Connecticut corporation search uses the Secretary of the State’s Business Records Search, the same database that holds LLCs, partnerships, and trusts. A corporate file shows the charter name, the ALEI, a filing number, the entity type, the incorporation date, the status, the agent, the principal office, the officers or directors on file, and the documents in order. Stock corporations and non-stock corporations sit in the same registry, and the type field is what separates them.
This page covers the corporate side of the registry: how to query a corporation by name or identifier, what each field proves, how a Connecticut corporation is formed and maintained, and which fees apply to each filing. It is written for buyers checking a vendor, directors checking their own filings, and founders comparing a corporation with an LLC. Fees are listed in the table only.
How to search Connecticut corporation records
A query can use the corporate name, the ALEI, or a filing number, and the result set includes every entity type rather than corporations alone. Results list the status beside each name, so a forfeited corporation can be set aside before you open the record. The same query may return an LLC, a corporation, and a limited partnership with similar names, which is why the type field deserves a look.
Search by corporate name
Type the most distinctive word in the legal name and leave the suffix out on the first pass. Connecticut stores “Inc.”, “Incorporated”, “Corp.”, and “Corporation” in the name field, but the match handles those suffixes unevenly. Drop punctuation and a leading “The”, then compare the results by ALEI rather than by name alone.
Long names fail more often than short ones. A single unusual word usually returns the right record, and a full legal name that includes a trade name, a family name, and a location tends to return nothing. Trim the query before you conclude that the company is missing.
Search by business ALEI
An ALEI query returns one entity, which makes it the most precise option. It appears on the certificate of incorporation confirmation and on every annual report. Copy it from a filing rather than retyping it, and enter it without spaces or dashes, because one wrong digit produces an empty result that looks like a dissolved corporation.
Search by filing number
The filing number identifies a specific document, such as the certificate of incorporation or an annual report. Use it when you know which filing you need, and use the ALEI when you need the entity. The two numbers are not interchangeable, and a vendor form that asks for one may still ask for the other later.
Separating stock and non-stock results
Connecticut uses the same search for both corporate types, and the result list does not always make the difference obvious. Open the record and read the entity type. A non-stock corporation has no shares, files a smaller annual report, and usually states a nonprofit purpose, while a stock corporation issues shares, elects a board, and pays a higher annual report fee.
Corporate filings and annual reports:
https://service.ct.gov/business/s/onlinebusinesssearch
What a Connecticut corporation record shows
A corporate record is short, and each field answers a different question. Read the fields in sequence, because a name match is not an ownership match. Connecticut does not list shareholders on the public record, so the officers and directors on file are not the same as the owners.
Charter name and type
The charter name is the one printed on the certificate of incorporation. Connecticut requires a corporate name to contain “Corporation”, “Incorporated”, “Corp.”, or “Inc.”, and it must be distinguishable from every other name on the register. The type field separates a stock corporation from a non-stock corporation and from an LLC with a similar name.
ALEI and filing number
The ALEI identifies the entity and stays the same through name changes, address changes, and agent changes. The filing number identifies a document and changes with each filing. Quote the ALEI on any call about the company, because it is the only field that cannot collide with another business.
Incorporation date
The incorporation date is when the Secretary of the State accepted the certificate of incorporation, not when the business opened. The date affects contract authority, tax periods, and any statement about longevity. A corporation formed two years ago can trade under a name that sounds decades old, and the record is the only reliable date.
Corporate status
Active means the corporation exists and is current on its annual report. Forfeited describes an administrative closure, most often for an unfiled report. Dissolved means the directors and shareholders voted to close it. Merged and converted appear when the corporation left through a transaction. Withdrawn applies to a foreign corporation that stopped doing business in Connecticut.
Registered agent and principal office
The registered agent accepts service of process and official mail and must have a Connecticut street address. The principal office on file can trail the physical location, sometimes by a full year. A stale agent is a frequent reason a corporation misses a lawsuit notice, and the Connecticut registered agent page covers the consent and the change process.
Officers and directors
Connecticut requires a corporation to report its officers and directors, and the record lists the names and addresses on the most recent filing. The list is not a shareholder list, and it does not show how many shares each person holds. A director named on the record can sign for the corporation only if the bylaws or a board resolution give that authority.
Share information
The certificate of incorporation states the number and classes of shares the corporation is authorized to issue. The public record shows the authorization, not the issuance. A corporation can be authorized for a million shares and have issued ten, and the record alone will not tell you which. Ask for the stock ledger when ownership matters.
Filing history
The filing history lists the certificate of incorporation, annual reports, amendments, mergers, conversions, and dissolution. A gap often describes a forfeiture and a later reinstatement. A short history on a long-lived corporation raises a question, because documents can be missing or filed under a name the company no longer uses.
