Division of Business and Charitable Organizations, Nashville
Tennessee Secretary of State Business Entity Search in TNCaB
The Tennessee business entity search is TNCaB’s Business Entity Search, the Secretary of State’s register of corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships and general partnerships: no fee, no login, a name or a 9-digit control number. The search here takes a name, a control number with or without its leading zeros, or a registered agent’s name, and opens the record: status, registered agent, addresses and former names.
Search Tennessee businesses
Tennessee onlyOne distinctive word finds more than the full legal name.
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TNCaB Replaced TNBear for Tennessee Secretary of State Searches
The Tennessee Secretary of State business search moved from TNBear’s Business Information Search to TNCaB, the Tennessee Charity and Business Filing System, on February 18, 2025. Filing an annual report or any other document now requires a TNCaB account; searching doesn’t.
Step 1: Starts With Is Preset; Contains Needs Every Word
The form has two fields, Business Name and Control Number, an Active Entities Only box and three match types. In the state’s search help, Starts With (the default) finds names that begin with the text, Contains finds names that contain all the words entered, and Exact finds names that exactly match the text. The control number is nine digits with zeros on the left, such as 000346608 for FedEx Corporation. A line above the form gives the date through which filings and annual reports have been processed.
Step 2: Read the Grid, Then Open Details
Results come back in a grid with Control No., Name, Other Names Used, Entity Type, Status, City, Formed In and Registration Date columns; Details opens the record in a window over the page. That window has no web address of its own, so a record is shared by its control number, not by a link. The same search is the state’s business name availability check: there is no separate tool. TNCaB’s other public searches cover trademarks, service of process, motor vehicle temporary liens and UCC filings.
Inactive, Then the Reason in Parentheses: Reading a Tennessee Record
A Tennessee business status starts with Active or Inactive, then gives the reason. The Secretary of State counts a company in good standing when it is listed as active after filing its formation or registration documents and every required annual report, and paying all fees. A company that doesn’t file its annual report on time can be administratively dissolved and placed in inactive status.
| Status | What it says |
|---|---|
| Active | Listed as active; the good standing test above applies. |
| Inactive - Dissolved (Administrative) | Dissolved by the Secretary of State: a missing annual report, no registered agent, a returned payment, or a foreign company’s assumed name lost to a name conflict. |
| Inactive - Revoked (Administrative) | Revoked by the Secretary of State; the $70 reinstatement form covers it like a dissolution. |
| Inactive - Revoked (Revenue) | A revocation tied to the Department of Revenue. |
| Inactive - Merged | Merged into another entity. |
| Inactive - Withdrawn | Withdrew from Tennessee. |
| Inactive - Terminated | Ended by the company’s own filing. |
| Inactive - Expired | Seen on general partnership records; the Secretary of State publishes no definition. |
Tennessee has a second good standing, with the Department of Revenue: the Secretary of State has verified that all fees, taxes and penalties owed to Revenue are paid. Revenue’s tax clearance is required for a Certificate of Existence, a reinstatement, or a termination or withdrawal.
First Day of the Fourth Month: Tennessee’s Annual Report and Its Fee
A Tennessee annual report is due on the first day of the fourth month after the fiscal year closes, which is April 1 for a company whose year ends December 31; the Secretary of State lists December as the close month when none is given. An LLC pays $300 for up to six members and $50 more for each member above six, capped at $3,000, so a 10-member LLC pays $500. A corporation pays $20, plus $20 when the registered agent or registered office changes. Franchise and excise tax, with a $100 minimum franchise tax even for a company that did no business that year, is due to the Department of Revenue on April 15 for a calendar year, two weeks after the annual report.
The report is filed in TNCaB after creating an account, and an LLC that misses it can be administratively dissolved. Reinstatement costs $70 on the Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution/Revocation, and it is rejected unless the Department of Revenue has first issued tax clearance (615-253-0700). Filing the annual report through TNCaB is the subject of the Tennessee LLC annual report guide.
The Secretary of State warned on January 12, 2026 about the “Tennessee Business Filing Center,” which asks hundreds of dollars to file annual reports, and on September 16, 2026 about a “Business Resource Center Compliance Division” mailer selling a Certificate of Status that Tennessee doesn’t require.
TNTAP Works From the EIN, Not Toward It: the Tennessee EIN Lookup Question
No public Tennessee EIN lookup exists: neither the Secretary of State nor the Department of Revenue publishes a company’s EIN. TNTAP’s Tax Account Number Search works the other way, returning a Tennessee franchise and excise, business or sales tax account number from an FEIN, an SSN or an SOS control number, and only to someone who certifies being an authorized representative of the taxpayer.
The one check open to anyone is the Sales and Use Tax Certificate Lookup, which confirms a resale or exemption certificate by its number. An EIN is found elsewhere: the other places an EIN is printed.
The Certificate of Existence Needs Revenue’s Tax Clearance
In Tennessee, good standing is proven with a Certificate of Existence, $20, which can be requested, paid for and received online. The Secretary of State issues it only after tax clearance from the Department of Revenue, so a company active on the register but behind on its Revenue filings can be refused. Copies of filed documents cost $20 per set.
Tennessee Doesn’t Recognize DBAs: Assumed Names and Name Checks
“Tennessee does not recognize ‘DBAs’ (doing business as) or fictitious names,” in the Secretary of State’s business FAQs: a corporation, LLC or limited partnership registers an assumed name instead, on an application that gives its control number, for $20. The assumed name is good for 5 years and can be renewed for $20.
A new name is refused when it isn’t distinguishable from another business entity on file; a search in the Business Entity Search before filing shows the names already taken. For $20, Tennessee holds a name for four months (120 days). The register doesn’t settle trademark conflicts; a registered-mark search for a new name does.
Owner Names, Business Licenses, Registered Agents
Does a Tennessee record show who owns an LLC?
Not necessarily. The articles of organization ask for the number of members, and naming members or managers is optional. The record shown by the search on this page lists no officers or members. A corporation’s annual report lists at least one officer and its directors, and every Secretary of State form carries the note that its contents are public record under Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-503.
Who issues a Tennessee business license?
The county or municipal clerk: a business grossing $100,000 or more first registers for business tax with the Department of Revenue, then pays the clerk a $15 license fee, and between $3,000 and $100,000 the clerk issues a minimal activity license. Professional licenses are checked in the Department of Commerce and Insurance’s Verify search.
Who can be a Tennessee registered agent?
A person or company that accepts legal mail for the entity at a physical Tennessee address, never a P.O. box. Every entity except a general partnership needs one, and a change costs $20. The Secretary of State’s search can’t look companies up by agent; the Person tab above can.