Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office has been receiving inquiries from businesses and other organizations about an official-looking notice from Annual Business Services. In the notices that have been mailed out to Tennesseans, Annual Business Services claims the organizations must fill out a form and pay $125 to register. However, Annual Business Services is not in any way affiliated with the Secretary of State’s office and there is no state law requiring registration with that entity.
The standard annual fee to file a corporation registration report in Tennessee is only $20.
This appears to be similar to a scam that surfaced several months ago with an entity calling itself Corporate Records Services and using a different address.
“I strongly advise corporations and other organizations to exercise caution before providing private and confidential information – particularly credit card information – to this or any company representing itself in this manner,” Secretary Hargett said. “When questionable documents arrive in the mail, I encourage people to call our office to verify their authenticity.”
Citizens can call the Secretary of State’s Business Services Division at (615) 741-2286.
The Business Services Division maintains a user-friendly online annual report filing system for businesses. It can be accessed online at https://tnbear.tn.gov/Ecommerce/AnnualReportInstr.aspx.
