Illinois

For corporations, the agent must be either an individual resident of Illinois whose business office is identical with the registered office, or a domestic or foreign corporation, LLC, LP, or LLP authorized to transact business in Illinois whose statement of purpose authorizes it to act as agent. The LLC Act parallel (805 ILCS 180/1-35(a)) requires the agent to be 'an individual resident of this State or other person authorized to transact business in this State.'

Consent required: no.

The Secretary of State is irrevocably appointed as agent for service whenever the entity fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the registered office. Service is made on the Secretary of State with a fee, plus registered/certified mail notice to the entity. The LLC Act parallel is 805 ILCS 180/1-50(b).

• Administrative DissolutionRevocation / administrative dissolutionThe state involuntarily ending an entity's authority to do business - for missed annual reports, a lapsed registered agent, or unpaid fees.Read the full entry →. Failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent is an express ground for administrative dissolution of a domestic corporation (after a Notice of Delinquency and a 90-day cure window under 805 ILCS 5/12.40).
• Administrative Dissolution. The LLC Act carries the same ground: an Illinois LLC that fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent may be administratively dissolved (60-day cure window after the notice of delinquency under 805 ILCS 180/35-30(b)).
• Revocation Foreign. A foreign corporation's authority to transact business in Illinois may be revoked for failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent.
• Revocation Foreign. A foreign LLC's admission may be revoked if it fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent within 60 days after its agent's notice of resignation.
• Civil Penalty. An LLC that fails to appoint and maintain a registered agent within 60 days of notification of a resignation is declared delinquent and not in good standingGood standingThe state's verdict that an entity exists and is current on required filings and fees.Read the full entry →, exposing it to a $100 penalty plus $100 for each additional year of delinquency, filing blocks, and a not-in-good-standing flag.
• No Court Access. A foreign corporation transacting business without authority (including after revocation for registered agent failure) may not maintain a civil action in Illinois courts until authority is obtained; the LLC Act parallel is 805 ILCS 180/45-45(a).
• ReinstatementReinstatementRestoring an entity the state revoked or administratively dissolved for missed filings - typically back-filing reports, paying accrued fees and penalties, and filing an application.Read the full entry → Fee. Reinstatement after administrative dissolution requires filing all overdue reports, paying all fees, franchise taxesFranchise taxA recurring tax on the privilege of existing as an entity in a state - not a tax on franchising a business.Read the full entry →, and penalties then due, plus a $200 reinstatement application fee ($200 for LLCs as well, 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b)(12)).

Filing officeFiling officeThe agency that keeps the business register.Read the full entry →

Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services (corp: BCA 4.15 / form BCA-4.15; LLC: 805 ILCS 180/1-20 / form LLC-1.20). County clerk only for sole props/general partnerships.

State fee

Prorated to the statewide 5-year cycle: $150 if filed in a year ending in 0 or 5, $120 (1/6), $90 (2/7), $60 (3/8), $30 (4/9) - identical schedule for corporations (805 ILCS 5/15.10(q)) and LLCs (805 ILCS 180/50-10(b)(9)), eff. 1/1/2022 (P.A. 102-282). Change of assumed nameDBA / fictitious nameA name a business operates under that is not its legal name - 'doing business as.' Also: assumed name, trade name, fictitious business name.Read the full entry →: $25 (LLC) / prorated (corp); cancellation $5

Term

Until the anniversary month in the next calendar year evenly divisible by 5 (statewide 5-year cycle ending in years ending 0 and 5)

Renewal

Renew within the 60 days preceding the renewal date each 5-year cycle; renewal fee $150; LLCs get a nonpayment notice and a $100 late fee - right to the name ceases if not paid within 60 days of notice

Publication

Not required. No publication for corporations/LLCs filing with the SOS. (Newspaper publicationPublication requirementA few states require newly formed or registered entities to publish a notice in designated newspapers (New York's LLC publication is the expensive example) - a real cost of formation that fee tables usually omit.Read the full entry → - once a week for 3 consecutive weeks in the county - applies only to sole proprietors/partnerships filing under the county-level Assumed Business Name Act, 805 ILCS 405.)

