Official sources only
Every fee, deadline, form name and rule on this site comes from the body that sets it: a state's business filing office or tax agency, the state's own statutes, or a federal agency such as the IRS or the SBA. For a number a private company issues, such as the D-U-N-S Number, the source is that company's own pages.
We do not take figures from formation services, other lookup sites or forums, even when they happen to be right: they change without notice and rarely say when. Where an official source is unclear, or a fact could not be confirmed, the page says so instead of guessing.
Every figure shows its source and the date it was checked
Beside each fee or rule on a state page or state guide is a link to the official page it came from and the date we last checked it against that page. The national guides cite their sources in the text and give their checked date at the foot. A figure without a source and a date is not published.
How often pages are re-checked
Because each figure carries its own checked date, you can always see how old it is. We re-check every figure at least once a year, and sooner when a state announces a change or a reader reports one. When a re-check finds a change, the figure and its date are updated together.
Search results are different: nothing is stored. Each result comes from the state's records when you search, and an answer is kept for at most 24 hours.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, report it with the page and, if you have it, the official page that shows the right figure. We check the report against the official source. If our page is wrong, we fix it and update its checked date; if the official source itself is unclear, we say so on the page.
What the guides are not
The guides explain what the rules say. They are not legal or tax advice, and they cannot account for your situation: a lawyer or a tax professional who knows your state is the person to ask before a decision that matters. Open State Index is independent, not affiliated with any government agency, and no business pays to appear in a guide or to change what it says (see the affiliate disclosure).