Every two years NYS LLCs are required to pay a $9 fee to maintain their status as an LLC. When your fee is due you may receive a notice that looks a lot like an official NYS form that is, in fact, a solicitation from a company like CPS Filing Services (see the bottom left corner of the form) offering to file the form for you. Their form makes it seem like you are paying a $100 fee to NYS, when in fact you are paying $100 to CPS for them to pay the $9 fee on your behalf, something that would take you 2 minutes to pay online.
There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing administrative tasks like filing forms and paying fees, but this should always be done transparently, and you should always understand exactly what it is that you’re paying for. If you want to pay $91 to have them file the fee, go for it, but do so after making an informed decision, and know that you can file this online and save yourself $91.
Received a notice that may or may not be legit? Send it over and let us help you determine whether it’s official before making any payments!
