How to start a business in New York

Get a federal EIN

Apply free on the IRS website and get the number immediately. You'll need it for the state tax registration, a business bank account, and payroll. Opening a new location? You already have one; the same EIN works in every state.

Sign an operating agreement

This internal document sets out who owns what, how decisions get made, and what happens if an owner leaves. It isn't filed with the state, but banks often ask for it, and it helps protect your liability shield. Single-owner LLCs need one too.

Open a business bank account

Bring your EIN letter, filed formation documents, and operating agreement or bylaws. Keeping business and personal money separate is one of the main things that protects your personal assets.

Check industry licenses and permits

Many businesses need a license or permit before opening, separate from registering the company. Check three levels: the state licensing board for your field, your city or county, and any federal agency that regulates your industry.

• Trades and construction: general contractors, electricians, plumbers, HVAC and roofers usually need a state or local license, and often a bond
• Personal services: salons, barbers, nail and esthetics shops need a shop license plus licensed staff; massage and tattoo studios are licensed too
• Professional services: accounting, engineering, architecture, law, real estate and insurance require state licenses for the people and sometimes the firm
• Child care, elder care and home care need a state facility or agency license and background checks
• Retail with restricted products: alcohol, tobacco and vape, cannabis, firearms (federal FFL), pawn and secondhand dealers
• Auto, transport and logistics: auto dealers and repair shops, towing, movers, and trucks that need a USDOT number
• Money and finance: lenders, mortgage brokers, debt collectors and money transmitters are licensed by the state, often through NMLS
• Local permits for almost everyone: city business license or tax registration, zoning or home occupation permit, sign permit and fire inspection

Decide on S corp tax treatment (optional)

If you want S corp taxation, file IRS Form 2553. The deadline is tight: generally within 2 months and 15 days after the start of the tax year you want it to apply. See Business basics for when it makes sense.

File Articles of Organization with the Department of State

File online through New York Business Express or by mail.

Publish your LLC in two newspapers

New York's most unusual rule. Every LLC formed or registered in New York, including foreign LLCs, must publish a notice once a week for six consecutive weeks in two newspapers (one daily, one weekly) in the county of its office, then file a Certificate of Publication with the affidavits. Miss the 120-day deadline and the state suspends your authority to do business.

• Cost varies hugely by county: often a few hundred dollars upstate, $1,000 or more in Manhattan
• Some owners list the office in a lower-cost county when that's legitimately accurate
• Certificate of Publication filing fee: $50
• Foreign LLCs file the foreign version of the certificate

Service of process: the Secretary of State is your agent

Unlike most states, New York designates the Secretary of State to receive lawsuits for you, and forwards them to the address you list. A separate registered agent is optional, but many owners use one so the forwarding address isn't their home.

Register with the Tax Department through NY Business Express

Employers register for withholding and unemployment together through the Department of Labor's registration, which also sets you up with the Tax Department. IDs usually arrive in 7 to 10 days. Your New York withholding ID is your EIN plus a two-digit suffix, usually 00.

• Selling taxable goods or services? Get a sales tax Certificate of Authority at least 20 days before you start. You can't legally make taxable sales until it arrives.
• LLCs taxed as partnerships may owe an annual filing fee based on New York income

Check New York City rules if you're there

NYC adds its own business taxes, its own Earned Safe and Sick Time rules, and harassment training for employers with 15 or more employees.

Register to collect sales tax

New York calls it a Certificate of Authority. Register with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance through New York Business Express before you make your first taxable sale in New York. You'll collect tax from customers and send it to the state.

• State rate: 4%
• Local taxes: Counties and some cities add local sales tax, and an extra 0.375% applies in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District; combined rates vary by location.
• Regular certificates show no expiration date; temporary certificates cover no more than two sales tax quarters in a 12-month period.
• Most products and certain listed services are taxed, such as auto repair, pool cleaning and lawn care; see TB-ST-740 for the full list.

