Indiana Certificate of Authority / Wyoming companies
A Wyoming LLC and the Indiana certificate of authority
A Wyoming LLC pays nothing for its good standing certificate, which Wyoming issues online, so the first-year bill for operating in Indiana is $105 for the Indiana registration plus Wyoming's annual minimum of $60, a total of $165 before our fee and any paid agent. The Indiana steps are the same as for any other foreign LLC.
Wyoming and Indiana compared
| Point | Wyoming | Indiana |
|---|---|---|
| Good standing certificate | $0, online | Must be dated within 60 days of filing |
| Registering | Not needed at home | Foreign Registration Statement, $105 online |
| Yearly cost | Annual minimum $60 | A report in alternate years, $31 online |
| Agent | Wyoming address | Indiana street address |
| Two-state calendar | Wyoming date for the annual report | Anniversary-month report every second year |
The free certificate, and why timing still matters
Wyoming issues good standing certificates at no charge online. That removes the cost but not the clock. Indiana's window is 60 days, so a certificate pulled early and left in a folder can age out. Download it once your Indiana agent has agreed and the statement is ready to go.
Filling in the statement from Wyoming records
Take the name and formation date from the Wyoming certificate, enter Wyoming as the home jurisdiction, and give the true principal office, meaning the place where the business is run. If the operating agreement provides for managers, say so in the managers line. Check each entry against the certificate before you submit.
Privacy and the Indiana record
An Indiana filing becomes part of the public record. The statement names the entity, its principal office and its agent, not its owners. A remote-only business can ask to keep a residential address off the record under the rule that took effect at the start of this year. How much of its location a company that chose Wyoming for privacy wants to show is a choice to run past a business lawyer.
The costs that follow
After registration the Indiana business entity report costs $31 online in alternate years. Wyoming's annual minimum of $60 comes every year. Leaving Indiana later costs $20 for the withdrawal at the statutory rate. None of these amounts changes the other state's bill.
The first year, added up
The certificate is free, the Indiana registration is $105 and Wyoming's minimum is $60, so the first year totals $165. That is under a third of the Delaware figure, and the difference is almost all Delaware's tax. Wyoming's minimum is small by comparison.
A Wyoming LLC with Indiana customers
A Wyoming LLC sells restoration services to homeowners in the Indianapolis suburbs, with two crews based there. It downloads its Wyoming certificate, lines up an agent at a local firm, and submits the statement through INBiz. Its Wyoming obligations continue, and its first Indiana report comes due two years later. Because the crews work in Indiana weekly, the company cannot treat its work as an isolated deal.
Single-member LLCs
A one-owner LLC registers the same way as a multi-member one. The statement does not ask how many members there are. Its one related question is whether managers run the company. The owner signs for the entity, and if someone else submits the filing, that person has to take reasonable steps to confirm who the owner is.
Keeping two calendars
A Wyoming LLC with an Indiana registration has two sets of dates. Wyoming's annual report follows the Wyoming calendar, and Indiana's business entity report follows the Indiana creation anniversary every second year. Assign both to the same person and review them together each January, with the agent's address and the principal office as standing items.
If your Wyoming agent also covers Indiana
A Wyoming registered agent serves a Wyoming address only. Indiana requires its own agent at an Indiana street address, so the Wyoming arrangement does not carry over, even if the same company offers both services.
Questions Indiana customers sometimes ask
A larger Indiana customer may ask a Wyoming LLC for proof that it can do business in the state. The registration record and a print of the INBiz business search answer that question. A lender or a landlord may ask too, and having the papers filed in one place saves a scramble.
From Wyoming to Indiana
Confirm the LLC is current in Wyoming
The certificate shows standing on the day you pull it.
Secure an Indiana agent
A street address in Indiana and the agent's consent.
Download the certificate
Free, and used within 60 days.
Complete the statement
Name, Wyoming, formation date, office, managers.
File on INBiz
$105 online.
Wyoming LLC questions
Is the Wyoming certificate really free?
Wyoming's fee page lists $0 for the certificate when it is issued online.
Does Indiana want my owners listed?
No. The statement asks for the entity, its office and its agent, not the members.
Does registering in Indiana change my Wyoming report?
No. Each state keeps its own calendar and fee.
Our fee and Indiana's fee
Get authority to operate in Indiana
Indiana
$199
+ $105 Indiana fee, filed online
- The Indiana Foreign Registration Statement, drafted from your answers (the state's paper form is State Form 56369)
- The home-state certificate requested so its date lands inside Indiana's window
- An Indiana registered agent: our office, or the agent you already have
- The filing submitted and the state's record sent to you, with your first report month
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Checkout shows our fee and the Indiana fee as two lines. Indiana charges less online than on paper. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Where this comes from
- Indiana Code, Title 23, Article 0.5 (Uniform Business Organizations Code)
- Indiana Administrative Code, Title 75, Article 8, business entity filing governance
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-5, foreign entities
- Indiana State Form 56369, Foreign Registration Statement
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Entity Reports
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- Indiana Secretary of State, HB 1593 and HB 1666 filing process changes
- Indiana Code 23-0.5-9, fees
Need authority to operate in Indiana?
Tell us where your company was formed and what it does here.