How to Incorporate in New York
If you are thinking of incorporating our business in the state of New York, the first thing you should do is talk to an attorney to see whether the corporation form of business is right for you. You should also talk to an attorney about whether you should form a C corp or an S corp. The best thing about forming a corporation is that you will not be personally responsible for any business debts or liabilities because the corporation is a separate entity from you and the other owners.
The first thing that you will need to do when forming you corporation in New York is to choose a name for your corporation. There are several rules that you must follow when naming your corporation. One rule that you have to follow is that your business name must include one of these words or abbreviations: Incorporated, Corporation, Limited, Inc., Corp. or Ltd. The second rule that you must follow is that your business name cannot be the same as or similar to any other businesses on file with the State of New York. The third rule that you have to follow is making sure you stay away from any restricted words or phrases. To find out if your business name is available you can perform a name search for $5 per name. If you want to reserve the name, you can pay a $20 fee to reserve the name until you file your articles of incorporation.
The next thing that you will need to do is to fill out your Certificate of Incorporation, also known as your articles of incorporation. Once you have filled out all of the paperwork you will need to file your articles of Incorporation with the State of New York’s filing office. When you go to file your Certificate of Incorporation, you will be required to pay a filing fee. How much the filing fee is going to be will depend on the number of shares of stock you are issuing. The reason for this is that the filing fee is $125 plus any applicable taxes on your shares of stock. You can obtain more information on the filing fee by calling or emailing the Division of Corporations for the State of New York. You can call them at (518) 473-2492 or you can email them at corporations@dos.state.ny.us.
Once you have filed your corporation’s articles of incorporation you will have to hold your annual shareholders meeting. At the first meeting, you will want to adopt your company’s bylaws. If you fail to do this, your corporation will not be formed and you will have to start he incorporation process all over again.
After you have gotten your corporation formed, you will need to obtain a federal employer identification number for your corporation. This number is needed so that you can pay your corporation’s taxes at the end of the year, but it is also used to identify your corporation. You will also need to open up a bank account for your corporation, this should be opened in your corporations name not your own name. Some banks will require you to have a corporate seal to open up a bank account because the corporate seal is also another way of identifying and legalizing your corporation. Check with the bank about their requirements before you go in to open an account.
After all of this is done, the last thing that you will need to do is obtain a local business license from the city or county that you will e doing business in. Once you obtain this, you are ready to open your corporation’s doors.
