Division of Corporations, Delaware Department of State
Delaware Entity Search: Free Record, $10 Status
The Delaware entity search, the Secretary of State’s business search run by the Division of Corporations, is free and covers every Delaware company, active or not. The free record never shows good standing: it gives the file number, formation date and registered agent, and the status costs $10.
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How to Run a Delaware Business Entity Search on ICIS
The Division’s General Information Name Search, on its ICIS system, finds every limited liability company (LLC), corporation, limited partnership, statutory trust and other Delaware entity by name or by file number. Active and inactive entities come back together, so appearing in the list says nothing about status.
Official site: General Information Name Search
Step 1: Type a Name or a File Number
Fill one field. Capitals don’t matter, and quotation marks turn the name into an exact search: "Blue Coast" instead of every name starting with those words.
Step 2: Pick the Right Entity From the File Number List
The list shows only file numbers and names, with no status or type. File numbers seen in the results run from six digits (922127) to eight (10362840); the file number is the state’s unique identifier for the entity and the safest way to find it again.
Step 3: Open the Record (File Number, Kind, Agent)
The record gives the file number, the incorporation or formation date, the entity kind (LLC, corporation, limited partnership), entity type (General, unless the entity has a special attribute such as nonprofit or professional), residency (Domestic, or Foreign for a company formed elsewhere and registered in Delaware) and the registered agent’s name, address and phone. That phone number belongs to the agent, not to the company. The red line THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT OF GOOD STANDING is there on every record.
Delaware Business Search: What’s Free and What Costs $10 or $20
The free record proves a company was formed and names its agent. Seeing whether a Delaware LLC or corporation is still in good standing costs $10, and an official certificate of good standing costs $50.
| Option | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Entity details | Free | Name, file number, formation date, kind, type, residency, registered agent |
| Status | $10 | Current status and the date it began, on screen or by email |
| Status, tax and history | $20 | Status, the last 5 filings, franchise tax assessment, authorized shares and tax due |
| Certificate of status (short form) | $50 | Official certificate with the entity’s name and status |
| Long form good standing | $175 | Every filing with dates and times, name changes and status |
The $10 and $20 results are printable screens, not certificates, and neither shows filed documents. Certificates are ordered through the Document Filing and Certificate Request Service or by mail. A certificate someone hands you can be checked with Validate a Certificate, using the file number and the certificate’s authentication number, for one year after it was issued. The Division no longer gives filing history by phone or live chat.
Members and Managers Aren’t on File
A Delaware LLC files only its name and registered agent to form, and never files an annual report, so the state’s records normally name no member or manager (6 Del. C. § 18-201). The operating agreement stays with the company. If the LLC registered a DBA, the trade name record names the affiant and the parent company (see trade names).
A corporation’s certificate of incorporation (Delaware’s name for articles of incorporation) names its incorporator, and corporations list their directors in the annual franchise tax report, but neither the free search nor the $20 status shows them. A plain copy of an annual report costs $10 for the first page and $2 per extra page, through the same request service. Shareholders are not on file at all.
The registered agent is the one contact every record shows. Delaware requires each LLC to give its agent a named person for communications, and that person stays confidential. The Person tab above searches registered agents; the Division keeps no officer search. A person listed on a filing without consent has no complaint process at the Division, which records filings administratively: disputes go to the parties or the courts.
Delaware Name Search Before Forming the Company
The Division’s Name Availability Search checks a name against its records for free; only reserving it costs money. Tick the disclaimer box, choose the entity kind and ending, type the name without the ending, then enter the captcha code.
A reservation is optional before you start a Delaware LLC. It holds the name for 120 days, and the same applicant can renew it for successive 120-day periods, $75 each time. Delaware publishes no rule on plurals, spacing or punctuation: the test is whether the name is distinguishable on the Division’s records (6 Del. C. § 18-102), and the Division’s check applies it. Every Delaware LLC name must contain Limited Liability Company, L.L.C. or LLC and can’t use “bank”. Under its name standards regulation, the Division can also refuse a name that misleads, discriminates or points to a crime. An available name can still be rejected when the filing is reviewed. The LLC name check guide covers trademarks and domains.
