Best Registered Agent Services in Indiana

Your agent's name and street address sit on a free public search. Anyone can look up an Indiana LLC on the Secretary of State's business search and read who takes its legal mail. List yourself and that is your home address on show. Name a commercial registered agent and State Form 49459 tells you not to give an address at all. That is what you are buying.

Your LLC cannot serve as its own agent. INBiz says it in those words. The choice is you, somebody you trust with an Indiana street address, or a service. There is no fourth option.

The report comes round every two years. That gap is what makes it easy to miss. The Business Entity Report is due on the month and day you formed, two years on. You have until the end of that month before it counts as late. Your agent gets the email reminders and the Past Due Notice, so pick one who forwards them to you quickly. Indiana also mails paper notices, including the Pending Administrative Dissolution notice. These may go to the principal office, the registered agent or a governing person, depending on what is on record, so keep each address current.

Forming a new Indiana LLC? Bizee and Inc Authority include the first year of the agent free with a formation package, and ZenBusiness cuts its first year with one. Read the renewal before you accept, and find the renewal figures in the list of hidden costs.

Switching an agent on an LLC you already own is the easier call. Indiana does not charge for it. State Form 56367, the Statement of Change of Registered Agent, prints NO FILING FEE on its face. Leaving a bad agent costs you nothing beyond the next provider's fee. Northwest holds at $125 year after year. Harbor Compliance opens at $99, then rises to $159.

Still picking a formation service? Our guide to the best LLC formation services in Indiana shows how agent pricing folds into the total.

• First year tied to formation. Bizee and Inc Authority include year one free, and ZenBusiness cuts year one to $99, when you buy the LLC formation from them. Renewal then runs $149 at Bizee, $249 at Inc Authority and $199 at ZenBusiness. ZenBusiness ties that first-year price to forming an LLC on its banner, while its FAQ sets no condition, so ask which price applies if you buy the agent alone. Inc Authority renews automatically, so note the date if you plan to switch.
• The formation fee is not the agent fee. Indiana charges $100 to file the Articles of Organization on paper. That is a one off. It falls due when you file. Check the online fee on INBiz before you file.
• The report is cheaper online. It runs $32 on INBiz and $50 by paper.
• Renewal jumps. Two of our eight cost more in year two than year one suggests. ZenBusiness moves to $199 and Harbor Compliance to $159. Northwest stays at $125.

1. Check the record. Look your LLC up on the Indiana business search. Confirm the agent name and Indiana address are the ones you expect.
2. Get your EIN. File IRS Form SS-4 online. It is free, and it opens the door to a bank account.
3. Open a business bank account. Indiana does not require one. But running company money through a personal account is the easiest way to weaken the protection you just paid for.
4. Diary the Business Entity Report. The first is due two years after you form, on the month and day you registered. You have until the end of that month. It costs $32 on INBiz and $50 on paper. The same filing asks for a governing person by name.
5. Register for sales tax if you sell taxable goods. The rate is 7 percent. Once you register, the Department of Revenue issues a Registered Retail Merchant Certificate.