Frequently Asked Questions About
Starting a Mississippi LLC

There are several different options when it comes to forming a business in Mississippi. From a legal perspective, there are three main types of Mississippi for-profit business entities: LLCs, S Corporations or C Corporations. We believe that for many entrepreneurs an LLC provides the right mix of liability protection and ease of administration.

In order to form an LLC in the state of Mississippi, there are some minimum requirements you must meet. These are a completed Certificate of Formation, a business name and a fee you pay to the Mississippi Secretary of State. We recommend taking some other additional steps before formally starting your LLC:

• Research your target market to make sure there’s a demand for the products and services you provide.
• Read industry guides to give you a starting point in your niche.
• Create a comprehensive business plan that defines the most important aspects of your Mississippi business.
• Write an Operating Agreement that covers how you will run your LLC.

After you’ve created your Mississippi LLC, you will also need to review your business license requirements, understand ongoing filing needs, set up a separate business bank account and get an accountant.

In Mississippi, you register a business by completing and filing your Certificate of Formation via the online portal with the Mississippi Secretary of State. You will need to gather pertinent information about your business, fill out the form and submit it to the Secretary of State with your filing fee. This will formally create your LLC in Mississippi.

You can file your Certificate of Formation on the Secretary of State website or mail it in. Alternatively, Incfile can guide you through every step of the process by getting details from you and filing the form on your behalf — for free! There’s no additional charge for our basic LLC filing service, so all you need to do is pay the Mississippi state filing fee.

At the time of writing the fee charged by the Mississippi Secretary of State is $50. You can always check the latest Mississippi filing fees here. Some states allow you to pay an additional fee for expedited filing through Incfile, which will create your LLC faster. The amount of the expedited fee is dependent on how quickly you want your filing processed. Some LLC filing services do charge you extra to prepare and submit your filing documents, but at Incfile, we do this for free — so you only pay the state fee.

Once you’ve gathered all of your information together and filed your Certificate of Formation (or had Incfile do it for you), it can take up 2-3 days for the Mississippi Secretary of State to legally create your LLC if you've mailed in your paperwork. If you've chosen to file online, your business can be formed in 24 hours or less. For this reason, the state of Mississippi does not offer any expedited filing options.

The name of your Mississippi LLC needs to be unique, so you’ll need to check if it’s already being used by another business. You can do that via the Mississippi Secretary of State website, or by using our fast and simple Business Name Search tool.

There are a few ways to register your Mississippi LLC name.

• If you’re starting a new business and your business name is unique in Mississippi and meets state naming rules, you simply include it in your Certificate of Formation.
• If you want to change the legal name of your business, file a Certificate of Amendment with the Secretary of State via the online portal.
• If you just want to do business under a different name, file a Fictitious Business Name Registration form with the Mississippi Secretary of State, or we can do that on your behalf.

If you want to prevent people from using your business name across the U.S., you can file a trademark for the name. We can help.

In other states, the formal documents that you file to form a corporation or LLC might be known as Articles of Incorporation. In Mississippi, this document is called your Certificate of Formation, and it performs the same functions as the Articles of Incorporation.

No, the State of Mississippi does not allow the formation of Series LLC. A Series LLC is a special type of LLC where you create one “overall” business and then have individual, series LLCs within it, each counted as separate legal entities.

Yes, all legal business entities in Mississippi, including LLCs, must have a Registered Agent at all times. Here at Incfile, we provide a free Mississippi Registered Agent service for the first year if you file through us.

If you wish to change your Mississippi Registered Agent you can do so by filing a Statement of Change via the online portal provided by the Secretary of State. Here at Incfile, we provide a free Mississippi Registered Agent service for the first year if you file through us. If you’ve been using a different Registered Agent and want to switch to us, we’ll file the Statement of Change on your behalf.

If you need to know the Registered Agent of a specific Mississippi business, you can perform a Mississippi Registered Agent search within the state's business database.

As an LLC, any business profits you earn will be reported on your personal 1040 filing and reported and taxed as “pass-through” income. You will typically need to pay:

• Self-employment or payroll tax on all business profits
• Federal income tax on profits after you meet your tax-free allowance
• Sales tax for selling taxable products and services

Mississippi charges a 7 percent state sales and use tax on all retail sales, leases and rentals of most goods. You will also need to pay sales tax if you provide a taxable service. You can find a full list of taxable services here.

You will need to register as a sales tax vendor with the Mississippi Department of Revenue. You can complete this process online.

The base rate for Mississippi sales tax is 7 percent, and there may be additional sales tax depending on your region, county or city. Once you know your overall sales tax amount, calculate the value of all your taxable products and services. Then, multiply that by your sales tax rate to understand how much you will need to pay.

Once your LLC’s sales tax registration is completed, you will receive information with instructions on how often you must file a sales tax return and pay sales taxes. Returns and payments may be due monthly, quarterly or annually.

Some businesses will need to pay a corporate franchise tax in Mississippi, however it does not apply to LLCs unless your LLC is for tax purposes. You can read more information about Mississippi's Corporate Income and Franchise Tax here.

If you plan to form and operate a business in the state of Mississippi, you'll typically need some form of license in order to maintain compliance with the state. The types of business licenses you need will vary depending on your type of business, industry, location and various other factors. We can research the types of business licenses you might need for you.