Frequently Asked
Questions About
Starting a Oregon LLC

There are several different options when it comes to forming a business in Oregon. From a legal perspective, there are three main types of Oregon for-profit business entities: LLCs, S Corporations or C Corporations. We believe an LLC provides the right mix of liability protection and ease of administration for most entrepreneurs.

In order to form an LLC in the state of Oregon, there are some minimum requirements you must meet. These are a completed set of Articles of Organization, a business name and a fee you pay to the Secretary of State, Corporations Division. We recommend taking some other steps before formally starting your LLC:


• Research your target market to make sure there’s a demand for the products and services you provide.
• Read industry guides to give you a starting point in your niche.
• Create a comprehensive business plan that defines the most important aspects of your Oregon business.
• Write an Operating Agreement that covers how you will run your LLC.


After you’ve created your Oregon LLC, you will also need to review your business license requirements, understand ongoing filing needs, set up a separate business bank account and get an accountant.

In Oregon, you register a business by completing and filing your Articles of Organization with the Oregon Secretary of State, Corporations Division. You will need to gather information about your business, fill out the form and send it to the Secretary of State with your filing fee. This will officially form your LLC in Oregon.

You can file your Articles of Organization on the Secretary of State website or mail it in. Alternatively, Bizee can guide you through every step of the process by getting details from you and filing the form on your behalf — for free! There’s no additional charge for our basic LLC filing service, so all you need to do is pay the Oregon state filing fee.

At the time of writing the processing fee charged by the Oregon Secretary of State is $100. You can always check the latest Oregon filing fees here. You may be able to pay an expedited filing through Bizee, which will create your LLC faster, if this option is available in your state. The amount of the expedited fee is dependent on how quickly you want your filing processed. Some LLC filing services do charge you extra to prepare and submit your filing documents, but at Bizee, we do this for free — so you only pay the state fee.

Once you’ve gathered together all of your information and filed your Certificate of Formation (or had Bizee do it for you), it can take up to a week for the Oregon Secretary of State to legally create your LLC. If you pay an additional expedited fee, your LLC can be formed within one business day.

The name of your Oregon LLC needs to be unique, so you’ll need to verify it isn't already being used by another business. You can do that via the Oregon Secretary of State website, or by using our fast and simple Business Name Search tool.

There are a few ways to register your Oregon LLC name.

• If you’re creating a new business and your business name is unique in Oregon and meets state naming rules, you simply include it in your Certificate of Formation.
• If you want to change the legal name of your business, you must file a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State.
• If you just want to do business under a different name, file an Assumed Name Certificate with the Oregon Secretary of State, or we can do that on your behalf.

If you want to prevent people from using your business name across the U.S., you can file a trademark for the name. We can help.

In other states, the formal documents that you file to form a corporation or LLC might be known as Articles of Incorporation. In Oregon, this document is called your Articles of Organization, and it performs the same functions as the Articles of Incorporation.

No, the State of Oregon does not allow the formation of a Series LLC. A Series LLC is a special type of LLC where you create one “overall” business and then have individual, series LLCs within it, each counted as separate legal entities.

Yes, all legal business entities in Oregon, including LLCs, must have a Registered Agent at all times. Here at Bizee, we provide a free Oregon Registered Agent service for the first year if you file through us.

If you wish to change your Oregon Registered Agent, you can do so by filing a Certificate of Change with the Secretary of State. Here at Bizee, we provide a free Oregon Registered Agent service for the first year if you file through us. If you’ve been using a different Registered Agent and want to switch to us, we’ll file the Certificate of Change on your behalf.

If you need to know the Registered Agent of a specific Oregon business, you can perform an Oregon Registered Agent search within the state's business database.

As an LLC, any business profits you earn will be reported on your personal 1040 filing and reported and taxed as “pass-through” income. You will typically need to pay:

• Self-employment or payroll tax on all business profits
• Federal income tax on profits after you meet your tax-free allowance
• Sales tax for selling taxable products and services

Hooray! Your Oregon LLC won't need to pay any sales tax, as Oregon is one of the few states that does not have a sales tax.

The CAT is imposed on businesses for the privilege of doing business in the state of Oregon. It is measured on a business's commercial activity, which is the total amount a business realizes from transactions and activity​ in Oregon. Certain items are excluded from the definition of commercial activity and, therefore, will not be subject to the CAT. In addition, Oregon's CAT allows a 35 percent subtraction for certain business expenses.​You can find out more about the tax from the state.

Businesses generating an excess of $1 million must pay the CAT. The CAT is applied to taxable Oregon commercial activity in excess of $1 million. The CAT is computed as $250 plus 0.57 percent of taxable Oregon commercial activity of more than $1 million. Only taxpayers with more than $1 million of taxable Oregon commercial activity will have a payment obligation.

CAT returns are due on or before the 15th day of the fourth month following the end of the tax year. Filing dates for CAT are set by state statute and are not tied to the due date of the annual federal income tax return.

If you're forming a business within the state of Oregon, there's a good chance you'll need some type of license in order to operate. The types of business licenses you need will vary depending on your type of business, industry, location, and various other factors. We can research the types of business licenses you might need for you.