Provenance - District of Columbia fee schedule○Pending review
56 of 65 fee datums on this page are verified against the agency's own published schedule or statute (2026-09-04); the rest are marked pending review in the Status column - portal-surcharge components no official page states, values the official source contradicts (held for a correction package), or sources that could not be reached.
Values were first corroborated across independent internal records; verified cells now also carry the agency's own published schedule or statute as their authority, which is what promotion to verified requires.
Cost position
Ranked 47 of 54 on first-year state
filing cost, at $399.00 against a national median
of $185.00.
Recurring annual cost $550.
See the full ranking.
Where District of Columbia sits among its neighbours in the first-year cost ranking (USD)Show all 54 jurisdictionsThe full ranking with District of Columbia highlighted (USD)
Registered-agent statutes, quoted verbatim
The one section on this page that clears the publication gate in full. 7 citations, verified, quoted from the official code with every elision marked.
D.C. Code § 29-104.02
◎Verified
Registered Agent Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 1, Subchapter IV) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Entities required to designate and maintain registered agent.The following shall designate and maintain a registered agent in the District: (1) A domestic filing entity; (2) A domestic limited liability partnership; and (3) A registered foreign entity.
retrieved 2026-07-29
· confidence medium · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
D.C. Code § 29-104.03
◎Verified
Registered Agent Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 1, Subchapter IV) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Addresses in filings.If a provision of this subchapter other than § 29-104.10(a)(4) requires that a record state an address, the record shall state a: (1) Street address in the District; and (2) Mailing address in the District, if different from the address described in paragraph (1) of this section.
retrieved 2026-07-29
· confidence medium · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
D.C. Code § 29-302.02
◎Verified
Business Organizations Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 3 - Business Corporations) · applies to
corp
Articles of incorporation.(a) The articles of incorporation shall set forth: (1) A corporate name for the corporation that satisfies §§ 29-103.01 and 29-103.02(a); (2) The number of shares the corporation is authorized to issue; (3) The information required by § 29-104.04; and (4) The name and address of each incorporator.
retrieved 2026-08-10
· confidence high · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
D.C. Code § 29-802.01
◎Verified
Uniform Limited Liability Company Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 8) · applies to
LLCs
Formation of limited liability company; certificate of organization.(a) One or more persons may act as organizers to form a limited liability company by signing and delivering to the Mayor for filing a certificate of organization. (b) A certificate of organization shall state: (1) The name of the limited liability company, which shall comply with §§ 29-103.01 and 29-103.02(f); [...] (d) A limited liability company is formed when the Mayor has filed the company's certificate of organization and it becomes effective and at least one person becomes a member.
retrieved 2026-08-10
· confidence high · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
D.C. Code § 29-102.11
◎Verified
Business Organizations Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 1 - General Provisions) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Biennial report for Mayor.(a) Each domestic filing entity and limited liability partnership and registered foreign entity shall deliver to the Mayor for filing a biennial report that sets forth: (1) The name of the entity and its jurisdiction of formation; (2) The name and street and mailing address of the entity's registered agent in the District; [...] (c) The 1st biennial report shall be delivered to the Mayor for filing by April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which the public organic record of the domestic filing entity became effective [...] Subsequent biennial reports shall be delivered to the Mayor by April 1st of each 2nd calendar year thereafter.
retrieved 2026-08-10
· confidence high · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
Grounds.The Mayor may commence a proceeding under § 29-106.02 to dissolve a domestic filing entity administratively if the entity does not: (1) Pay any fee or penalty required to be paid to the Mayor not later than 5 months after it is due; (2) Deliver a biennial report to the Mayor not later than 5 months after it is due; or (3) Have a registered agent in the District for 60 days.
retrieved 2026-08-10
· confidence high · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
D.C. Code § 29-103.02
◎Verified
Business Organizations Act of 2010 (D.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 1, Subchapter III - Entity Names) · applies to
corporations and LLCs
Name requirements for certain types of entities.(a) The name of a business corporation shall contain the word "corporation", "incorporated", "company", or "limited", or the abbreviation "Corp.", "Inc.", "Co.", or "Ltd.", or words or abbreviations of similar import in another language. [...] (f) The name of a limited liability company other than a professional limited liability company shall contain the words "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C.", or "LC". The name of a professional limited liability company shall contain the words "professional limited liability company" or the abbreviation "P.L.L.C." or "PLLC". "Limited" may be abbreviated as "Ltd.", and "company" may be abbreviated as "Co.".
retrieved 2026-08-10
· confidence high · verified
· publisher not linked (commercial code publisher; the citation is the pinpoint)
Two fallbacks: (1) if the entity ceases to have a registered agent or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service by registered/certified mail to the entity's principal office; and (2) if the entity fails to maintain an agent and the server files a declaration that the agent cannot be found, the Mayor becomes the entity's agent for service and forwards a copy to the entity.
