Registering a New Company in Colorado

There is no national registration of companies in the USA. All businesses are registered at the county or state level. Listed below is how to register in Colorado. The state or counties will not check (or care) if your name conflicts with names of other businesses in other states!

Sole Proprietorships and private partnerships are registered at the County level in Arizona. This includes Fictitious Business Name statements (also known as “DBA”s). In most cases the fee is under $50 and anyone can register a business simply by visiting your county’s business office and completing the right paperwork.

Corporations (both for-profit and non-profit), including C or S Corps, Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), and Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) are only valid when registered with the Secretary of State.

Colorado Secretary of State
1575 Sherman Street, 2nd Floor
Denver, CO 80203
(303) 894-2200

Extensive information, including name checks, is available online through the Secretary of States Business Center website at:
www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/business/main.htm

NOTE: These notes are on registering the business only. You may also need a business license for any regulated businesses, and may also require city permits or licenses. These vary greatly from city to city.

Trademarks: Colorado refers to trademarks and tradenames just like dba’s (fictitious business names). These provide you no protection outside your county or state, so Colorado also recommends proper federal trademark filings with the US Patent and Trademark office. Save yourself time and money by having a full trademark search done first through a naming agency (like this one in this site) or through a low cost online legal service. If your trademark application is rejected you will lose your filing fee.

Sales Tax: In Colorado, actual retail sales tax varies by area, as different areas add to the state sales base tax rate. If you will be selling taxable good or services (which is often the case unless you only sell to resellers), you will need a tax id from the Colorado Department of Revenue, www.revenue.state.co.us.

Largest Cities: Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Arvada, Pueblo, Westminster, Boulder Thornton. Area codes include 303, 720, 970, 719

Brighter Naming provides name consulting services to Denver, Colorado Springs and all other parts of Colorado.

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 Colorado is named from the Spanish for the “colorred” and was applied to the Colorado river.
It’s nickname is the Centennial State or Colorful Colorado.

Disclaimer: These are purely informational guidelines. For details in your particular case, please consult your lawyer, accountant or state/county office. Brighter Naming is not licensed to provide legal advice. The information here is provided as an informational service only.