Statutory requirements, filing fees, and recommended services for Tennessee businesses.
Verified against Tennessee Secretary of State · Updated 2026-04-30
Tennessee treats the registered agent designation as a continuous obligation under Tenn. Code §48-208-101, not a one-time formation step. Every LLC and corporation operating in Tennessee must keep an agent with a physical Tennessee street address on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State. This page documents how Tennessee treats the registered agent designation under Tenn. Code §48-208-101, the fees the Tennessee Secretary of State charges to file, and the practical mistakes that trip up first-time filers.
A Tennessee registered agent is the individual or business entity that Tenn. Code §48-208-101 requires every LLC and corporation to maintain as the official recipient of service of process, state tax notices, and Tennessee Secretary of State correspondence. The agent must keep a physical Tennessee street address — P.O. boxes alone do not satisfy the statute — and must be reliably available during normal business hours. The Tennessee Secretary of State, Business Services Division files the agent’s name and street address as part of the public business record, searchable by any member of the public through the agency’s online entity database.
The registered agent designation in Tennessee is filed as part of the Articles of Organization, submitted to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s business filings division. Most filers use the Tennessee Secretary of State Business Services online portal, which accepts the formation document, the agent designation, and the $300 filing fee in a single transaction. Online submissions typically clear in two to seven business days; paper filings can take two to four weeks depending on agency workload.
Tennessee charges $50 per LLC member for both formation and annual reports, with a $300 minimum and $3,000 maximum — uniquely scaling with membership size. A 30-member LLC pays $1,500 to form and $1,500 every year thereafter. Separately, Tennessee LLCs owe a state-level franchise tax of $100 per year — Tennessee Franchise & Excise Tax minimum, filed with the Department of Revenue separately from the SOS annual report. Based on net worth (0.25%, $100 minimum) and net earnings (6.5%).
Once the entity is on file, the registered agent’s role continues for as long as the LLC or corporation exists. Tennessee’s ongoing maintenance is handled through an annual report at $300, due annually by the first day of the fourth month after fiscal year end, and any subsequent change of registered agent is filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State via a Statement of Change at a $20 fee. The agent must file a written consent or, where the agency requires, sign the formation document itself — the Tennessee Secretary of State rejects designations that lack agent consent.
National registered agent services — Northwest Registered Agent, Mainstay Filing, ZenBusiness, and LegalZoom — operate in Tennessee with the same pricing and feature set they offer in every other state. For most Tennessee LLCs and corporations, a national provider is the right choice: consistent pricing, an online dashboard with scanned mail, and same-day acceptance of service of process. Northwest’s $125/year tier and Mainstay Filing’s $99/year tier are the two most common picks for Tennessee businesses that want privacy and reliability without paying premium prices.
A Tennessee-specific provider like Tennessee Registered Agent.co makes sense in narrower cases. State-focused agents tend to specialize in Tennessee filings only, which can mean faster local turnaround on Statements of Change, deeper familiarity with the Tennessee Secretary of State’s portal, and a single jurisdiction to worry about. For business owners who plan to operate exclusively in Tennessee and value a local-only operator, a state-specific provider is often a better cultural fit than a multi-state brand. The tradeoff is interface polish: state-specific services usually lack the dashboard depth and mail-forwarding automation of the national services.
Five state-specific gotchas account for most of the registered agent problems we see in Tennessee filings.
Listing a P.O. box or commercial mailbox. Tenn. Code §48-208-101 requires a physical street address, and the Tennessee Secretary of State returns filings that list anything other than a real Tennessee street. Commercial mailbox services without a registered street component (typical UPS Store-style addresses) are routinely rejected.
Using a non-Tennessee address. The agent’s address must be physically inside Tennessee. Out-of-state owners cannot list their own home address; they must either hire a commercial agent or designate a Tennessee-resident individual.
Letting the agent designation lapse without filing a Statement of Change. When a commercial agent service is terminated and a replacement is not filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State, the LLC enters a compliance gap. The $20 change fee is trivial compared with the cost of administrative dissolution and reinstatement.
Missing the annual report deadline. Tennessee’s annual report is due annually by the first day of the fourth month after fiscal year end, and the registered agent is the only party who receives mailed reminders from the Tennessee Secretary of State. If the agent is unreliable, the entity can miss the deadline silently.
Tennessee’s per-member fee scaling catches large LLCs by surprise. Converting a sole-member LLC to a 10-member entity raises the annual cost from $300 to $500 every year forward.
| # | Service | Price/yr | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Registered Agent | $125 | privacy-focused customers |
| 2 | Mainstay Filing Best Value | $99 | balanced value |
| 3 | ZenBusiness | $199 | new businesses bundling formation |
| 4 | LegalZoom | $249 | customers wanting brand-name support |
Tennessee-specific option: Tennessee Registered Agent.co operates exclusively in Tennessee and specializes in same-state filings. Best for businesses that want a state-focused provider with local-only operations.
| Physical address required | Yes — must be a street address in Tennessee |
|---|---|
| P.O. box allowed | No |
| Business hours availability | Required during normal business hours |
| Resident requirement | Tennessee resident OR authorized business entity |
| Listed in public record | Yes — searchable via Tennessee Secretary of State |
| Statute reference | Tenn. Code §48-208-101 |
| Filing Type | Fee | Renewal | Renewal Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC formation (Articles of Organization) | $300 | annually by the first day of the fourth month after fiscal year end | $300 |
| DBA / Fictitious Name | $20 | Every 5 years | $20 |
| Registered Agent change | $20 | — | — |
| Annual Report | $300 | annually by the first day of the fourth month after fiscal year end | $300 |
| Tennessee Franchise Tax Tennessee Franchise & Excise Tax minimum, filed with the Department of Revenue separately from the SOS annual report. Based on net worth (0.25%, $100 minimum) and net earnings (6.5%). | $100 | annually | $100 |
Yes — if you are a Tennessee resident with a physical street address and are available during business hours.
Yes. Tennessee law requires every LLC to maintain a Tennessee-based registered agent regardless of where the owner lives.
The Tennessee Secretary of State can administratively dissolve your business after approximately 60 days of non-compliance.
Yes — file a Statement of Change of Registered Agent with the Tennessee Secretary of State for $20.
$50–$150 per year for commercial services; free if you self-serve.
Yes. The agent's name and address are searchable via the Tennessee Secretary of State business records.
Same-day with most commercial services; same-business-day filing if submitted online before the daily cutoff.
This page provides general information about Tennessee registered agent requirements, not legal advice. Filing fees and procedures may change; verify current details with the Tennessee Secretary of State before filing. We may receive compensation from services listed in our comparisons; this does not influence our editorial selections.