Assumed Business Name Registration

Online filing normally takes less than 1 business day. Please allow 7-10 business days for the processing of any filings received by mail. Online registration is the preferred method. There is no extra fee for online registration.

Register Online

This is NOT the first step to registering a business/nonprofit entity, such as a Profit Corporation, Nonprofit Corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC, PLC, L3C), Cooperative, MBE, LLP or LP; nor does it establish a business/nonprofit entity. To register a business entity, please select your intended business type from menu on the left side of this page.

Before you get started, we recommend that you consult with an attorney, accountant, or business advisor about which business type is best for you.

Do not invest in websites, signs, business cards, or other marketing materials until you receive a certificate confirming the availability and your registration of the requested name.

Under Vermont's “distinguishable on the record” standard, if the requested name is too similar to an already registered name, such that it would confuse the public as to whom they are dealing with, it will be rejected. All registrations are subject to name availability rules. To avoid conflicts, please search our online database for your desired business name.

Assumed Business Name Registration Information

An assumed business name registration (formerly known as a trade name registration) informs the public that you are using an assumed business name, what sort of business you are doing under the assumed business name, as well as giving you some degree of name protection. This type of registration is used by an individual, a business entity (e.g. corporations, nonprofits, LLCs, etc.), or an association thereof that intends to “do business” under an additional or different business name.

Registering your business name as an assumed business name with this office is your first step if you are:

• a Sole Proprietor seeking to do business as (DBA) a name other than his or her own proper name;
• a General Partnership (i.e. co-partnership), meaning two or more individuals collectively doing business together for the purpose of profit, i.e. a partnership that is not an LLP or LP;
• an Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (i.e. association of individuals), meaning two or more individuals collectively doing business together for a purpose that is not for profit;
• already a Business or Nonprofit Entity seeking:
• to do business as (DBA) a business name other than your entity's proper name,
• the option to legally do business as your entity's name without using its business entity identifier (e.g. Corp., Inc., Ltd., Co., PC, PA, SC, LLC, LLP, LP, MBE, IC, etc.).

Associations of Individuals do NOT qualify as nonprofit organizations for federal tax purposes such as, but not limited to, those defined under the provisions of IRC 501(c)(3).

Please see Nonprofit Corporation if your intent is to qualify as a nonprofit organization for federal tax purposes such as, but not limited to, those defined under the provisions of IRC 501(c)(3)

Proper Name

Proper names are defined as follows:

• proper name of an individual: the individual's name rendered with at least one given name and one surname
• proper name of a business entity: the complete name as shown in the records of the Secretary of State - including its entity identifier

Assumed Business Name Registration vs. Business (Profit or Nonprofit) Registration

An assumed business name registration does not create a legal business entity (corporation, nonprofit, limited liability company (LLC, PLC, L3C), mutual benefit enterprise (MBE or LCA) or partnership (general, LLP or LP).

An assumed business name is simply an additional business name under which the registrant(s) have the legal authority to do business as — and incur the same liabilities as would doing business in the individual name(s) of the registrants(s).

Exemptions to the Registration Requirement

Under Vermont law, 11 V.S.A. § 1621, individuals are not required to register an assumed business name with our office if they are doing business with the public under a business name that includes their full legal name, e.g. “John Smith Carpentry” or “John C. Smith Carpentry.”

Please Note: Despite this exemption, and to follow internal business fraud prevention policies, many vendors and banks may still require you to register your business name with our office.

However, an assumed business name registration may not be just the legal name of a registrant - this includes a registrant's full legal name with or without a first or middle name(s) and/or first or middle initial(s).

This means that an assumed business name may not be exactly the same as a provided individual registrant's name. This is not a restriction on what are known as "pen names" for writers or "professional names" for other fields — so long as your pen name or professional name is not the same as an individual registrant's name listed on your registration.

Foreign (Non-Vermont) Assumed Business Names Doing Business in Vermont

Under Vermont law, there is no distinction between domestic and foreign assumed business names. If you do business in another state using a DBA, alternate name, fictitious name, or assumed business name, and seek to do business in Vermont, you simply register as a new assumed business name (DBA).

Business Name of an Assumed Business Name Registration

There are no standard words or phrases required to be part of the business name of an assumed business name (DBA). However, the business name of an assumed business name may not include any word, phrase, or abbreviation that falsely implies that it is the name of a business entity rather than simply an additional name under which the registrant(s) may do business.

This restriction includes the following words and phrases, as well as any abbreviation thereof: "corporation," "incorporated," "company," "limited," "professional corporation," "professional association," "service corporation," "cooperative," "mutual benefit enterprise," "limited liability company" (includes "LC," "LLC," "PLC," & "L3C"), "limited liability partnership" (includes "RLLP" & "LLP), or "limited partnership."

Registrant(s) of an Assumed Business Name Registration

Registrant(s) of an assumed business name may be one or more individual persons; 11 V.S.A. § 1621; or business/nonprofit entities. 11 V.S.A. § 1623.

To register an assumed business name as a business entity (corp., LLC, etc.), the business entity itself must first be registered with the Corporations Division.