Trade Names and Business Licenses at the Division of Revenue
Since February 2, 2026, Delaware DBAs (trade names) are filed with the Division of Revenue through Delaware One Stop, no longer with each county’s Prothonotary. The Trade, Business and Fictitious Names Search is free and, unlike the entity search, names the person who filed and the parent company.
A DBA is any name that doesn’t disclose the owner’s legal name. It costs $25 once, on top of a Division of Revenue business license, needs no notary and never expires; an LLC or corporation may register one but doesn’t have to (6 Del. C. § 3108). Filing gives no exclusive right to the name. DBAs filed with the courts before February 2026 sit in a historic spreadsheet published by the Division of Revenue unless they were registered again.
A company that has a location, employees or sales in Delaware must register with the Division of Revenue for a business license, and the Delaware Business Licenses Search shows its license number, activity and validity dates. A Delaware LLC that operates only in other states needs no Delaware license, so a missing license doesn’t mean a missing company.
Delaware’s Annual Taxes: When a Company Goes Void or Canceled
Delaware limited liability companies, limited partnerships and general partnerships pay a flat annual tax by June 1, with no annual report. Corporations file an annual franchise tax report and pay by March 1. A missed payment ends good standing; unpaid long enough, a corporation becomes void and an LLC is canceled.
| Delaware status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Good Standing | The entity’s existence has not ended, voluntarily or administratively. |
| Ceased Good Standing | An annual tax was not paid on time. |
| AR Delinquent, Tax Due | A corporation has neither filed its annual report nor paid; AR Filed, Tax Delinquent and AR Delinquent, Tax Paid cover the half-done cases. |
| Void, AR’s or Tax Delinquent | A corporation left its franchise tax unpaid for a year. |
| Cancelled, Failure to Pay Tax | An LLC, LP or partnership left its annual tax unpaid for 3 years. |
| Cancelled, Failure to Appoint a R/A | The registered agent resigned and no new one was named within 30 days; corporations show Forfeited instead. |
| Voluntarily Cancelled, Dissolved, Merged, Converted | The entity closed, merged or moved by its own filing. |
The LLC Tax Rose to $400
A 2026 law (HB 400) raised the LLC, LP and partnership tax from $300 to $400, starting with the 2026 tax year paid by June 1, 2027 (6 Del. C. § 18-1107). A late payment adds a $200 penalty, and interest of 1.5% a month runs on the tax and the penalty. If the 2026 tax is still unpaid three years after its due date, the LLC is canceled on June 1, 2030 (§ 18-1108). Until it is back in good standing, a Delaware LLC cannot bring a lawsuit in a Delaware court, but losing good standing doesn’t make its members or managers liable for the LLC’s debts (§ 18-1107(n)).
Domestic corporations pay franchise tax (minimum $175) plus a $50 annual report fee by March 1. A corporation that hasn’t paid or filed gets a notice by November 30 that its charter will be void unless it does so by the next March 1 (8 Del. C. § 510).
Reviving a Canceled LLC or a Void Corporation
A canceled LLC files a certificate of revival ($220) and pays the tax, penalties and interest due at cancellation; its existence then counts as uninterrupted, under a new name if another company took the old one. A void corporation revives for $189 plus its back taxes, or, after more than 5 years void, three times one year’s franchise tax instead of the arrears (8 Del. C. § 312).
$125 “Corporate Records” Notices: Not From the State
The Division warns that tax and annual report notices not sent by the State or by the company’s registered agent should be treated with suspicion; past examples asked $125 for “corporate records”, or $175 in Register Delaware’s “Annual Invoice for Statutory Representation”. Genuine notices carry the Delaware Coat of Arms and the Division’s contact details. Suspicious mail goes to the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at (302) 577-8600.
Frequently Asked Questions About Delaware Company Records
Is the Delaware SOS business search the same as the Division of Corporations search?
Yes. The Delaware Secretary of State business search is the Division of Corporations’ General Information Name Search on ICIS, linked from the Division of Corporations website (corp.delaware.gov).
Is there a Delaware EIN lookup?
No. The Division doesn’t issue or keep EINs, and a company can file its annual report and pay its Division of Corporations taxes without one. A Delaware company’s EIN is traced through other records, covered in how to find a company’s EIN.
When does a new Delaware company show up in the search?
As soon as the Division processes its certificate: the search is real time. The Division publishes no standard processing time; paid speeds run from next-day ($50 to $100) to one-hour ($1,000) service.