What happens if there is no agent
○Pending review
Administrative Dissolution. Being without a registered agent in the District for 60 days is a ground for administrative dissolution of a domestic filing entity; the Mayor gives notice and dissolves if not cured within 60 days.
Revocation Foreign. The Mayor may terminate a registered foreign entity's registration for not having a registered agent, or for not filing a statement of change within 30 days after the agent's name or address changes.
Civil Penalty. Failure to designate and maintain a registered agent is itself a civil-fine offense; amounts are set by Mayor's rules under Title 2, not stated in Title 29.
Reinstatement Fee. To be reinstated after administrative dissolution the entity must pay all fees and penalties due at dissolution plus all that would have accrued while dissolved (amounts set administratively, not in the statute).
No Court Access. A foreign entity whose registration lapses (including termination for registered-agent failure) doing business in the District cannot maintain an action or proceeding there until registered.
8 statutory citations and their supporting verbatim quotations sit behind this section in the record and are withheld from public display until the review pass lands, because a citation presented as authority is a verification claimed. Statutory references appearing inside the summaries above are part of the recorded text rather than an authority claim, and they are not rendered as citations, linked, or emitted in this page's structured data. How the gate works.
Governance rules
7 governance rules are recorded for District of Columbia - the organizational and annual meetings, action by written consent, and whether bylaws or an operating agreement are mandatory. Each verified rule links to the statutory text it was verified against, quoted verbatim below.
District of Columbia corporate and LLC governance rules
Organizational meeting required · applies to
corporations ·
yes
the initial directors shall hold an organizational meeting, at the call of a majority of the directors, to complete the organization of the corporation by appointing officers, adopting bylaws
Operating agreement required · applies to
LLCs ·
no
"Operating agreement" means the agreement, whether or not referred to as an operating agreement and whether oral, in a record, implied, or in any combination thereof, of all the members
Action by written consent allowed · applies to
LLCs ·
yes
A difference arising among members as to a matter in the ordinary course of the activities and affairs of the company may be decided by a majority of the members.
The District of Columbia requires any person doing business under a trade name to register that name with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP). Because DC has no counties, this is a single district-wide registry covering sole proprietors, general partnerships, and registered entities alike.
Where it is filed
Trade name registrations are filed with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, the successor agency named in the subchapter's definitions.
Publication
The DC trade name subchapter contains no newspaper-publication step; the registration consists only of an application filed with the Department containing the statutorily listed information.
Name restrictions
A DC trade name must be distinguishable on the Mayor's records from entity names, reserved and registered names, other registered trade names, and government agency names.
Assumed names for registered entities
A foreign entity whose legal name does not comply with DC's entity-name rules cannot register to do business in the District until it adopts a complying alternate name; an entity registered under such an alternate name is excused from separately registering that name under the trade name subchapter, and it may also do business under an assumed or fictitious name it is authorized to use under that subchapter.
Penalties
A person doing business under an unregistered trade name cannot maintain any suit in DC courts until registration is properly completed. Failure to register does not invalidate the business's contracts or acts and does not prevent the business from defending a suit.
Term: § 47-2855.04(a) contemplates fees for 'renewals' but the subchapter states no registration term; any term/renewal cycle is set by rule
exclusive-rights:not-addressed - the trade name subchapter contains no language granting or denying exclusive rights in a registered trade name
Common questions
Do I have to register a DBA (trade name) in Washington, DC?
Yes. D.C. Code § 47-2855.02(a) states that a person who carries on, conducts, or transacts business in the District of Columbia under any trade name "shall register that trade name with the Department," meaning the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. The requirement applies to sole proprietorships, general partnerships, and registered entities such as corporations and LLCs.
What counts as a trade name in DC?
D.C. Code § 47-2855.01(7) defines a trade name as a word or name used to identify a business which is not, or does not include, the true and real name of all persons conducting the business, or which includes words that suggest additional parties of interest such as "company", "and sons", or "and associates".
What happens if I do business under an unregistered trade name in DC?
Under D.C. Code § 47-2855.03(d), you are not entitled to maintain any suit in DC courts until the registration is properly completed. Section 47-2855.03(e) adds that the failure does not impair the validity of your contracts and does not prevent you from defending a suit.
Is a DC trade name filed at a county office?
No. The District has no county clerks; the trade name registry is district-wide, administered by the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection under D.C. Code §§ 47-2855.01 to 47-2855.05.