Buy items you resell tax-free with a resale certificate

Give your supplier Form ST-120, Resale Certificate so you don't pay tax on inventory you'll resell. Buyers registered in New York need a valid Certificate of Authority, while out-of-state buyers not required to register use Part 2 with their home state number; contractors cannot use it and temporary vendors may only issue single-use certificates. Keep certificates your own customers give you, too.

Selling into New York from another state? Watch the threshold

Out-of-state sellers must register once sales into New York pass $500,000 and 100 sales (immediately preceding four sales tax quarters), even with no office here.

• Both tests must be met: more than $500,000 and more than 100 sales of tangible personal property delivered into New York.
• Marketplace providers must collect when their facilitated sales into New York exceed $500,000 and 100 sales in the prior four quarters, but a marketplace seller who meets vendor rules must still register and file.

Note this New York sales tax rule

You must get your Certificate of Authority at least 20 days before you begin business, and craft show and flea market vendors need a regular certificate.

Complete Form I-9 and W-4 for each hire

Form I-9 is never mailed to the government. You keep it in your own files and show it only if ICE or the Department of Labor asks for an inspection.

• The employee completes Section 1 by their first day of work
• You review their original documents and complete Section 2 within 3 business days of the start date
• Keep it for 3 years after the hire date or 1 year after employment ends, whichever is later
• Store I-9s together, separate from personnel files, so an inspection doesn't expose other records
• Remote hire? Have an authorized representative check documents in person, or, if you use E-Verify, use the DHS remote video inspection option
• Also collect a federal W-4 for withholding

Post federal workplace notices

Federal posters (minimum wage, EEO, FMLA if you have 50+ employees, and others) go alongside the state ones.

Register for Unemployment Insurance

Register online through NY Business Express. You're liable from the first quarter you pay $300 or more in wages in New York.

• 2026 new employer rate: 4.1%
• Taxable wage base: $17,600 per employee (up from $12,800 in 2025)
• Plus a 0.075% Re-employment Service Fund charge
• Reported quarterly on Form NYS-45, combined with withholding

Withhold New York City, Yonkers, and MCTMT taxes where they apply

New York has local payroll taxes most states don't. Payroll software usually handles them automatically if employee home and work addresses are entered correctly.

• NYC income tax: withheld from employees who live in the five boroughs, wherever they work
• Yonkers: withheld from employees who live in Yonkers, plus a nonresident tax for those who work there
• MCTMT (employer-paid): applies once payroll for employees in NYC and 7 surrounding counties (Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Westchester) tops $312,500 in a quarter. Rates start at 0.055% and rise with payroll. Filed quarterly on Form MTA-305 with no extensions.

Buy workers' compensation insurance

Required for nearly every employer with any employees in New York, including part-time workers and family members. Out-of-state employers with workers in New York need a policy that covers New York.

Buy disability (DBL) and Paid Family Leave coverage

New York is one of the few states that requires employer-provided short-term disability insurance. Coverage is required once you've had at least one employee in New York on 30 days in a calendar year. Most employers buy DBL with Paid Family Leave as a rider, from a private carrier or the state-run New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). Premiums are paid to the carrier, not through payroll taxes, so if you deduct the employee share, that money stays in your account until you pay the carrier.

• DBL: you may deduct 0.5% of wages, up to $0.60 a week per employee
• Paid Family Leave 2026: employee-paid at 0.432% of wages, up to $411.91 a year
• Post the DBL and PFL notices your carrier sends

Report each new hire

Report within 20 calendar days of hire. New York also asks whether dependent health insurance is available and when the employee qualifies. Penalty: $20 per late report.

Give the Wage Theft Prevention Act pay notice at hire

A written notice of pay rate, overtime rate, payday, and employer details, on its own form (not inside an offer letter), in English and the employee's primary language when the state offers a template. Get it signed and keep it 6 years.

Follow New York pay timing rules

New York is strict about pay frequency.

