Tennessee

Same rule for corporations (§ 48-15-101) and LLCs (§ 48-249-109): the registered agent must maintain an office at the same street address as the registered office and may be an individual TN resident, or virtually any domestic entity (corporation, nonprofit, LLC, general partnership, LP, or registered LLP), or the foreign counterpart of any of those if authorized to transact business in TN. The 2023 amendment (Acts 2023, ch. 102) broadened the eligible entity typesEntity typesLLC (limited liability company), corporation (for-profit; 'profit corporation' in some states' vocabulary), nonprofit corporation, LP (limited partnership), LLP (limited liability partnership), LLLP (limited liability limited partnership),Read the full entry →.

Consent required: no.

If a domestic or foreign corporation fails to appoint or maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot be found with reasonable diligence, the Secretary of State becomes the corporation's agent for service; § 48-15-105 sets the procedure (duplicate certified copiesCertified copyA copy of a filed document that the state certifies as true and complete, with an official seal or certification page.Read the full entry → plus the fee to the SOS, who forwards by registered/certified mail; judgment barred for one month after service completes). The Revised LLC Act carries a parallel mechanism (§ 48-249-112, service on LLC).

• 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 →. A corporation without a registered agent or registered office for two months or more, or that fails to notify the SOS of agent/office changes within two months, may be administratively dissolved (after notice and a two-month cure window, § 48-24-202).
• Administrative Dissolution. Same two-month rule for LLCs under the Revised LLC Act: an LLC without a registered agent or registered office for two months or more, or that fails to notify the SOS of changes, may be administratively dissolved.
• Revocation Foreign. A foreign corporation without a registered agent or registered office in TN for two months or more faces revocation of its certificate of authority; the revocation itself appoints the SOS as its agent for service of process (§ 48-25-302(d)).
• Other. Effect of administrative dissolution: the corporation continues to exist but may not carry on any business except winding up and liquidating.
• 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 costs $70 and requires a confirmation of good standingGood standingThe state's verdict that an entity exists and is current on required filings and fees.Read the full entry → (tax clearance); reinstatement after administrative revocation (foreign) is also $70.

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

Tennessee Secretary of State, Business Services (Corporate Filings), Nashville

State fee

$20 per 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 → (official form SS-4402 'Filing Fee: $20', corporations under TCA 48-14-101(d); parallel $20 forms for LLC/LP/nonprofit)

Term

5 years ('The assumed name is good for 5 years and can be renewed' - official SOS FAQ)

Renewal

Renewable for successive 5-year terms; renewal fee $20 [UNVERIFIED this session - renewal form fee not fetched; base fee verified]

Publication

Not required. No 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 → requirement

Online filing

Available

The regime

Tennessee has no general assumed-name / DBA registration act. What exists instead: (1) the Business Tax Act, under which every person engaging in business must register with the county clerk (or city official / commissioner) and obtain a $15 business license before conducting business - the practical vehicle under which individuals and general partnerships operate under trade names; and (2) an entity-side mechanism letting corporations elect an assumed corporate name filed with the Secretary of State for five years (Tenn. Code Ann. § 48-14-101(d)).

Where it is filed

Business tax registration and licensing: county clerk for businesses located within the county; the designated city official within an incorporated municipality; the commissioner of revenue for persons with no physical location in the state (or where a locality has delegated licensing to the department). Assumed corporate names: filed with the Secretary of State under Title 48, Chapter 11, Part 3.

Publication

No publication requirement appears in the Business Tax Act licensing provisions or in the assumed corporate name provisions captured.

Term and renewal

Business tax license: expires 30 days after the taxpayer's return due date and is renewed by the issuing official upon notification from the department that the return was filed and tax remitted - effectively an annual cycle tied to the tax return. Assumed corporate name: effective five years from filing with the Secretary of State.

Name restrictions

No name restrictions exist for unregistered trade names. Assumed corporate names must satisfy the corporate-name rules except the entity-designator requirement: no language implying unauthorized powers or false government/organization affiliation, and the name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from every other true, assumed, reserved, or registered entity name (consent or court-judgment exceptions available).

Assumed names for registered entities

A domestic or authorized foreign corporation may adopt one or more assumed corporate names by board resolution and Secretary of State filing ($20 per application under § 48-11-303(a)(7)). The right runs five years from filing and is renewable within the two months before expiration for successive five-year periods at the § 48-11-303(a) fee. Trademark use and non-incorporated division names (with the corporate name disclosed) are excluded from the definition of assumed corporate name. LLCs have the same mechanism under BOTH Tennessee LLC acts: the Revised LLC Act (post-2006 LLCs) and the 1994 act - assumed LLC name adopted by filing with the Secretary of State, effective 5 years, renewable in the 2 months before expiration, $20 fee for application, change, cancellation, or renewal.

Penalties

The statute flatly prohibits conducting business without the license; the captured part prints no specific fine for violating the prohibition (tax enforcement runs through Title 67, Chapter 1's administration provisions incorporated by § 67-4-716).
The Secretary of State cancels the right to use an assumed corporate name on failure to renew, on the corporation's application to change or cancel, on dissolution of a domestic corporation, or on revocation of a foreign corporation's certificate of authority.

Official source

sos.tn.gov/businesses/faqs↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

Tennessee franchise and excise (F&E) tax

Administering agency

Tennessee Department of Revenue (files via TNTAP; SOS handles annual reports; DOR handles F&E and issues tax-clearance certificates required for reinstatement/termination/withdrawal)

Corporation minimum

$100

How it is computed

TWO taxes on one return (FAE170), identical for LLCs and corporations (also LPs and business trusts; general partnerships and sole props exempt; nonprofits exempt per 67-4-2008). (1) FRANCHISE taxFranchise 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 → = 0.25% ($0.25 per $100 or major fraction) of net worth (total assets minus total liabilities, GAAP) apportioned to TN; MINIMUM $100/year, owed even if inactive, short-period proration never below $100; property measure (Schedule G) is now ELECTIVE only (mandatory greater-of base repealed 2024); manufacturer base capped at $2B [T.C.A. 67-4-2106 base, 67-4-2119 minimum, 67-4-2121 apportionment]. (2) EXCISE tax = 6.5% of TN taxable income (net earnings per Schedule J adjustments to federal taxable income, apportioned); zero if a loss, no minimum [T.C.A. 67-4-2007 levy, 67-4-2006 base adjustments]. Both due the 15th day of the 4th month after fiscal year end (Apr 15 calendar-year); quarterly estimates if combined liability >= $5,000 in both prior and current years; 7-month extension. So the annual entity-level floor for ANY registered TN LLC or corp = $100 franchise minimum + $0 excise (if no earnings), on top of the SOS annual report fee.