Recurring entity-level tax
Corporation Franchise Tax (Form D-20) and Unincorporated Business Franchise Tax (Form D-30)
D.C. Code 47-1807.02 / 47-1808.03: minimum tax $250; $1,000 if DC gross receipts exceed $1 million; applies even at a loss. OTR rates page corroborates (2025). · source↗ (opens the official source)
Due date
April 15 (calendar year) or the 15th day of the 4th month after fiscal year close, for both D-20 and D-30; D-20 extension to October 15
true - every corporation (domestic or foreign) carrying on business in or receiving income from DC sources files D-20 and owes at least the minimum tax; no dollar threshold
LLCs
true - LLC taxed as a corporation pays the D-20 corporation franchise tax; LLC taxed as partnership/disregarded is an 'unincorporated business' and files D-30 (UBT) if DC gross income exceeds $12,000 (below that: no return, no minimum)
Stored as a delta against the federal baseline:
1 day this state closes that the
federal government does not, and 0 federal
holidays its filing office works through.
District of Columbia 2026 closure delta
Date
Day
Filing office
2026-04-16
D.C. Emancipation Day
Filing office closed
Provenance - District of Columbia 2026 closures◎Verified
Citation withheld: this record did not clear the publication gate.
5 restricted entity-name word entries
are recorded for District of Columbia - 1 prohibited outright,
the rest requiring an agency's consent or licensure before the word may appear in a name.
Governing law: D.C. Code 29-103.01 (permitted names) and 29-103.02 (name requirements for certain entity types).
District of Columbia restricted entity-name words
Treatment
Word or phrase
Authority
Citation
Status
Consent required
Bank
Mayor of the District of Columbia (prior approval)
D.C. Code 29-103.01(e): 'An entity name shall not contain the words "bank", "banking", "credit union", "insurance", or words of similar import, without the prior approval of the Mayor.'
◎Verified
Consent required
Banking
Mayor of the District of Columbia (prior approval)
D.C. Code 29-103.01(e)
◎Verified
Consent required
credit union
Mayor of the District of Columbia (prior approval)
D.C. Code 29-103.01(e)
◎Verified
Consent required
Insurance
Mayor of the District of Columbia (prior approval)
D.C. Code 29-103.01(e)
◎Verified
Prohibited
name of any US or DC department, agency, or instrumentality (same or deceptively similar)
D.C. Code 29-103.01(f): 'An entity name shall not be the same as, or so deceptively similar to, the name of any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States or the District of Columbia so as to mislead the public or cause confusion.'
● accepted · ○ not accepted · ? unknown or conditional (hover for the recorded condition). Channel data covers 54 jurisdictions (2026-08-15 wave). Source links render on verified rows only.
Contact the filing office
Verified against the agency's own contact page
2026-08-13 - office hours: Mon, Tue, Wed & Fri 8:30 am - 4:30 pm; Thu 10:30 am - 4:30 pm; in-person service stops accepting visitors at 4 pm Mon-Fri.
Source links render on verified rows only.
Reaching the filing office
◎Verified
Phone
(202) 442-4432 (Corporations Division direct)
Email
[email protected] (agency-level; no division-specific email published)
Mailing address
DLCP, Corporations Division, PO Box 712300, Philadelphia, PA 19171-2300
Courier / walk-in
1100 4th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20024 (walk-in counter; couriered filings otherwise go through the mail lockbox)
The Corporations Division direct line and the Philadelphia lockbox come straight off the filing-form instruction sheets - mail to the lockbox, never to 1100 4th St; prefer CorpOnline for anything filable online. (202) 671-4500 is the agency switchboard.
Purposed contact channels, District of Columbia
Kind
Value
What it is for
Purpose
Source
phone
(202) 442-4432
Corporations Division (printed on filing-form instruction sheets)
Where to search District of Columbia's UCC (Article 9) financing statements, on what terms, and what the office charges to file one. Verified against the filing office's own pages 2026-09-11. UCC division contacts are listed with the other filing-office contacts above.
UCC records - District of Columbia◎Verified
Filing office
DC Office of the Recorder of Deeds (Office of Tax and Revenue, Office of the Chief Financial Officer) (not the Secretary of State)
Filing-office statute
D.C. Code 28:9-501: Recorder of Deeds for as-extracted collateral/timber/fixture filings; "The Mayor in all other cases" (https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/28:9-501). ROD FAQ: "UCC documents can be recorded with the DC Office of the Recorder of Deeds."
Portal landing page: "The District of Columbia Recorder of Deeds public search is available to registered users and subscribers. By registering, you will have free access to search and view images, if you require a document download, it can be purchased for $4.00 per document with a $1.50 surcharge per transaction. You can also purchase a subscription for $175.00 a month, this will reduce your doc
Filing images online
Yes - free to view after registration; download $4.00 per document + $1.50 surcharge per transaction ($2.00 per document with the $175.00/month subscription). Images and index back to August 1921 per the ROD page.
