Frequently Asked Questions About
Starting a Nebraska LLC

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

In order to form an LLC in the state of Nebraska, there are some minimum requirements you must meet. These are a completed Certificate of Organization, a business name, and a fee you pay to the Nebraska Secretary of State. We recommend taking some additional steps before officially forming 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 Nebraska business.
• Write an Operating Agreement that covers how you will run your LLC.

After you’ve created your Nebraska 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 Nebraska, you register a business by completing and filing your Certificate of Organization with the Nebraska Secretary of State. You will need to gather pertinent information about your business, fill out the form and send it to the Secretary of State with your filing fee. This will formally create your LLC in Nebraska.

You can file your Certificate of Organization 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 Nebraska state filing fee.

At the time of writing the fee charged by the Nebraska Secretary of State is $100 if filed online, or $110 if filed in person. You can always check the latest Nebraska 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 pertinent information together and filed your Certificate of Organization (or had Incfile do it for you), it can take 1-2 business days for the Nebraska Secretary of State to legally form your LLC. Because of this quick processing time, the NE Secretary of State doesn't offer any expedited filing, to have your LLC formed faster.

The name of your Nebraska LLC needs to be unique, so you’ll need to confirm that it's not already being used by another business. You can do that via the Nebraska Secretary of State website, or by using our fast and simple Business Name Search tool.

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

• If you’re creating a new business and your business name is unique in Nebraska and meets state naming rules, you simply include it in your Certificate of Organization.
• If you want to change the legal name of your business, file an Amended Certificate of Organization with the Secretary of State.
• If you just want to do business under a different name, file an Application for Trade Name with the Nebraska 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 Nebraska, this document is called your Certificate of Organization, and it performs the same functions as the Articles of Incorporation.

Yes, by law, the state of Nebraska requires new businesses to publish a Notice of LLC Formation which must be circulated in the county where the LLC's principal office will be located.

Yes, the State of Nebraska allows the formation of Series LLC within the state. 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.

To form a Series LLC, simply fill out the Protected Series Designation form and file it with the Secretary of State. The fee for a Series LLC formation is $110 for each series established.

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

If you wish to change your Nebraska Registered Agent you can do so by filing a Statement of Change with the Secretary of State. Here at Incfile, we provide a free Nebraska 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 Nebraska business, you can perform a Nebraska 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

Nebraska charges a 5.5 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 FAQs related to taxable services here.

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

The base rate for Nebraska sales tax is 5.5 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 Nebraska, however it does not apply to LLCs unless your LLC is treated as a C Corporation for tax purposes.

If you wish to form a business in Nebraska, continue to operate, and maintain compliance with the state, you'll likely need some type of business license. 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.