How do you set upa company in Connecticut.
In Connecticut, you register your LLC or corporation with the Secretary of the State, then handle ongoing corporate and franchise tax filings, or let Teamed handle payroll instead.
At a glance
Connecticut entity setup at a glance
Forming a domestic LLC in Connecticut carries a registration fee of $120 paid to the Secretary of the State. Once you're operating, the state applies a corporate income tax of 7.5%, plus an additional surcharge of 10.0% on top of that liability. Every corporation also owes a minimum franchise tax of $250, calculated as a flat amount rather than scaling with revenue or shares.
- Corporate income tax
- 7.5%
- Additional surcharge
- 10.0%
- Minimum franchise tax
- $250
- Franchise tax basis
- flat
- Formation / registration fee
- $120
Formation
How you register an entity in Connecticut
You form a domestic LLC or corporation by filing formation documents with the Connecticut Secretary of the State and paying the registration fee of $120. You'll also need a registered agent with a physical Connecticut address, since the state requires someone reachable to accept legal and tax correspondence on the entity's behalf.
After formation, you apply for a federal employer identification number, open a business bank account, and register the entity with the relevant state tax and labor agencies before you can legally run payroll. None of this is difficult on its own, but it's sequential, and skipping a step tends to cause delays later when you're trying to pay your first employee.
Taxes
What you'll owe once you're operating in Connecticut
Connecticut taxes corporate income at 7.5%, and then layers an additional surcharge of 10.0% on top of the tax otherwise due. That combination makes Connecticut's effective corporate tax burden meaningfully higher than the headline 7.5% rate alone suggests, so budget for both when you're modeling entity costs.
Every corporation also owes a minimum franchise tax of $250. This is a flat amount, not a percentage of revenue or paid-in capital, so a small subsidiary and a large one owe the same base figure regardless of how much business either does in the state.
Ongoing compliance
Staying compliant after you launch
Once your entity exists, you're on the hook for recurring obligations: filing a corporate income tax return, paying the flat franchise tax, keeping your registered agent current, and filing whatever periodic report the Secretary of the State requires to keep the entity in good standing. Missing any one of these can put the entity out of good standing, which then complicates payroll, banking, and contracting.
This is the part founders usually underestimate. Setting up the entity is a one-time task; staying compliant with it is a permanent one, and it's the reason many companies choose to run their first hires through an employer of record while they decide whether a Connecticut entity is worth the long-term overhead.
Your own entity
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact.
When you're ready to stop leasing an employment structure and own one outright, Teamed's Global Entity and Employment Operations service, which we call GEMO, handles the entity formation, tax registration, and employee migration for you, across 100+ countries.
Before you commit
Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit
An employer of record is often the right call for Connecticut, not a compromise you settle for. If you're hiring a small or still-changing group, or you're testing the Connecticut market before committing to it long-term, an EOR lets you pay people correctly without carrying the franchise tax, corporate tax filings, and registered-agent upkeep that come with your own entity. Talk to a member of the team about your specific situation, or run the numbers yourself with the crossover calculator.
Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform at Teamed, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work rather than a ticket queue.
Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it on local salaries and employer costs rather than on a headcount rule of thumb.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact.
Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, is how Teamed forms your company, registers it for tax and payroll, runs it month to month and keeps its filings current, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
For Connecticut specifically, that means we register the entity, get it current on the corporate income tax, the surcharge, and the flat minimum franchise tax, and move your existing hires onto its payroll without a gap in their employment. You end up with a fully compliant Connecticut entity that's yours to keep, built the way you'd have built it yourself, just without the months of setup and filing lag.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Connecticut entity setup, answered
How much does it cost to register an LLC in Connecticut?
The Connecticut Secretary of the State charges a formation fee of $120 for a domestic LLC. That covers filing the formation documents; it doesn't include the registered agent, tax registrations, or bank setup you'll also need before you can run payroll.
What is Connecticut's corporate income tax rate?
Connecticut taxes corporate income at 7.5%, and then applies an additional surcharge of 10.0% on top of that liability. Together they make the effective tax cost higher than the base rate alone implies, so plan for both figures when budgeting.
Do all Connecticut corporations pay a franchise tax, even if they're not profitable?
Yes. Connecticut sets a minimum franchise tax of $250, calculated as a flat amount rather than scaled to revenue or profit. Even a corporation with no taxable income still owes this minimum.
Can I hire in Connecticut without setting up my own entity?
Yes, an employer of record lets you employ someone in Connecticut legally without registering your own entity there. It's a genuinely good option for a small or early-stage headcount, not just a stopgap, since it avoids the franchise tax and ongoing filings entirely.
When should I move from an EOR to my own Connecticut entity?
It depends on your headcount, salaries, and how long you plan to stay in the state, so there's no single threshold that fits every company. Run your numbers through the crossover calculator, or talk to a member of the team, before you commit to forming an entity.
Where these figures come from
Sources
Figures on this page come from the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services - CT-1120 corporation business tax general instructions, and the Connecticut Secretary of the State - domestic LLC forms and fees.
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