How do you set up a company in Oregon.
To register a company in Oregon, you file formation documents with the Oregon Secretary of State, then register with the state as an employer when you start paying people. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) can form the company and keep it running, and Teamed's EOR can employ your first people while you wait. For companies deciding whether to form an entity in Oregon, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed tells you when EOR is no longer the right model, and you get 24/5 human support with a first response within 15 minutes and service terms adjusted to suit you within reason.
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At a glance
Oregon entity setup, the short version
Registering a business entity in Oregon means filing with the Secretary of State's Business Registry, paying a formation fee, and then handling ongoing state tax obligations, including a corporate excise tax and a minimum franchise tax that applies even in years with no profit.
- Corporate income tax
- 6.6% to 7.6%
- Minimum franchise tax
- From $150
- Formation / registration fee
- $100
Formation
What it actually takes to register in Oregon
Forming a corporation or LLC in Oregon starts with the Secretary of State's Business Registry, where you file formation documents and pay a formation fee of $100. That gets your entity on the books, but it does not make you operational. You still need a registered agent, an EIN from the IRS, state tax registration, payroll setup, and often a business bank account before you can legally put someone on payroll.
None of that happens overnight. Oregon's registry moves reasonably fast once documents are filed correctly, but the surrounding steps, tax registration, benefits setup, payroll compliance, stretch the real timeline well beyond the filing itself. Companies that need to hire one or two people quickly in Oregon often find the entity route slower and more expensive than it looks on paper.
Tax obligations
What an Oregon entity owes the state
Oregon taxes corporate income at 6.6% on the first $1 million of taxable income and 7.6% above that, assessed under the state's corporate excise tax rules. Oregon also sets a minimum tax, $150 for a corporation with Oregon sales under $500,000 and higher as sales grow, which applies regardless of profit. You pay the calculated tax or the minimum, whichever is higher, so in a loss year the minimum is the cost of keeping the entity alive.
These obligations sit alongside standard payroll tax registration, unemployment insurance, and workers' compensation requirements that any employer in Oregon must handle, entity or no entity. A newly formed entity inherits all of it immediately, whether you have one employee or fifty.
The EOR alternative
Why teams skip the entity and hire through Teamed instead
When you hire through Teamed's Employer of Record, Teamed's existing Oregon entity becomes the legal employer of record for your team member. You avoid the Secretary of State filing, the $100 formation fee, and the ongoing minimum franchise tax exposure, because Teamed already carries that entity and its compliance obligations. Your new hire gets a compliant Oregon employment contract, payroll, and benefits, usually within days.
This matters most when you are testing Oregon as a market, hiring a small team, or moving fast and don't yet know if Oregon is where you'll build a long-term presence. The EOR model absorbs the registration and tax-filing overhead so you can focus on hiring the right person, not the paperwork behind them.
Already have a company elsewhere
Registering an out-of-state or foreign company in Oregon
A company formed in another state or another country does not need a second company to hire in Oregon. It registers with the Oregon Secretary of State as a foreign company before it starts doing business there, a step usually called foreign qualification.
Oregon law sets the test for what counts as doing business in the state, and putting employees to work there on a regular basis will usually meet it. States give the filing different names, among them a certificate of authority and an application for registration.
In Oregon, the filing is an Application for Authority. The Oregon Secretary of State charges a corporation $275 to file it, according to its published fees. It does not cover the cost of a registered agent, or of a certificate of good standing from your home state if one is needed. An LLC formed elsewhere goes through a similar filing, and its fee can be different.
Foreign qualification does not make you an employer in the state. That is a separate registration with the state tax and unemployment insurance agencies, due by the state's own deadline, which usually falls at or soon after your first payroll there.
Your options
Who can set it up for you
You can register a company in Oregon yourself or pay someone to do it, and the right choice turns on whether the company will employ people there.
You can file the formation documents yourself with the Oregon Secretary of State. That suits a founder with no staff and the time to work through the forms.
A formation agent will handle the company formation quickly and cheaply. That suits a company that will have no employees.
A law firm or corporate-services firm suits complex group structures and tax planning, such as setting up a subsidiary inside a wider group, where the advice matters more than the filing.
For companies that will employ people in Oregon, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed gives you real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters, a designated person who has done this before and one system from your first EOR hire to your own entity. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in the United States.
If you are a solo founder with no staff, you do not need Teamed for this. The registry or a formation agent is the cheaper route.
Before you commit
Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit
An Employer of Record is sometimes the better answer, not a lesser one, especially for a small or still-changing team, or when you're testing whether Oregon is even the right market. Talk to a member of the team about your specific plans, or run the numbers yourself with the crossover calculator, since the right answer depends on your entity costs and how long you intend to stay.
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 entity setup and running costs rather than on a headcount rule of thumb.
Who carries it
Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, move your people across, and keep it running.
GEMO is how Teamed forms your company and keeps it running, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it.
In Oregon, GEMO covers incorporation, registrations, payroll-readiness and ongoing governance.
They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll.
Questions
Oregon entity setup, answered
How much does it cost to register a business entity in Oregon?
The Oregon Secretary of State charges a formation fee of $100 to register a business through the Business Registry. That fee covers the filing itself, not the additional costs of registered agents, tax registration, or payroll setup that follow.
What is Oregon's minimum franchise tax and does it apply to new entities?
Oregon imposes a minimum franchise tax of $150 on corporations, and it applies even if the entity has no taxable income for the year. A newly formed entity in Oregon owes this minimum from its first filing year, regardless of revenue.
What corporate tax rate applies once my Oregon entity is operating?
Oregon's corporate excise tax rate is 6.6% on the first $1 million of taxable income and 7.6% above that, under rules administered by the Oregon Department of Revenue. An entity pays the calculated tax or the minimum tax, whichever is higher, not both.
Can I hire someone in Oregon without forming an entity there?
Yes, hiring through an Employer of Record lets you employ someone in Oregon legally without registering your own entity. Teamed's existing Oregon entity acts as the legal employer, handling payroll, tax filings, and compliance on your behalf.
When does it make sense to form my own Oregon entity instead of using an EOR?
It generally makes sense once your Oregon headcount and long-term commitment justify the fixed costs of formation and ongoing tax obligations. The right point to switch depends on your entity costs and how long you plan to stay, which is exactly what the crossover calculator is built to help you work out.
Where these figures come from
Sources
Figures on this page come from the Oregon Department of Revenue's Form OR-20 corporation excise tax instructions and the Oregon Secretary of State's Business Registry fee schedule.
Looking for a job in Oregon yourself? Teamed does not hire people directly. Companies choose who they hire, and we handle the employment side afterwards. Here is why we cannot help with your search.
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