District of Columbia Corporation

The District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs requires an initial report and the cost is $250.00 and it is due very next April 15th following the corporate filing date, even if filed April 14th.

Biennial reports are required every April 15th and cost $250.00.

The District of Columbia Corporate net income tax rate(s) are 9.975% with a minimum tax payment of $100.00 just to submit a zero return.

Revenue over 5 million is subject to the Washington DC ballpark income tax.

The District of Columbia personal net income tax rate(s) are:

The average District of Columbia sales tax rate is 6%.

To form a District of Columbia Corporation, you file District of Columbia articles of incorporation. The District of Columbia articles of incorporation cost $185.00 (minimum) with the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. The fee is determined by the value of the corporate shares. These can be basic or complicated. We custom draft your District of Columbia articles of incorporation when you hire Northwest to form your District of Columbia business. The basic requirements are:

• The District of Columbia Corporation must have a corporate ending such as INC, Incorporated, Corporation or a different variety.
• The District of Columbia corporation name must be different than already registered District of Columbia corporations.
• The effective date is the date the articles are delivered for filing
• The term of existence should be specified as perpetuity.
• Describe the purpose of the District of Columbia Corporation.
• The number of shares the District of Columbia Corporation is authorized to issue.
• The corporation cannot commence business until at least $1,000 has been received as initial capital.
• The preferences, qualifications, limitations, restrictions, and special or relative rights of the shares of each class.
• The provisions limiting/denying shareholders the preemptive right to acquire additional shares of the corporation.
• The provisions for the regulation of the internal affairs of the corporation.
• The name of the registered agent in the District of Columbia and the registered office address.
• An additional consent form must be provided.
• The name, address and number of the directors of the District of Columbia Corporation.
• The name, address and number of the incorporators of the District of Columbia Corporation.
• The District of Columbia incorporators must sign and date the articles of incorporation.

District of Columbia requires original signatures on filings. The original will come back to the District of Columbia Corporate agent.

1. You file the articles of incorporation for a District of Columbia Corporation with the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. A consent form executed by the registered agent is required.
   The District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs requires an initial report and the cost is $250.00 and it is due very next April 15th following the corporate filing date, even if filed April 14th.
2. You obtain a federal tax ID number with the IRS after you have confirmation from District of Columbia that the articles are completely filed.
3. You should be able to open a business banking account with these two items.
4. You register your District of Columbia business with the District of Columbia department of revenue if you're going to have employees or need to withhold sales tax.
5. You obtain a trade license if you actually need one. (Most businesses don't.)
6. You obtain a local City or County general license if you need one.
7. You obtain a local trade license if the City or County you're going to be working in requires it.
8. If you're going to have an office or shop you might need an approval from the City zoning for your type of business in that location.

NOW!! I always give out horrible advice at this point, and please don't take it as legal advice. It would be considered totally wrong and horrible legal advice. BUT… I always tell people, you could spend months worrying about getting your District of Columbia business off the ground and registering with every District of Columbia agency you need to. At the end of the day, you need to pull the money in! That means, your idea, or your new service needs to get out there and get the sales, customers, or clients you need to get the money in the bank, and keep your business going. At the end of the day, Money in the bank trumps fines with some District of Columbia government agency that you overlooked paying some silly fee to. The government is always going to be broke and always looking for the next way to make us pay a fee or tax. We unfortunately see District of Columbia corporations every year that just shut down 6 to 7 months after they hired us to incorporate their District of Columbia Corporation for them, because they never got the idea off the ground. I always say, pull the money in first, deal with a District of Columbia agency second. If you have to pay some late fees or fines, but you landed that first big client that gets your business off of the idea you have on that paper notebook, I say more power to you. Pay the late fee or fine with joy. You've done the REAL first step to starting your District of Columbia business. Get out there and pull the money in! If some District of Columbia agency finds you're in some violation, they will send you a letter, and you can pay whatever they are asking for. It's a never-ending phone call or email I get hearing about all the effort someone's put into their website, into their letterhead, into their marketing, into their planning, and they haven't even figured out how they are realistically going to get and collect their first sale. Don't let over-planning stop your business from getting off the ground. Paying a District of Columbia incorporation service like us to do the initial paperwork is a great way to keep your brain moving on the important items like pulling in the money and getting it into your new business bank account.

We pay taxes in the District of Columbia. We operate a corporation in the District of Columbia. We're not an incorporation website. We're an incorporation and registered agent District of Columbia business. There's lots of websites out there that are just websites with generic domain names and smart programmers that can make them rank in Google.

