you don’t have to create bylaws.
Below you’ll find the steps for registering as a foreign corporation in Mississippi.
1. Name Your Mississippi Corporation
You need to register your business name in Mississippi. Having it registered in your home state is good, but it doesn’t mean it’s available for use in Mississippi. Conduct a free business name search to make sure your corporation’s name is available. If someone else in Mississippi is already using it, you’ll have to come up with a new name that is available but easily linked to your current name.
If you’re not quite ready to register as a foreign business, that’s fine. You can reserve your business name in Mississippi for $25.
Want to make sure your business name is used only by you? Consider getting a federal trademark to secure the name in your industry.
2. Designate a Registered Agent
A Mississippi registered agent is someone who accepts legal mail on your company’s behalf. Since the registered agent must be located within the state to receive legal mail, including lawsuits, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to act as your own registered agent in this case.
However, at Northwest, we offer comprehensive registered agent services for every state. You can simplify things by using a single registered agent.
3. Start Your Business Identity
Once your business is legal in the new state, you’ll want to be ready to make sales. Forming your business identity, or the way you present yourself to your potential clients, can prepare customers for your upcoming products and services.
Maybe you’ve never started getting your business out there. Now’s a great chance to start a business website or get a custom business email address.
Perhaps you already have a digital presence, but now you want to make it easier for out-of-state people to find you, and start building awareness and a trustworthy reputation in your new territory. Consider getting a phone service that has the local area code or a local business address to use on documents where possible. Either way, make sure your business has a way to market itself in the new state, especially if you are not opening a physical location.
4. Get certificate of good standing
A certificate of good standing (also known as a certificate of existence) shows that your corporation is in compliance with its home state and has no outstanding taxes due. The process for receiving a certificate of good standing depends on your home state. The one you submit to Mississippi must be an original copy dated within 60 days of registering.
5. Submit Mississippi Certificate of Authority
The certificate of good standing or existence must be submitted alongside your Mississippi Certificate of Authority filing. The latter form costs $100 for non-profits and $500 for for-profit corporations.
Your form should include:
- Type of corporation (profit or nonprofit)
- Corporation name
- Future effective date, if applicable
- Original state or jurisdiction
- Street address of principal address
- Date of incorporation
- Period of duration (applicable if your business has a set end date)
- Mississippi registered agent name and address
- Name, title and business address for officers and directors
- Name corporation will be using in Mississippi
- Corporation officer signature
You can submit online or by mail.
Mississippi generally processes online filings within 24 hours of receiving them. The state typically processes mailed filings in 2-3 business days, plus additional time for mailing. There is no expedited option.
In Mississippi, you are required to set up a Registered Filer account on the Secretary of State website before you can submit your Articles of Incorporation. When you create your account, you will need to provide your name, contact information, and the last four digits of your social security number. Once you’ve created an online account, you can either complete your filing online or print the form and mail it along with a check.
Online:
Business Services Portal
By Mail:
Secretary of State
Office of Business Services
PO Box 136
Jackson, MS, 39205-0136.
6. Submit Mississippi Reports and Taxes
Your foreign corporation will now have taxes and reports to file independent of the ones filed in your home state.
Annual Report: Your Mississippi annual report is due April 15. There is no charge for foreign corporations, and the report can only be filed online.
Corporate Taxes: Mississippi’s corporate net income tax maxes out at 5%.
Franchise Tax: The corporate franchise tax applies to C and S corporations. The tax is $2.25 per $1,000 of either the company’s capital employed in excess of $100,000, or assessed property value in Mississippi, whichever is greater. The minimum corporate franchise tax is $25.
Mississippi Foreign Corporation FAQs
You can file an Application for Amended Certificate of Authority via the Business Services Portal. The cost is $50.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about what counts as doing business in Mississippi. That said, generally if you are providing services or products in exchange for money, that is conducting business.
For more information, check out our resource on what it means to do business in another state.
No. When you file online, you just have to certify that the registered agent was notified and accepted the appointment.
The chairman of the board, the president, or another of the officers of the corporation must sign the form.
County filing or publication is not necessary, unless specifically required by the county in which your registered agent resides.
We sure can. Our foreign qualification package is $225 + state fees. You can also add additional services, like premium mail forwarding and a custom website our experts can help you make, for a free trial.