District of Columbia trade name filing guide

The District of Columbia calls this record a trade name. DLCP defines that expression around a business name that does not contain the complete legal names of everyone who owns the business, or that uses wording suggesting additional interested people. The practical trigger is use: the Corporations Division registration FAQ says that when a trade name is used in DC, it must be registered and placed on the division's record. That instruction covers organizations already registered with the Corporations Division as well as sole proprietors and general partnerships. Registration does not replace the owner's legal or corporate name, and the official guide distinguishes the two. The District permits a business to have one corporate name and multiple trade names. The filing is valid only for use in DC, so it should not be treated as a nationwide name grant. The responsible authority is the DC Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Corporations Division, and its current BOSS service is the official online starting point.

Use the current DLCP business-registration instructions rather than a commercial filing page. The official FAQ identifies TN-1 as the Trade Name Registration form and tells online filers to use BOSS, formerly called CorpOnline. A sole proprietor or general partnership selects the option for an unincorporated operator; an organization should act through the entity that will own the trade name. DLCP cautions that only the entity or person listed as owner may use that registered trade name. The current fee schedule states a $55 registration fee. The online workflow accepts credit-card payment and produces a confirmation page that the filer should retain. This guide does not assert a mail submission route or turn DLCP's office address into an unverified delivery instruction, because the reviewed registration workflow supplies the online action but does not publish a mail procedure. Confirm the live BOSS prompts before payment, particularly the owner identity and entity status, because an entity must remain connected to the name it registers.

A DC trade-name registration is not indefinite. DLCP says it remains valid for two years from initial registration. The first renewal is due by April 1 of the second year after the registration year, with the same two-year pattern thereafter. A late renewal can be submitted after April 1 through August 31, but DLCP charges a late fee equal to the renewal fee. If the registration is still not renewed, the guide says it is cancelled on September 1 and the filer must register again if the name remains available. The current fee page lists $55 for renewal and another $55 as the late fee. For changes, DLCP identifies TN-4 as the amendment form and lists a $55 amendment charge. Cancellation also costs $55. These are distinct actions: amendment changes a current record, renewal maintains it, and cancellation ends it. The page keeps those milestones separate so April 1, August 31, and September 1 are not collapsed into one misleading deadline.

First decide whether the public-facing wording is actually different from the complete legal names of the owners or from the organization's corporate name. If it is a trade name used in DC, open the official BOSS service from DLCP's registration FAQ and choose the TN-1 trade-name action. Identify the true owner of the name, complete the current questions, review the displayed $55 charge, and retain the confirmation after submission. Calendar the applicable second-year April 1 renewal date from the registration year and preserve enough lead time to resolve entity standing issues. Do not plan around the late window as the ordinary deadline: August 31 is the last late-renewal date described by DLCP, and cancellation follows September 1 when renewal is absent. Use TN-4 for a change rather than creating an unexplained duplicate record. This site never receives the proposed name, owner details, addresses, account credentials, or payment information. It supplies the official route without offering paid filing assistance or implying government affiliation.