Anyone could throw up a website, hire sales people to answer the phones with scripts, and pay a document filer $10.00 an hour to file the District of Columbia articles of incorporation with the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs for you. If you've found this page by searching online, most the other sites you'll find don't operate in the District of Columbia, don't pay taxes in the District of Columbia, and generally speaking, don't have any idea what it's like in the District of Columbia. The only people here helping you form a District of Columbia corporation are the owner, our in-house, non-practicing attorney, and our paralegal. This is all we do, and when you hire us and pay us $100.00 to form a District of Columbia Corporation, the owner pays District of Columbia tax at the end of the year off that $100.00, and the $125.00 District of Columbia registered agent corporation service fees.

When we form a District of Columbia Corporation, we'll be your District of Columbia corporation agent. That means our District of Columbia office is in Washington, DC, and we have a physical presence in the District of Columbia, so we have to pay income tax off the money we derive from doing business in the District of Columbia. It's called "Nexus." If you're shopping around for a District of Columbia incorporation service, we would challenge you to call one of our competitors and ask the person that answers the phone if they have nexus in the District of Columbia. If they don't, or don't have any idea what that word even means, that would be kind of like hiring a real estate agent in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to sell your home in Washington, DC. Just doesn't sound right does it? If they do have nexus in the District of Columbia, then that's Great… At least you're then comparing us with another company that should know what they are doing, and you've ultimately done yourself a favor. While you're on the phone comparing apples to apples, you should ask the company what the name and address will be of the registered agent in the District of Columbia, and how much the renewal bill will be. If they can't tell you the name, the town the office will be in, and if it's not their own name, it means you're ultimately signing up with someone you don't know.

We've seen other sites with packages that include District of Columbia Corporation agent service, or offer it free for 6 months or a year, or it's just built into a "Package." But you're paying a website, and they then list another company as your agent. Then you get a bill at the end of the 6 months or year from some random company you've never heard of for a lot of money. Our District of Columbia registered agent corporation service is $125.00 a year, has no hidden weird fees, and the first year is included in our service to incorporate your District of Columbia Corporation.

• 1 year of service from the time of hire.
• Annual report reminders.
• Annual report calendar in your online account to track your due dates.
• Online account for contact info, corporate documents, documents we receive on your behalf, annual report dates, calendar, and end of service dates.
• Any lawsuits or service of process are uploaded to your account immediately, in full, for your viewing. We can notify your attorney at the same time if you would like. We can notify up to 5 different people and your attorney of your lawsuit instantly.
• Added privacy and identity protection.
• All junk mail is shredded
• Same day complete scan of received documents. (Other registered agents forward items received locally to their National headquarters by mail, and then scan them. You get everything the same day with us.)
• No cancellation fees
• No forwarding fees
• We don't keep your credit card on file and automatically charge you for anything.

The requirements of a registered agent are being open during normal business hours for someone (A process server or Sheriff) to walk in and hand deliver a document or notification to you. Assigning someone, or a website you don't know to this role means that if you get a notification by mail or someone delivers a letter or a lawsuit to that person or business, its legal proof that you've been notified, regardless of if it actually gets to you. There are only 5 national registered agents, and there's thousands of District of Columbia incorporating websites, so the odds are that if you pay one of the thousands of District of Columbia incorporation websites, they've got a discounted referral fee plan to dump you on one of the national agents to collect a referral fee, and you'll be taking a big chance that the agent they list will get the documents they receive for you to the incorporation website, and then the incorporation website you hire will get it to you. Worse yet is if you're continually being billed from a national incorporation website you signed up with and they aren't the actual business or person that is listed as your registered agent. With us, you know who you're counting on from day one. As far as we know we are the only service that uploads complete documents instantly, from our local location to your account.

We will form a District of Columbia corporation for you right away. No weird District of Columbia corporation expedite packages. No weird tables with checkmarks showing what's included and what you're missing. Our sign up form is one page. After filling it out, our owner, our non-practicing attorney, or our paralegal will call you right away, go over everything with you, and we'll get your new District of Columbia Company formed right away. We'll be listed as your District of Columbia registered agent, not some random company you don't know. Most States have a change of agent fee, so not only could you be connected with a company you don't really know, it will cost you to get rid of them after you get a crazy renewal bill you weren't expecting. We make our living by keeping your business in compliance with District of Columbia, year after year. Not off weird misleading one time package fees and up-sells.

Shouldn't you trust a District of Columbia business that actually operates and pays taxes in the District of Columbia instead of a website with a 500 filing backlog that you have to upgrade a package with to get some quick attention?

If you want to form a District of Columbia corporation yourself, you can just hire us as your District of Columbia registered agent, and you'll instantly have the District of Columbia forms to file and filing instructions on the quickest, cheapest, and most efficient way to incorporate a District of Columbia Corporation. We also will look over your filing for free if you would like us to. You'll get the ongoing support of our online tools, reminders and the support of a professional District of Columbia Corporation Agent service.