Alert! BOGUS Certificate of Status Request Form

If you recently set up a new business on the Department of State, Division of Corporations website (sunbiz.org), you may be sent a 2013 Certificate of Status Request Form. Please be aware that this is NOT required to complete any registration process with the state.

These notices are NOT from the Dept. of State, Division of Corporations. The request asks you to make checks payable to Florida Center of Corporations for a fee of $54.47. Do NOT confuse these notices with the messages sent by the Division of Corporations. If you receive this letter--toss it out. This is NOT an official government document, it is a SCAM.

They cleverly are stating that “You have one step left to receive your Florida certified certificate of status.” It appears to the untrained eye that this means there is one step left to be active with the state of Florida. If you are in need of a Certificate of Status for any reason, they can be obtained directly from the Dept. of State, Division of Corporations for only $5 for an LLC and $8.75 for a Corporation.

This should also in no way be confused with your annual report. You DO need to file an annual report with the Department of State, Division of Corporations (AKA Sunbiz), but these are two separate issues. Annual Reports can be filed online directly at www.Sunbiz.org or you can call us for help with the filing. THESE MUST BE SUBMITTED BY MAY 1^ST TO AVOID A $400 LATE FEE.

As always, the team at Licenses, Etc. is here to help you in any way that we can. If you have any questions or need assistance, give us a call. We can help make sure that you don’t get scammed.

Foreign Filing Facts

Many have expressed confusion about exactly what a foreign filing is. We would like to take a moment to discuss this subject. What is it and why would you do it?

Simply put if you want to conduct business in a state other than the state in which your business was formed, you need to file for foreign qualification with the new state where you would like to conduct business. 

Common reasons why business owners perform a foreign filing versus creating a separate, new corporation:

• Tax benefits in the home state.
• Ability to file under the same Federal Identification Number.
• Insurance only needs to be obtained by the one entity.
• All employees are under the same umbrella company and able to work on any projects that the company has going.

This is just a bit of information on foreign filings. We are neither accountants nor attorneys and any specific questions as to what would be right for you should be directed to one of these professionals. Remember if you have a foreign filing, you still must stay on top of the filings for the home state or it will become a defunct company! Let us know if you have any questions.