• Manual workers (including many who spend over 25% of their time on physical tasks): paid weekly
• Clerical and other workers: at least twice a month
• Overtime after 40 hours a week
• Final pay by the next regular payday

Pay at least New York minimum wage

2026: $17.00 an hour in NYC, Long Island, and Westchester; $16.00 in the rest of the state. Starting in 2027, increases follow inflation.

Set up paid sick leave and paid prenatal leave

Accrual is 1 hour per 30 hours worked. Required hours depend on size:

• 4 or fewer employees: 40 hours, paid if net income is over $1 million, otherwise unpaid
• 5 to 99 employees: 40 hours paid
• 100+ employees: 56 hours paid
• Plus 20 hours of paid prenatal leave per year for all private employers (since January 1, 2025)
• NYC has its own Earned Safe and Sick Time rules

Adopt a harassment policy and train every employee each year

Required for every New York employer, regardless of size. Give the written policy and complaint form at hire and at each annual interactive training. The state offers a free model policy and training you can use as-is.

New York Secure Choice retirement program

Covers employers in business at least 2 years with 10 or more New York employees and no retirement plan. The 2026 deadlines for existing employers have passed (March to July 2026), and newly covered employers are notified by the program. If you offer a 401(k) or 403(b), you still certify that with the program.

Post New York workplace notices, on paper and electronically

New York's list is long: discrimination, minimum wage, unemployment, whistleblower protection, equal pay, and more, plus the workers' comp and disability notices from your carrier. New York also requires you to make postings available electronically.

Check city and county sick leave laws

These local laws apply to employees who work within the city or county, on top of the state rules. Where they differ, follow whichever is more generous to the employee. Not in force: Westchester County (preempted).

• New York City: All employers. 100+ employees: 56 hours paid; 5-99 employees: 40 hours paid; fewer than 5 with net income of $1M+: 40 hours paid; fewer than 5 with under $1M: 40 hours unpaid; domestic workers paid regardless of size; 1 hour per 30 hours worked; cap 40 hours per year (99 or fewer employees) or 56 hours (100+); carryover up to the same amounts.

Collect a W-9 before the first payment

The W-9 gives you the contractor's legal name and tax ID for their 1099. Check the classification first: if you control how and when they work, they may legally be an employee.

Send Form 1099-NEC to contractors

File with the IRS and send the contractor a copy by January 31. For payments made in 2026 and later, the reporting threshold is $2,000 per contractor per year (it was $600 before).

Sign a written contract with freelancers ($800+)

Under New York's statewide Freelance Isn't Free Act (since August 2024), work worth $800 or more, including projects for the same freelancer within 120 days added together, needs a written contract listing services, rate, and payment date. Pay within 30 days of completion unless the contract says otherwise, and keep the contract 6 years.

Report contractors with contracts over $2,500

Since 2022, New York requires new hire reporting for independent contractors with contracts over $2,500, filed online through the New Hire Reporting Center.

Skip the FinCEN BOI report (U.S. companies are exempt)

FinCEN's final rule, effective August 14, 2026, permanently exempts companies formed in the U.S. from beneficial ownership reporting. Ignore letters or emails demanding a BOI filing fee; they're a common scam. Only companies formed outside the U.S. still file.

File the Biennial Statement

Due every two years in the month you formed or registered. Keeps your address for legal papers current.

File NYS-45 and NYS-1

NYS-45 combines quarterly withholding reconciliation, wage reporting, and unemployment insurance. NYS-1 withholding returns follow the schedule the Tax Department assigns. If you withheld $100,000 or more last year, you must pay through PrompTax, the state's electronic system. Your UI rate notice (Form IA 97) arrives each year; update your payroll provider when it does.

File sales tax returns on time

Most file quarterly (ST-100) when taxable sales are under $300,000 a quarter, monthly (part-quarterly) at $300,000 or more, or annually (due March 20) if tax owed is $3,000 or less; returns are due 20 days after the period. File a zero return if you had no sales; skipping it can bring penalties.