How to Use INBiz: Indiana's Business Portal for Formation, Filings and Tax Accounts
How to Use INBiz: Indiana's Business Portal for Formation, Filings and Tax Accounts
INBiz Indiana, found at inbiz.in.gov, is the online portal of the Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division. If you are starting a business in Indiana, this is where most state filings happen: forming an LLC or corporation, reserving a name, filing an assumed business name, filing your Business Entity Report, ordering certificates and UCC filings, and starting certain tax registrations. This guide walks through the portal in the order most new owners use it, with the fees and deadlines the state has published.
Disclaimer: This article is informational content, not legal or tax advice. Entity choice, registered agent selection, and tax registration affect your liability and your tax bill. Talk with an Indiana attorney or a CPA before you file, especially if you have multiple owners, outside investors, or sell taxable goods from more than one location.
What You Need Before You Start
Gather these items before you open the portal. Having them ready keeps you from stopping halfway through a session, and it lets you compare costs before you pay.
- A business name you want to use, checked against the public business search at bsd.sos.in.gov.
- A registered agent with an Indiana street address for the registered office. The agent can be an Indiana resident whose business office matches that address, or an entity authorized to do business in Indiana. Your business cannot serve as its own registered agent.
- Your business details, including the principal office address and owner information. Review the fields on the state form before you start, since the form governs what the portal asks for.
- A payment method the INBiz checkout accepts. Budget for the processing fee described in Step 10.
- An IRS employer identification number (EIN) if you plan to open a business bank account, run payroll, or file certain tax returns. The EIN comes from the IRS, not the state.
INBiz Fees at a Glance
| Filing | Online fee | Paper fee |
|---|---|---|
| LLC or corporation formation | $95 | $100 |
| Name reservation (holds the name 120 days) | $10 | Confirm on INBiz |
| Assumed business name (LLCs and corporations) | $20 per name | $30 per name |
| Business Entity Report (every two years) | $32 | $50 |
| Registered Retail Merchant Certificate (per place of business) | $25 | Confirm on INBiz |
INBiz also adds a payment processing fee at checkout, at least $1 and up to 2.15%, so your total will be higher than the state fee alone.
Step-by-Step: Using INBiz From Start to Finish
Step 1: Decide Which Filings You Actually Need
Not every owner uses INBiz for the same things. A sole proprietor who operates under a trade name files that assumed business name with the county recorder, not the Secretary of State. A general partnership works the same way. An LLC or corporation handles its formation, name, and report filings through INBiz. Decide which path fits your structure before you pay anything. A common error is paying for a formation when you only needed a trade name filing, or the reverse.
Step 2: Search the Name Before You Reserve or Form
Run your proposed name through the public business search at bsd.sos.in.gov first. An LLC name must include the words 'Limited Liability Company' or an abbreviation of them, as State Form 49459 requires. The name must also be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records. INBiz says a name is distinguishable when it uses different letters, numerals, or words, or a different sequence of them. Entity identifiers such as Inc. or LLC, the articles 'the', 'a', and 'an', punctuation, capitalization, plurals, possessives, hyphenation, and swapping 'and' for an ampersand do not make a name distinguishable. For example, 'Hoosier Plumbing' and 'The Hoosier Plumbing, LLC' are not distinguishable from each other, so the second filing is likely to conflict with the first.
Step 3: Create or Log In to Your INBiz Account
Go to inbiz.in.gov and follow the on-screen prompts to create an account or sign in. Type the address directly rather than following a search result. The exact login and account-creation steps were not verified for this article, so treat the screens you see as the current instructions. If you cannot create an account or sign in, contact the Secretary of State Business Services Division at (317) 234-9768 or [email protected].
Step 4: Reserve a Name If You Need Time
If you need days or weeks to finish your formation paperwork, you can reserve the name for 120 days for a $10 fee. The reservation starts at inbiz.in.gov/start-business/step-one. The reservation holds the name only. It does not form the entity, so you still need to file the articles in Step 5.
Step 5: Form Your LLC or Corporation
Formation is completed and paid for in a single online INBiz session. The filing fee is $95 online and $100 on paper. For an LLC, the form is the Articles of Organization, Domestic Limited Liability Company (State Form 49459). For a corporation, it is the Articles of Incorporation, Domestic Corporation (State Form 4159).
Confirm your registered agent details before you submit. Indiana requires every entity to continuously maintain a registered agent and registered office in the state. The registered office must be a street address. A P.O. Box is not sufficient unless it comes with a rural route reference. An entity may have only one registered agent.
Plan your timeline around two facts. INBiz lists no expedited option for a domestic LLC formation, and the Secretary of State does not publish a processing time for formations. Do not promise a launch date to clients or landlords based on an assumed turnaround.
