Register Your Nebraska Foreign Corporation

First thing’s first, you’ll need to check to see if your corporate name is available in Nebraska. To find out, complete a free business name search and enter your corporation’s name. You’ll also need to make sure your business name complies with state law (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-230). Even if you think your existing business name is available, you can play it safe by listing an alternate name on your registration. Nebraska will only registered your business with the alternate name if your real company name is not accepted.

All corporations that do business in Nebraska must follow state law and appoint a registered agent. Your Nebraska registered agent must have an address in the state (not a P.O. Box) and be available during business hours to accept official mail (lawsuits, legal filings, official state mail, etc…).

Keep it simple and hire Northwest as your registered agent. We have offices in every state (including DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam), which means as your business expands into new territory, we’ve got you covered. Even better, we offer bulk discounts once you hit five registered agent services.

How customers view your business is one of the most important aspects of business ownership. Everything your business puts out into the world is part of your business identity. If you’re not sure where to begin, we can help you streamline the process. With Northwest, you can build a business website, and get a Nebraska business address and phone number all for free for the first 90 days when you hire us to be your registered agent or register your foreign corporation.

You will need to get a certificate of good standing or existence from your home state prior to registering as a foreign corporation in Nebraska. The certificate of good standing needs to be dated within 60 days of filing your foreign qualification paperwork with Nebraska.

The name of the document you’ll need to file with Nebraska’s Secretary of State is the Application for Certificate of Authority to Transact Business. Once completed, submitted, and processed by the state, your foreign corporation will be ready to do business in Nebraska.

Here’s the information you’ll need to have ready in order to fill out your application:

• Name of corporation
• Trade name of Nebraska corporation if applicable
• Domestic state of incorporation
• Date of incorporation
• Duration of corporation (write perpetual if you don’t plan to end your business)
• Registered agent
• Registered office
• Effective date (if you don’t want your corporation to start right away, put future date here)
• Signature and title of signer

Note: Every filing that a corporation submits to Nebraska’s Secretary of State must be signed by the chairperson of the board of directors, the president, or one of the officers of the corporation.

Once Nebraska’s Secretary of State has processed your application, they’ll send you confirmation that your corporation now has permission to do business in the state. If you filed online, you’ll receive a confirmation email. In person filers will receive notice while they wait. Mailed filings will receive their Certificate of Authority by mail.

Nebraska corporations, foreign and domestic, will need to file a biennial report and be aware of state corporate income taxes. Here’s what that looks like.

Income Tax: As of 2024, Nebraska taxes corporations at a 5.8% rate up to $100,000 of income. Any dollar of income over $100,000 is taxed at 7.25%. However, Nebraska aims to remove the higher tax rate and change to flat a 5.2% rate by 2025, and then 4.55% by 2026, before finally bottoming out at 3.99% by 2027.

Nebraska Biennial Report: Nebraska’s biennial report is due March 1st in even years. If you file in an even numbered year, before the due date, you don’t have to file the first year. For example, if you formed a corporation on February 1st 2024, you don’t have to file the report until March 1st 2026. A foreign corporation’s biennial report fee is based on the total value of property owned within the state. The minimum payment is $52. (Check our property owned vs. amount owed.)