To change your business address in NY, you file a Certificate of Change with the Department of State for a $30 fee, then separately notify the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance and the IRS. The state filing updates your public entity record; the tax notifications keep your accounts current. None of these agencies share address changes with one another, so each step has to happen on its own.
File a Certificate of Change With the Department of State
The Certificate of Change is the form that updates your entity’s address in the state’s records. The form has the same name across entity types, but the statute behind it differs: business corporations file under Section 805-A of the Business Corporation Law,1New York State Senate. New York Business Corporation Law 805-A – Certificate of Change; Contents LLCs file under Section 211-A of the Limited Liability Company Law,2New York State Senate. New York Consolidated Laws, Limited Liability Company Law – LLC 211-A Certificate of Change and limited partnerships file under Section 121-202-A of the Revised Limited Partnership Act.3Department of State. Certificate of Change for Domestic Limited Partnership The correct form is pre-titled for your entity type when you download it from the Department of State, so the section numbers matter mostly for identifying that you have the right one.
The Certificate of Change can update more than the street address. On the same filing you can change the county your office is located in, update the address where the Secretary of State forwards legal papers served against your company, and add, remove, or change a registered agent.1New York State Senate. New York Business Corporation Law 805-A – Certificate of Change; Contents Bundling all your changes into one filing saves a second fee.
What to Put on the Form
Use your business name exactly as it appears in state records, including punctuation and abbreviations. If you aren’t sure of the registered name, the Department of State’s Corporation and Business Entity Search database confirms both the name and your DOS ID number.4Department of State. Corporation and Business Entity Search Database
If your move crosses county lines, designate the new county. The office location on file determines your official county for local tax jurisdiction and lawsuit venue. You’ll also list the service-of-process address, which is where the Secretary of State forwards legal papers. It doesn’t have to match your physical office, but it has to be somewhere you reliably get mail.
The form must state how the change was authorized. For an LLC, that’s typically a member decision; for a corporation, it’s usually a board resolution. Filings that leave the authorization section blank get rejected.
Fees
The standard Certificate of Change fee is $30 for business corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships. Not-for-profit corporations pay $20. A limited $5 version exists for corporations and LLCs, but it only applies when the change is confined to the service-of-process mailing address or the registered agent’s address, which is mainly useful when a commercial registered agent updates its own address in bulk.5Department of State. Fee Schedules If you’re moving your office, you’re paying $30.
The Department of State accepts money orders, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. Personal checks are not listed among the accepted payment methods in current guidance.6Department of State. Certificate of Incorporation for Domestic Business Corporation
How to Submit
Three routes are available:
- Online through the Division of Corporations On-Line Filing System, which handles domestic business corporations and domestic LLCs. This is the fastest option and processes within a few business days.7Department of State. On-Line Filing
- By mail to the Division of Corporations, One Commerce Plaza, 99 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12231. Mailed filings can take several weeks depending on the backlog.8Department of State. FAQs Corporations and Business Entities
- By fax to (518) 474-1418, with a completed Credit Card/Debit Card Authorization Form for the fee.8Department of State. FAQs Corporations and Business Entities
If you need the update reflected quickly, expedited handling is available for an added fee: $25 for 24-hour processing or $75 for same-day processing.5Department of State. Fee Schedules A same-day Certificate of Change for a corporation runs $105 total. Once processed, you receive an official filing receipt confirming the changes.
Update the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
The Department of State does not notify the tax department, so your business tax accounts stay at the old address until you update them yourself. You have two forms to choose from:
- Form DTF-96 handles a change to your physical business location, mailing address, or both. It can also be filed online through the tax department’s website.9New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Form DTF-96 Report of Address Change for Business Tax Accounts
- Form DTF-95 covers broader updates to business information, such as responsible persons on a sales tax account, and can handle the address change at the same time. If you’re updating more than the address, DTF-95 is the single form to use.10Department of Taxation and Finance. Form DTF-95, Business Tax Account Update
One useful side effect: if you have employees and you update the address on your withholding tax account, the tax department automatically pushes the change to your unemployment insurance records with the New York State Department of Labor and to your Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax account.9New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Form DTF-96 Report of Address Change for Business Tax Accounts You don’t need to contact the Department of Labor separately for that piece.
Notify the IRS With Form 8822-B
Form 8822-B tells the IRS about a new business mailing address or business location.11Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business The same form also covers changes to your responsible party, but the two situations carry different rules. A responsible party change must be reported within 60 days. A pure address change is technically voluntary, and the IRS won’t penalize you for skipping it.12Internal Revenue Service. Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party – Business
Skipping it is still a bad idea. If the IRS mails a notice of deficiency or a demand for tax to your old address, you may never see it, and penalties and interest continue to accrue whether you received the notice or not. By the time the problem surfaces, months of interest can already be on the account.
The Biennial Statement Doesn’t Replace the Certificate of Change
New York corporations and LLCs file a biennial statement every two years with the Department of State, and that filing includes address information. For corporations, the statement lists the principal executive office, the CEO’s address, and the service-of-process address. For LLCs, it lists the service-of-process address.13Department of State. Biennial Statements for Business Corporations and Limited Liability Companies
Here’s the trap for corporations: the service-of-process address cannot be changed through the biennial statement. You have to file a Certificate of Change or a Certificate of Amendment to update it.13Department of State. Biennial Statements for Business Corporations and Limited Liability Companies Filing a biennial statement with your new address doesn’t do the job on its own. The biennial statement fee is $9, and it’s a separate filing from the $30 Certificate of Change.
What Goes Wrong If You Don’t Update
An outdated address on file with the Department of State creates real legal exposure. When someone sues your company, the Secretary of State accepts service of process and forwards it to the address in the records. If that address is stale, the first you hear about the lawsuit may be after a default judgment has been entered. You’re then fighting to vacate the judgment rather than defending the case.
Failing to maintain a current registered address or registered agent is also one of the common grounds for administrative dissolution. A dissolved entity cannot conduct business and, in some cases, cannot maintain a lawsuit it previously filed. Anyone who keeps operating on behalf of a dissolved entity risks personal liability for the debts incurred during that period. A missed biennial statement adds another compliance problem on top. The $30 filing fee is trivial next to the cost of reinstating an entity or vacating a default judgment.
USPS Forwarding Is Not a Substitute
Setting up mail forwarding with USPS helps with ordinary correspondence, but it doesn’t change what’s in the state’s database. Legal service travels through the Secretary of State, not the postal service. Government agencies send correspondence to the address in their records. Forwarding may catch some of it and miss the rest.
Forwarding also has limits of its own. If your business receives mail at a Commercial Mail Receiving Agency such as a UPS Store mailbox, USPS cannot process a change of address from that location. When you close a private mailbox, the CMRA forwards mail for six months, and after that mail simply stops arriving.14USPS.com FAQs. Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA) File the Certificate of Change, update your tax accounts, and send in Form 8822-B. Forwarding is a temporary bridge, not a fix.