CT Business Lookup: Connecticut Business Entity Search

CT SOS Business Search: Business.CT.gov Took Over From CONCORD

The Connecticut Secretary of the State (SOTS) runs its business search at Business.CT.gov, through the Search Business Records link to a page titled Online Business Search; the old CONCORD inquiry address now redirects there. The Business Inquiry screen it opens shows when the last annual report was filed and when the next one is due; the Secretary of the State’s own test for good standing is an Active status with a due date still in the future.

Principals, With Home Addresses, Are Public in Connecticut

Every Connecticut annual report names principals: at least one member or manager of an LLC, or the directors and officers of a corporation, with a business address and a residence address. The Secretary of the State can accept a business address instead when good cause is shown, such as a risk to the person’s safety (C.G.S. 34-247k). Owners as such don’t appear: the registry has no shareholders and no LLC ownership percentages.

The same names are in the free Principals data set, next to separate sets for agents, filing history and name changes. A change of manager, member, officer or director between reports goes on an Interim Notice, $20.

Every Company Behind One Registered Agent

Every Connecticut LLC, and every foreign LLC registered there, must keep a registered agent in the state: a Connecticut resident or a business entity formed or registered in Connecticut. A foreign LLC can also name the Secretary of the State itself. The agent’s name, address, email and phone are part of the public data. Changing the agent costs $50. The Person tab above lists every company that names a given agent.

Forfeited, Revoked, Dissolved, Withdrawn: What Each Word Means

If the missing filing isn’t accepted within 90 days of a Notice of Intent to Dissolve or Revoke, a Connecticut business becomes Forfeited and can only wrap up its affairs, and a business formed elsewhere becomes Revoked and may no longer transact business in the state. Either way, the name becomes available to someone else.

Active alone doesn’t mean current: an active business can carry a sub-status such as Annual report past due or Admin Dissolution Initiated. A forfeited business can reinstate and keep its original formation date: $120 for an LLC, $150 for a corporation. A revoked foreign business registers again instead.

Annual Reports: January to March for LLCs, the Anniversary for Corporations

Every Connecticut LLC files its annual report between January 1 and March 31, whatever month it was formed (C.G.S. 34-247k), for $80; the first one is due the year after formation. A corporation files on the anniversary of its first report instead: $150 for a Connecticut stock corporation, $435 for a foreign one and $50 for a nonstock corporation.

Reports are filed online only and carry no financial information. A reminder goes by email about a month before the due date. No late fee is listed, but an overdue report blocks a Certificate of Legal Existence, and a business more than a year in default can be dissolved by forfeiture. The $80 filing has its own page: Connecticut’s LLC annual report, step by step.

Official emails come only from a @ct.gov address, and the Secretary of the State never sends unsolicited documents for signature (July 28, 2026 warning). Businesses can follow their own record on Business.CT.gov and get an email alert when something is filed on it.

Connecticut’s Good Standing Certificate Is a Certificate of Legal Existence

The Certificate of Legal Existence confirms that a business is registered and current with its Secretary of the State filings, and it needs an up-to-date annual report. It is ordered from a Business.CT.gov account: $50 for the express certificate of an LLC or corporation, $80 for a corporation’s short-form certificate, which reflects all name changes. A certificate can be verified free once logged in.

LLC or Inc. Doesn’t Make a Connecticut Name Different

The Secretary of the State rejects a name that isn’t distinguishable on its records, and words that only show the type of entity, such as Inc., Corp., Ltd. or LLP, don’t count (C.G.S. 34-243k), so ABC LLC conflicts with ABC Inc. unless ABC Inc. consents in writing. An LLC name carries “limited liability company”, L.L.C. or LLC. The Business Records Search tool is the availability check, and a $60 reservation holds an LLC name for 120 days. The Business Records Search doesn’t cover trademarks; a full LLC name check adds that search.

Trade Names Go to the Town Clerk

A trade name, Connecticut’s DBA, is filed with the town clerk of the town where the business mainly operates, for $20, and is valid for five years. The state’s Connecticut Trade Name Registry offers a statewide search, but it may not hold older certificates filed on paper; for those, ask the clerk in that town. A trade name protects nothing: it gives no liability shield and doesn’t stop anyone else from using the name.

No EIN in the Connecticut Registry

No Connecticut registry lookup returns an EIN: none of the registry’s data sets carries one, and myconneCT, the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services portal, offers no public search of CT Registration Numbers or permits from its home page. Registering to collect sales tax costs $100, and each location needs its own Sales and Use Tax Permit. The records where an EIN usually appears are a separate search.

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