Online filing

Available

The regime

Illinois splits DBA registration by business form. Individuals and general partnerships must file an assumed-name certificate with the County Clerk of each county where they conduct or transact business, followed by newspaper publication (805 ILCS 405/1). Corporations, LLCs, LPs, and LLPs are expressly excluded from the county act (805 ILCS 405/4) and instead register assumed names with the Secretary of State under their entity statutes (e.g., 805 ILCS 5/4.15 for corporations, 805 ILCS 180/1-20 for LLCs).

Where it is filed

For individuals and general partnerships: the County Clerk of each county where the business is or is to be conducted, with an additional certificate required in any other county where the business relocates or opens an additional location. For registered entities: the Secretary of State under the entity acts.

Publication

Notice of the county filing must be published in a county newspaper of general circulation once a week for 3 consecutive weeks, with first publication within 15 days of filing; proof of publication must be filed with the County Clerk within 50 days, and the registration is void without it.

Term and renewal

The county-level certificate has no stated duration or expiration in 805 ILCS 405; supplemental certificates are required when a name, residence address, or business address changes or a person is added. Entity-level assumed names registered with the Secretary of State run to the first day of the entity's anniversary month in the next calendar year evenly divisible by 5.

Name restrictions

A person may not advertise or list in a telephone directory an assumed or fictitious business name that intentionally misrepresents where the business is located or operating ('locale misrepresentation'), and a foreign person or entity may not use an assumed or fictitious name to intentionally misrepresent its origin or location. SOS-registered assumed corporate names must also satisfy the corporate-name standards of 805 ILCS 5/4.05(a)(2)-(6).

Assumed names for registered entities

A domestic or foreign corporation may elect to adopt an assumed corporate name and must file an application with the Secretary of State before transacting business under it (805 ILCS 5/4.15(a), (c)); LLCs have a parallel mechanism (805 ILCS 180/1-20). A foreign corporation whose true name is not distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records may still be issued a certificate of authorityCertificate of authorityPermission for an entity formed in one state to do business in another - the 'foreign' registration.Read the full entry → if it elects an assumed corporate name and agrees to transact business in Illinois only under that name.

Penalties

Failure to comply is a Class C misdemeanor, and each day of business in violation is a separate offense.
If proof of publication is not made to the County Clerk, the certificate of registration of the assumed name is void.
If persons required to register do not and are unknown, civil actions may be brought against the business under its assumed name naming 'unknown owner or owners,' and the judgment is enforceable against the property of the business and is a lien on real estate held in the business name.

Official source

www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=080500050K15.10↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

not captured

Administering agency

Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services (NOT the Department of Revenue) - assessed and collected with the corporate annual report and at formation/qualification/withdrawal

Corporation minimum

not recorded separately

How it is computed

Corporations only (LLCs/LPs/LLPs/nonprofits pay NO franchise tax). Base = paid-in capital allocated to Illinois; allocation factor (805 ILCS 5/15.40(e)) = paid-in capital x [(IL property value + IL gross business) / (total property value + total gross business)], or the corporation may elect to pay on 100% of paid-in capital. ANNUAL franchise tax (paid with the annual report) = 0.10% (1/10 of 1%) of the allocated base (805 ILCS 5/15.45); INITIAL franchise tax at incorporation/qualification = 0.15% (15/100 of 1%) of the allocated base (805 ILCS 5/15.45(d)). Statutory minimum $25; maximum $2,000,000 per annum plus 1/10 of 1% of the basis. EXEMPTION: on and after 2025-01-01 the first $10,000 of franchise tax liability is exempt (805 ILCS 5/15.35 as amended by P.A. 103-592), so effective liability = max(0, computed tax - 10,000); annual tax is $0 for IL-allocated paid-in capital up to ~$10,000,000 (initial tax $0 up to ~$6,666,667). Effective minimum owed post-2025 = $0 (statutory pre-exemption minimum $25). Late payment penalty: 10% of delinquent franchise tax (805 ILCS 5/16.05(a)). Phase-out history: P.A. 101-9 (2019) scheduled full repeal by 2024; P.A. 102-16 (2021) halted it at a $1,000 exemption; later P.A.s stepped the exemption to $5,000 (2024) and $10,000 (from 1/1/2025). The tax is NOT repealed.