How Rhode Island's corporate database works
Rhode Island's register prints no Active value. The Department of State's Business Services Division encodes standing in a field called Inactive Status, and the state's own instructions are blunt about how to read it. If Inactive Status is blank, the entity is ACTIVE. Any value at all names the reason it isn't — twelve of them, from Revocation Notice and Revoked (Entity or Authority) through Dissolved, Withdrawn, Cancelled, Expired, Forfeited, Merged, Conversion, Consolidated, Bankruptcy, and Receivership.
Active and in good standing are two different findings here, and Rhode Island says so in the same guidance. After the blank field there's a second step: open the entity's filings and confirm the most recent annual report is of record. Only then is the entity "ACTIVE and in GOOD STANDING". All outstanding reports must be filed before a certificate of good standing will be issued.
The search splits along the same seam. Active records sit in the Corporation Information Management System (CIMS), and a separate Inactive Database holds the rest. The search form makes you choose one before you query, so a dissolved Rhode Island company isn't in the active set at all. A third surface, the Historic Corporate Catalog, covers older card records. Queries run by entity name, individual name, nine-digit Identification Number, twelve-digit filing number, agent, address, purpose, or NAICS code. Each is matched Begins with, Exact match, Full text, or Soundex — and Soundex returns records that sound like what you typed.
The Identification Number is the durable key: nine digits, zero-padded, printed on every entity summary. That's what BizVerify returns as jurisdiction_id.
BizVerify supports instant quick checks for Rhode Island today — entity name, entity type, Identification Number, and status, read fresh on every call. Deep verification, including the Resident Agent, the principal office address, and the Date of Registration in Rhode Island, is on the roadmap for this jurisdiction and prioritized by demand.
What Rhode Island specifically charges and requires
Formation
A domestic LLC files for $150 — same as a Low-Profit LLC (L3C) or an LLP. A Business Corporation, Benefit Corporation, or Workers' Cooperative is $230. A Limited Partnership is $100; a general partnership or sole proprietor registration is $20. Registering from out of state costs more only for corporations: a foreign corporation is $310, while a foreign LLC stays at $150. Filings process in one to three business days.
The $400 minimum tax
This is the number that surprises people modeling Rhode Island. Corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships owe a minimum annual tax of $400 to the RI Division of Taxation. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-11-2 a C corporation pays 7% of net income apportioned to Rhode Island or that $400 floor, whichever is greater. LLCs, LLPs, and LPs pay an annual charge equal to the same minimum; general partnerships are excepted. It's owed whether or not business is conducted or a profit is made, and it isn't pro-rated — a dormant Rhode Island LLC still owes $400.
Annual obligations
| Entity type | Filing period | Form | Fee | Late penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limited Liability Company (LLC) | February 1 – May 1 | 632 | $50 | $25 applied June 1 |
| Business Corporation | February 1 – May 1 | 630 | $50 | $25 applied June 1 |
| Limited Partnership / LLP | February 1 – May 1 | 634 | $50 | $25 applied June 1 |
| Non-Profit Corporation | February 1 – May 1 | — | $20 | $25 applied June 1 |
| Domestic Benefit Corporation | Within 120 days of fiscal year end | 633 | $60 | $25, 30 days after the period ends |
Online filing adds a $2.50 enhanced access fee, and a late report costs another $3.00 online. The first report is due the calendar year after registration. The form captures basic information only, with no financial or ownership data, though a Business Corporation must state its issued shares.
Resident agent
Rhode Island uses both names for the role. The entity summary heads the block "The name and address of the Resident Agent"; the annual-report and status guidance say Registered Agent. Same office, two labels — the change filing is titled Statement of Change of Registered/Resident Agent.
Each January a courtesy reminder goes to that agent for every active business owing a report. If the letter comes back undeliverable, revocation proceedings begin for failure to maintain a registered office. Missing the report, a fee, a tax, or the agent triggers a 60-day revocation notice, and an entity revoked for more than a year may lose the right to its name. Reinstating means a $50 Letter of Good Standing from the Division of Taxation plus penalties, and 2–4 business days to process. A Certificate of Good Standing is $22 online, $20 by mail, phone, or in person.