Stock and non-stock corporations
Connecticut recognizes both corporate forms, and the difference is not cosmetic. A stock corporation issues shares, elects a board, and can distribute profits as dividends. A non-stock corporation has members rather than shareholders, does not issue shares, and usually pursues a charitable, educational, or mutual purpose. The annual report fee and the filing obligations differ.
A non-stock corporation is not automatically tax-exempt. Federal exemption is a separate application to the Internal Revenue Service, and state exemption is a separate matter with the Department of Revenue Services. A corporation can be non-stock at the state level and still owe federal income tax if it never applied for exemption.
How a Connecticut corporation is formed
Formation is a state filing plus a set of internal documents the state does not collect. The certificate of incorporation creates the entity. The bylaws, the organizational meeting, and the share issuance happen after the filing and stay with the corporation.
Certificate of incorporation
The certificate of incorporation is filed online through the business portal and must include the registered agent, the principal office, and the authorized shares. The amount sits in the fee table further down. Acceptance is the moment the charter takes effect, and the acknowledgement returns both the ALEI and a filing number to keep on file.
Bylaws and organizational meeting
The bylaws set the board size, the officer roles, the meeting rules, and the voting thresholds. The organizational meeting appoints the initial directors and officers and adopts the bylaws. Neither document is filed with the state, but a bank, a buyer, and a court will ask for them when authority is disputed.
Share issuance and records
Par value is a separate field from the share count. A corporation can set a par value of one cent or none at all, and the figure affects how the shares are recorded on the balance sheet rather than what they cost. A buyer who reads only the authorized count can miss a class of preferred shares that carries different voting rights or a liquidation preference.
Shares are issued by board resolution, and the corporation records the issuance in a stock ledger. Connecticut does not require the ledger to be filed, but it is the document that proves who owns the company. Keep it with the bylaws and update it whenever shares transfer.
Federal tax elections
A corporation is taxed as a separate entity by default. A small corporation can elect S status with the Internal Revenue Service, which passes income through to the shareholders. The election is federal, it has eligibility rules, and it does not change the state record. The corporation still files a Connecticut annual report either way.
Yearly report and charter forfeiture
A Connecticut corporation reports once a year, and the window closes on March 31. The filing restates the agent, the office, and the current slate of officers and directors, which is the part that changes most often. Stock and non-stock corporations pay different amounts, and the portal sends its reminder to the address on the account rather than to the agent.
Skip the filing and the state forfeits the charter. A forfeited corporation has no standing to enter agreements, and the arrears do not disappear, so every missed year has to be cleared before the entity can act again.
Reinstating a forfeited corporation
Restoring the charter takes one application, but it is not a clean slate. The office wants the outstanding reports, the money owed, and a Connecticut agent who will accept service. The same ALEI comes back, so existing contracts and the federal tax number stay attached to the entity.
What the file cannot hide is the interruption. A gap sits between the last good report and the restoration, and any contract dated inside that window deserves a question. Directors who signed during the gap can be pulled into a dispute personally, which is the practical reason the deadline matters.
Mergers, conversions, and domestication
A merger combines two or more entities into one, and the surviving entity keeps its own ALEI. A conversion changes the entity type without creating a new company, and a domestication changes the state of formation without changing the type. Each transaction has its own filing and fee, and each one appears in the filing history.
The record after a merger can be confusing. The disappearing entities show a merged status and point to the survivor, while the survivor shows a certificate of merger. If you are checking a vendor, confirm which entity actually holds the contracts rather than assuming the familiar name survived.
Dissolving a Connecticut corporation
Closing a corporation takes a board and shareholder vote, a certificate of dissolution, and a final tax filing. The state charges nothing for the certificate, yet the account with Revenue Services still has to be closed and the last report filed. Trading after the certificate is signed leaves the directors exposed and usually freezes the bank account.
A voluntary close and a state closure read differently to anyone who checks. The first follows a vote and leaves an orderly file; the second interrupts the record and needs a restoration to fix. Both stop the business, yet only one carries an interruption that a buyer will question.
Foreign corporations in Connecticut
An out-of-state corporation that wants to do business here files for a certificate of authority and names a Connecticut agent. The application bundles a license charge into the total, and the yearly report costs more than the domestic version. Without the certificate, the company can find its Connecticut contracts unenforceable.
The file names the home jurisdiction and the date it entered Connecticut, which is how you tell a local charter from a visitor. The agent listed there is the party to serve if a disagreement ends up in a Connecticut court.