Step 6: Register Your Business for Indiana Taxes
INBiz is also where you file the Business Tax Application (BT-1), which starts your Indiana tax registration with the Department of Revenue. If you will sell taxable goods, you also need a Registered Retail Merchant Certificate, which the INBiz fee calculator lists at $25 per place of business. Indiana's state sales tax rate is 7%. Register for sales tax through the Department of Revenue guide at in.gov/dor.
The Department of Revenue account itself is managed in INTIME, a separate DOR system. Completing the INBiz filing does not give you access to that account. After you file, visit the Department of Revenue home page and find the INTIME access steps there.
Tax treatment depends on your structure, so confirm it before you choose one. Indiana has no franchise tax. An LLC's income passes through to its owners, who pay the individual adjusted gross income tax (2.95% for 2026, scheduled to fall to 2.90% in 2027) plus their county local income tax. An LLC that elects corporate treatment pays the corporate adjusted gross income tax of 4.9%, as does a corporation. Verify these rates with the Department of Revenue or a CPA before you rely on them.
Step 7: File an Assumed Business Name If You Use a Different Name
If your business operates under a name other than its exact legal name, file a Certificate of Assumed Business Name (State Form 30353). For an LLC or corporation already registered with the Secretary of State, file it through INBiz for $20 per name. By paper, the fee is $30 per name for for-profit corporations and LLCs, and $26 per name for nonprofit corporations. The form is at forms.in.gov.
Sole proprietors and general partnerships do not use INBiz for this filing. They record the assumed name with the county recorder in the county where the business is located. Each of Indiana's 92 counties sets its own recorder fee, so ask the recorder's office for the current amount before you go.
Step 8: Calendar Your Business Entity Report
Every LLC and corporation must file a Business Entity Report every other year, due by the end of the month in which the business was formed or registered. The first report is due two years after formation. The fee is $32 online or $50 on paper. Nonprofit corporations pay $22 online. Set a reminder for the due month the day you file your formation, because the first report is two years away and is easy to forget.
Step 9: Order Certificates and UCC Filings
INBiz also handles certificate orders and UCC filings. Use the order screens to request certificates for your business, and to file a UCC filing if a lender or financing arrangement requires one. The verified figures for this article do not include fees for these items, so read the amount on the order screen before you confirm.
Step 10: Check Out, Save Your Records, and Know What INBiz Does Not Cover
Before you pay, check the total, which includes the INBiz processing fee. Save a PDF of every confirmation and filed document in a records folder. You will need copies to open a bank account, apply for financing, or answer a question from a registered agent or lender.
INBiz does not handle every registration. Unemployment insurance registration with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development is separate, and you should plan it if you intend to hire employees. City or county licenses and local health department permits are also separate registrations with those agencies. Profession-specific licenses come from the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, and zoning approval comes from your city or county. None of these run through INBiz.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using INBiz for a sole proprietor's trade name. Sole proprietors and general partnerships record assumed names with the county recorder, not the Secretary of State.
- Listing a P.O. Box as the registered office. Use a street address, or a P.O. Box only with a rural route reference.
- Assuming a name is available because it looks different. Punctuation, capitalization, and entity identifiers such as Inc. or LLC do not make a name distinguishable.
- Paying paper fees by accident. Paper costs more for formation ($100 versus $95), an assumed name ($30 versus $20), and the Business Entity Report ($50 versus $32).
- Forgetting the Business Entity Report. The first one is due two years after formation, which is long enough to lose track of it.
- Treating the BT-1 as your whole tax setup. Your Department of Revenue account lives in INTIME, and sales tax registration is a separate step.
- Expecting a rush. INBiz lists no expedited option for a domestic LLC formation, so build the timeline around that.
- Paying a third-party filing service without comparing. Filing services can add charges on top of the state fee, so compare the total before you pay.
What to Expect After You File
After you submit, you should see a confirmation screen on INBiz. Depending on the filing type, you may also receive a confirmation or copy of the filed record. Because the Secretary of State does not publish a processing time for formations, you may not have the filed record right away. Hold off on signing long-term contracts or opening a business bank account in the company's name until you have that record in hand. If a filing is rejected or the result surprises you, contact the Business Services Division rather than resubmitting the same form.
Where to Get Help
- Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division: (317) 234-9768, [email protected], in.gov/sos/business
- Indiana Department of Revenue: in.gov/dor
- Indiana Small Business Development Center: isbdc.org
- SBA resources for Indiana business services: sba.gov/district/indiana
If your formation involves several owners, an outside investor, or a tax question tied to your specific income, schedule time with an Indiana attorney and a CPA before you file. This article is informational only and is not legal or tax advice, and it does not replace their review of your situation.