$25 UCC filing fee plus a $5 surcharge, $30 in all, to record a UCC with the Recorder of Deeds
Filing channels
online or paper; Electronic recording through the office's trusted e-recording vendors (CSC/Ingeo, Simplifile, ePN - all document types accepted), in person at 1101 4th Street SW Suite 500W, or by mail; no state-run U
Filing expedite
No expedited filing tier is published; the office states e-recorded documents can be recorded the same day depending on the time of submission
UCC-3 amendments, as the office states the fees
$25 recording fee plus the $5 surcharge for any other document recorded, which covers UCC amendments, continuations, terminations and assignments; the office prints no separate UCC-3 amounts
Effective for
5 years from filing - D.C. Code 28:9-515(a)
Bulk data
no bulk-data product - n/a - no bulk data product at any price
Whether District of Columbia requires a general state-level business license, and on what terms. A "None" is a verified finding cited to the agency's own pages, not a gap. Which of the state's filings ask for an industry code is in the next section.
State business license - District of Columbia◎Verified
General state license
Yes - Basic Business License (BBL) - General Business category (General Sales and Services)
Who must hold it
A person doing business in the District of Columbia; one license per business location
D.C. Code Title 47, Chapter 28, Subchapter I-A (§§ 47-2851.01 - 47-2851.25), General License Law - Basic Business License
Initial fee
$99
Renewal fee
$99
Renewal cadence
biennial - Renew by the license expiration date (end of the elected 6-month / 2-year / 4-year term); DLCP must send renewal notice no later than 60 days before expiration (§ 47-2851.10(a)(1)); license lapses if not renewed by expiration and is deemed expired after 30 days lapsed (§ 47-2851.10(b))
Penalty
Lapsed-license reinstatement penalties: $75 if renewed within 30 days after lapse; $150 if lapsed more than 30 days but less than 6 months; $350 if lapsed more than 6 months, plus other applicable fees. Operating in violation of the subchapter is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine per § 22-3571.01 or imprisonment up to 90 days; civil fines may be imposed as alternative sanctions.
Exemptions
Business activity with gross annual revenue of $2,000 or less (§ 47-2851.02(h)(1)(B)); Cottage food products (§ 47-2851.02(h)(1)(D)); Entertainments, concerts or performances where proceeds are for church or charitable purposes and no rental is charged (§ 47-2851.02(h)(1)(C)); Bona fide national annual conventions of professional beauty and grooming associations closed to the public (§ 47-2851.02(
Which of District of Columbia's business filings ask the filer for an industry classification, and in what form. "No industry information" is a positive finding cited to the form. Where the state uses its own category list and the list was captured, it is expandable below. The NAICS and SIC reference lists are on their own page.
Industry code on District of Columbia filings, 6 of 7 rows verified
Filing
Entity scope
Asks for
Required
Where on the form
Source
Formation
domestic for-profit corporation
no industry information
not asked
DBU-1 items 1-7: corporation name; authorized shares and par value; registered agent; miscellaneous provisions; persons with >10% ownership/control (benefici
District of Columbia has 1 county-equivalents: 1 district. Names and codes are the U.S. Census Bureau's (2020 national county codes); county seats and official sites are not yet published here.
All 1 county-equivalents
District of Columbia county-equivalents
Name
Type
FIPS
Note
District of Columbia
district
11001
consolidated city-county
Other records held
Other records held for District of Columbia
Record
Value
Status
Change of registered agent
$50
○Pending review
Who must be named in public filings
DC is a HIGH-disclosure jurisdiction. Formation/registration filings on or after 1/1/2020 must state the names and RESIDENCE and business addresses of every person whose direct or indirect, legal or beneficial ownership of a governance or distributional interest exceeds 10% - or 10%-or-less if the person controls finan
○Pending review
These come from a research pass its own author graded CANDIDATES. They are shown because they are useful and withheld from every ranking on this site because they are not ratified.
Cite the page for the compilation and its verification record; for the underlying fact, cite the official source shown on its row. Formats:
incFACTS, "District of Columbia business-filing facts - fees, statutes, DBA, closures, status," FACTS repository v0.10.08 (data as of 2026-09-21), https://www.incfacts.com/district-of-columbia/ (accessed 2026-09-21).
incFACTS, District of Columbia business-filing facts - fees, statutes, DBA, closures, status, https://www.incfacts.com/district-of-columbia/ (last visited 2026-09-21).
@misc{incfacts_district_of_columbia_2026,
author = {incFACTS (FACTS repository)},
title = {District of Columbia business-filing facts - fees, statutes, DBA, closures, status},
year = {2026},
url = {https://www.incfacts.com/district-of-columbia/},
note = {v0.10.08, data as of 2026-09-21, accessed 2026-09-21}
}
How to cite incFACTS · The accessed date is today's; the version and data-as-of date identify what you relied on.