Common ways developers use Rhode Island verification
Screen a counterparty before the $400 clock matters
An agent handed a Rhode Island company name calls verify_business({ entity_name, jurisdiction: "us-ri" }) through the BizVerify MCP server. A clean record proceeds, Revoked (Entity or Authority) or Forfeited stops the flow, and anything ambiguous goes to a human. The same branch runs unchanged from OpenAI Agents or a CrewAI crew.
Re-check every counterparty in May
Rhode Island bunches almost every deadline into one window, so the register churns hardest right after May 1 and again on June 1 when the $25 penalty lands. Sweeping your Rhode Island book in late spring catches revocation notices while they're still notices. A scheduled n8n run over stored jurisdiction_id values does it without anyone remembering to.
Don't let a name collision create two customers
Rhode Island's distinguishability rule ignores the designator, so "Acme Enterprises, Inc." and "Acme's Enterprises, LLC" can't coexist — but near-identical strings still land in your CRM from different sources. Resolving each one to its nine-digit Identification Number gives you a single key to dedupe against. A typed Node SDK client feeds that straight into a KYB pipeline.
Qualify inbound Rhode Island leads
Sales gets a form fill claiming a Rhode Island entity. One quick check tells you whether that name is on the register and what the record says about it before anyone books time. Enrichment jobs built on the lead enrichment guide run the same call in batch, and a LangChain tool call covers the one-off case a rep raises mid-conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't Rhode Island show an "Active" status?
Because the register stores the opposite. The Business Services Division records an Inactive Status value, and an entity with nothing in that field is ACTIVE by definition. Twelve values can appear there — Revocation Notice, Revoked (Entity or Authority), Dissolved, Withdrawn, Cancelled, Expired, Forfeited, Merged, Conversion, Consolidated, Bankruptcy, and Receivership. Blank is the good outcome.
Does an active Rhode Island entity mean it's in good standing?
Not on its own. Rhode Island's own procedure adds a second test: the most recent annual report must be of record. An entity can carry a blank Inactive Status and still owe a report, which is why the state won't issue a certificate of good standing until every outstanding report is filed. Treat active as "on the register", not as "current on everything".
Which identifier do you return for a Rhode Island entity?
The jurisdiction_id is the nine-digit Identification Number the Business Services Division assigns, zero-padded — 000377905 rather than 377905. It's the stable key on the entity summary and survives a name change, so reconcile on it. A twelve-digit filing number identifies a single document, not the entity.
Do dissolved Rhode Island companies show up in a search?
Only if you look in the right place. Active and inactive records live in separate databases and the public search form makes you pick one first, so a dissolved or revoked company won't surface in an active-only query. If you're checking whether a counterparty used to exist, that's the inactive set, and older records sit in the Historic Corporate Catalog.
When do Rhode Island statuses actually change?
Mostly in a two-month band. Nearly every entity type files between February 1 and May 1, and the $25 penalty attaches June 1. Revocation notices follow from there, so a record you cleared in March can look different in June. Benefit corporations are the exception: their 120-day clock runs from fiscal year end, so they move on their own schedule.
How fresh is the Rhode Island data you return?
A quick check reflects the Rhode Island record as it stands when the call runs. There's no nightly snapshot sitting between the source and your response, so a change that just posted appears on the next check. The trade-off is that p95 latency tracks the registry's own responsiveness rather than a cache.
Is deep verification available for Rhode Island today?
Today Rhode Island is quick check: entity name, entity type, the nine-digit Identification Number, and status — enough to confirm an entity is on the register and what the record says. Deep verification covering the Resident Agent, principal office address, Date of Registration, managers, and the filing index is on the roadmap for this jurisdiction. Tell us what you need and it moves up the queue.