This is a practical overview, not legal or tax advice. For anything specific to your situation, confirm the details with the SBA, a local attorney, or an accountant.
Arizona is a genuinely friendly place to start a business, and the state has worked hard to make registration straightforward. But "straightforward" still means several separate steps with several separate agencies. Doing them in the right order saves you re-work — for example, you generally want your business entity formed before you apply for your tax license. Here's the sequence.
1. Choose your business structure
Your structure affects your taxes, your paperwork, and your personal liability. The common options:
- Sole proprietorship. The default if you just start doing business as yourself. Nothing to file to form it, but it offers no liability protection — your personal assets are exposed if the business is sued or owes money.
- Limited Liability Company (LLC). The most popular choice for small businesses. It separates your personal assets from the business and keeps taxes relatively simple. This is what many first-time Arizona founders choose.
- Corporation (C-corp or S-corp). More structure and more reporting, but the right call if you plan to raise outside investment or issue stock.
If you're unsure, SCORE and the SBA both offer free guidance, and a short conversation with an accountant about how each is taxed is usually money well spent.
2. Pick and check your business name
Before you commit, make sure the name is available. You can search existing entities through the Arizona Corporation Commission, and check that a matching web domain and social handles are free. If you'll operate under a name different from your legal one, you can register that trade name (a "DBA") with the Arizona Secretary of State.
3. Form your entity with the Arizona Corporation Commission
In Arizona, LLCs and corporations are formed through the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), not the Secretary of State (that catches a lot of people coming from other states). You'll file Articles of Organization for an LLC, or Articles of Incorporation for a corporation, and name a statutory agent — a person or service with an Arizona address who can receive official mail on the company's behalf.
One thing unique to Arizona: most new LLCs and corporations must complete a publication requirement — publishing a notice of formation in an approved newspaper in the county of your known place of business — within 60 days. There's an exception: if your statutory agent's address is in Maricopa or Pima County, the ACC publishes the notice for you on its public database and you don't have to do the newspaper step. Check the current rules when you file.
4. Get your EIN from the IRS
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is your business's federal tax ID. You'll need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, and file taxes. It's free, it comes straight from the IRS, and you can get it online in a few minutes — don't pay a third party for something the IRS gives away.
5. Register for a Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license
Arizona doesn't have a single statewide "business license," but it does have the Transaction Privilege Tax — often called a sales tax, though technically it's a tax on the privilege of doing business in the state. If you sell products or certain services, you'll likely need a TPT license from the Arizona Department of Revenue, which also handles city tax licensing for most Arizona cities through one combined application.
Some cities and certain regulated professions require additional local licenses or permits, so check with the city or town where you'll operate — including the Rim Country communities of Payson, Star Valley, Pine, and Strawberry if that's home.
The short checklist
- Choose a structure (LLC is the common starting point).
- Check your name; register a trade name if needed.
- Form the entity with the Arizona Corporation Commission & name a statutory agent.
- Handle the publication requirement (or confirm you're exempt).
- Get a free EIN from the IRS.
- Apply for a TPT license through the Arizona Department of Revenue.
- Confirm any city-specific licenses or permits.
- Open a dedicated business bank account — keep personal and business money separate from day one.
A note on staying compliant
Registering is the start, not the end. Corporations file an annual report with the ACC; LLCs in Arizona generally don't have an annual report, which is one reason they're popular. You'll also file TPT returns on the schedule the Department of Revenue assigns. Put these dates on a calendar now — missing them is the most common avoidable headache for new businesses.