Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Tennessee

Doing business in Tennessee from another state

If your LLC does business in Tennessee as Tennessee defines it, you register with the Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations for $300.

Step 1: put these questions to Tennessee’s law

  1. An employee or contractor works from the state. Ask whether the statute counts work done by people located in the state, and whether employees and independent contractors are treated alike.
  2. You sell to customers there but have no one on the ground. Ask whether the statute treats sales from outside the state differently from activity inside it.
  3. The LLC owns or leases property there. Ask whether owning or leasing real estate is listed as an activity that does, or does not, count.
  4. You open an office, shop or warehouse. Ask whether a fixed place of business is named in the statute. Settle the answer before you sign a lease.
  5. You hold meetings or keep a bank account there. Ask whether the statute lists these ancillary activities, and whether they count by themselves.

The law, as listed in the state’s own sources: Tennessee Revised LLC Act, Public Chapter 286 (2005).

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
SS-4233, Application for Certificate of Authority, Foreign Limited Liability Company
Fee
$300
Paper from your home state
Certificate of existence or good standing, no older than 60 days
Agent
A registered agent in Tennessee

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Tennessee (2026)

Step 3: if you would rather not file it yourself.

#ServiceService feeTennessee feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$300Year one included, then $149/yr
2TN Registered Agent.org$199$300Year one included, then $99/yr
3Tennessee Registered Agent.co$199$300Year one included, then $99/yr

Service prices read from each provider’s Tennessee page on October 28, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations.

Tennessee questions

When does an LLC from another state have to register in Tennessee?

When its activity in Tennessee meets Tennessee’s own definition of doing business. We do not paraphrase it; read it in the law linked below.

What does registering in Tennessee cost?

$300 to the Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations.

What is required after registering?

Annual report (Tennessee Secretary of State, priced per member), $300 (due: first day of the fourth month after fiscal year end (April 1 for a calendar year)), and a registered agent in Tennessee.

Sources