Connecticut corporation fees
Amounts on the next table are the charges published by the office for domestic and foreign corporations. The office offers an expedited option, priced per submission rather than per form. Amounts are set by the office and updated periodically; confirm the figure before submitting payment.
| Filing | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock corporation Certificate of Incorporation | $250.00 | Domestic stock corporation |
| Non-stock Certificate of Incorporation | $50.00 | Domestic non-stock corporation |
| Organization and first report | $150.00 | Optional combined filing |
| Annual report, stock corporation | $150.00 | January 1 to March 31 |
| Annual report, non-stock corporation | $50.00 | January 1 to March 31 |
| Foreign stock corporation annual report | $435.00 | Includes the license fee |
| Foreign certificate of authority | $385.00 | Includes the $285 license fee |
| Certificate of amendment | $100.00 | Name or other change |
| Reservation of name | $60.00 | Held 120 days |
| Change of registered agent | $50.00 | Each change |
| Change of business address | $50.00 | Each change |
| Interim notice of officer change | $20.00 | Between annual reports |
| Certificate of dissolution | $0.00 | No state fee |
| Revocation of dissolution | $50.00 | Restores a dissolved corporation |
| Certificate of legal existence, short form | $80.00 | Reflects name changes |
| Certificate of merger or conversion | $60.00 | Each transaction |
| Expedited service | $50.00 | Per transaction, 24-hour handling |
Corporation or LLC in Connecticut
A corporation has a formal hierarchy of shareholders, directors, and officers, and it is taxed as a separate entity unless it elects S status. An LLC has members and managers, is governed by an operating agreement, and is taxed as a pass-through by default. A buyer should check the type field before assuming how the company is governed.
Fees for the annual report and for amendments also depend on the type. A stock corporation pays a different amount than a non-stock corporation and an LLC, so one budget cannot be copied onto another type. The Connecticut LLC lookup page covers the LLC side of the registry.
What the record cannot tell you
Registration and standing are all the file proves. It is silent on who holds the stock, what the company earns, what it owes, and whether a policy covers a claim. Any trade name lives with the town clerk, and a license lives with the regulator, so neither shows up in this search.
People read more into the officer line than it holds. Being listed means the corporation reported that person, nothing more; it does not confer shares or signature power. When authority is the question, ask for the bylaws, a resolution naming the signer, and a current certificate.
Reading a corporate record for a contract
For a contract, collect three things: the entity record, a certificate of legal existence, and a resolution that names the signer. Read the status first, then the incorporation date, then the agent. Longevity and a stable agent are not proof of quality, but they separate a settled company from one that keeps reshaping itself.
Keep the printout with its date attached to the contract. If the charter is forfeited, ask for the restoration date; if a report is late, assume the next check will look different. The date on your copy is what proves the position you relied on, and the Connecticut filing history page shows the documents behind it.
Frequent corporation search mistakes
A failed lookup usually traces back to the query rather than the company. The index works on words, keeps the legal name instead of the brand, and expects the ALEI character for character. Break any of those and the page comes back empty, which readers mistake for a missing company.
- Searching the trade name. A DBA is filed locally with the town clerk, outside this database.
- Including the suffix. Inc. and Corp. are stored inconsistently. Drop them on the first pass.
- Assuming officers own shares. The record lists officers and directors, not shareholders.
- Ignoring the type. A non-stock result and a stock result look alike until you read the type.
- Mistyping the number. Paste it instead; a single wrong character produces no result.
Frequently asked questions
The questions below come from directors checking their own filings and from buyers checking a corporate vendor. The answers below name the office behind each record.
Is a Connecticut corporation search free?
Yes. There is no charge and no login for the state search. You pay only for filings, certificates, and copies. The official portal is free, so a paid reseller adds cost without adding accuracy.
Does Connecticut require a corporation to have a registered agent?
Yes. Every domestic and foreign corporation must keep a registered agent with a Connecticut street address. The agent accepts service of process and official mail, and switching agents takes a separate form and a payment.
What is the difference between a stock and a non-stock corporation in Connecticut?
A stock corporation issues shares, elects a board, and can pay dividends. A non-stock corporation has members, does not issue shares, and usually pursues a charitable or mutual purpose. The annual report fee and the federal tax treatment differ.
Can a Connecticut corporation be owned by one person?
Yes. Connecticut allows a single shareholder, who can also be the sole director and officer. The state record looks the same as a multi-shareholder record, and the bylaws should state how the single owner acts for the corporation.
What happens if a Connecticut corporation misses its annual report?
The state forfeits the corporation. Its legal existence ends, so it cannot commit to new agreements under its own name. Filing the overdue reports and paying what was owed restores the entity, but the record keeps both events.