How to move a company out of North Carolina

---

Start Your Redomestication Now

The Redomestication Process in a Nutshell

1. Enter your biz name HERE.

Then click "get exact price" and follow the steps.

Takes less than five minutes.

Submit payment securely online then sit back and relax.

24-48 hours

2. We prepare the legal docs.

Our dually-licensed attorney+CPA prepares the legal documents and sends them to you via DocuSign.

You sign. We take it from there.

Same Day

3. We submit the legal filings to the states.

We monitor the status closely, respond to inquiries from their offices, and send you weekly updates.

No extra charge. 100% success rate.

1-3 months

4. Approved! ✅

We send you a checklist of go-forward obligations and simple steps for your tax pro to follow.

120% money-back guarantee if we do not succeed.

Did you know? The average business that moves to a state without state-level income tax saves over $12,500 in taxes per year.

Still have questions? Schedule a free meeting with our attorney and CPA.

Redomestication, also known as redomiciling, refers to the lesser-known legal process of transferring or moving the "home state" of an existing Corporation, partnership, or LLC, from North Carolina to a new state. It means keeping your existing company name, credit, and federal employer identification number (FEIN) without wasting time and money creating a new business entity, applying for foreign registration, or moving assets between companies.
— Prof. Chad D. Cummings, Esq., CPA

Start Your Redomestication Now

How to move a company out of North Carolina without disrupting operations

When clients ask, in substance, how to move a company out of North Carolina, they are rarely asking about a change in where the owners live. They are asking how to change the entity’s legal “home state” so that the business can operate under a different state’s corporate statute and, where appropriate, exit North Carolina’s tax and administrative environment. For an established LLC, corporation, or partnership with contracts, employees, bank relationships, and a compliance history, the method selected must preserve continuity as a matter of law and accounting.

In my professional judgment as an attorney and CPA, the most reliable approach for moving an existing entity out of North Carolina—while keeping the company’s legal identity intact—is redomestication (also referred to as statutory conversion). Properly implemented, redomestication is designed to transfer domicile without forming a new entity, without re-papering core relationships unnecessarily, and without interrupting day-to-day operations. For a practical overview of how to move a North Carolina company to a new state through redomestication, begin with the firm’s redomestication process.

Why business owners decide to move their company out of North Carolina

There are sound, business-driven reasons to consider how to move a company out of North Carolina. Many owners seek a jurisdiction with a more favorable ongoing compliance profile, a legal framework that better matches the company’s governance preferences, or a state tax structure that aligns with where the business actually operates. When a company has effectively left North Carolina in operational reality, continuing to keep North Carolina as the domicile can create avoidable friction—particularly if the company then maintains duplicative filings, annual reports, and administrative formalities.

Additionally, entrepreneurs often underestimate the “soft costs” of remaining tied to North Carolina after a relocation: higher professional fees to coordinate multi-state compliance, internal time spent responding to notices and deadlines, and increased complexity when raising capital or onboarding sophisticated counterparties. Relocating the domicile can create a more coherent corporate story: the company is governed, taxed, and administered primarily where it truly conducts business, rather than where it historically formed.

Redomestication: the most direct answer to how to move a company out of North Carolina

For owners evaluating how to move a company out of North Carolina, it is critical to distinguish between moving operations and moving domicile. Leasing an office in another state, hiring remote employees, or registering to do business elsewhere does not change the company’s home state; those steps merely expand the company’s footprint. Redomestication, by contrast, is the statutory mechanism that changes the entity’s domicile from North Carolina to the new state while preserving the entity as the same continuing business.

This continuity is the central advantage. Redomestication generally allows the company to keep its existing federal employer identification number (FEIN), maintain established contracts, and—in most cases—preserve the business name, all while transitioning the governing statute to the destination state. For business owners looking for a clean, operationally sensible path, moving a company out of North Carolina via redomestication is typically the least disruptive route.

Key benefit: preserve contracts, FEIN, and business identity

Owners frequently assume that moving the business requires dissolving the North Carolina entity and forming a new entity elsewhere. From a legal and tax-administration standpoint, that is often the most expensive misconception on the table. Dissolution can force the business to renegotiate or reassign customer agreements, vendor contracts, leases, financing documents, and licensing arrangements—especially where those instruments restrict assignment or treat a new entity as a new counterparty.

Redomestication is attractive precisely because it preserves continuity. Instead of “starting over,” the same entity continues under a new state’s statute. As a practical matter, that continuity supports stable banking relationships, uninterrupted payment processing, and cleaner accounting records. It also reduces the risk that an avoidable papering problem (for example, an overlooked contract consent) becomes a business interruption event.

Exiting North Carolina’s tax environment: what owners often overlook

Many inquiries about how to move a company out of North Carolina are, at their core, tax-motivated. Owners may wish to reduce or eliminate ongoing tax filings and exposure in North Carolina after the business has permanently ceased operating there. However, changing domicile is not the same as eliminating tax obligations, and the distinction matters. A company can remain subject to certain North Carolina filing or tax responsibilities if it continues to have nexus—through property, employees, revenue streams, or other connections—even after a domicile change.

Accordingly, the legal move should be paired with a disciplined compliance plan: documenting the operational relocation, updating internal corporate records, and coordinating state-level accounts and registrations consistent with the post-move footprint. A well-structured redomestication often places the company in a stronger position to rationalize its tax posture over time because it reduces unnecessary dual-state administration. To evaluate how to move your company out of North Carolina and streamline compliance, the process should be analyzed as a coordinated legal-and-administrative project, not a single filing.

Why foreign registration is not a substitute for moving domicile

A common but costly misunderstanding is believing that foreign qualification in the new state is the answer to how to move a company out of North Carolina. Foreign registration merely grants authority to do business in the new state while the company remains a North Carolina entity. In other words, it can create a dual-compliance structure: the company is still domiciled in North Carolina and is also registered elsewhere.

That dual structure can be sensible when the business intends to maintain meaningful operations in North Carolina. It is far less sensible when the business has permanently moved away. In the latter scenario, foreign qualification can lock the company into ongoing North Carolina annual reporting, registered agent requirements, and other administrative obligations that no longer match business reality. Redomestication, when available and properly executed, resolves the mismatch by aligning domicile with the company’s new operational center.

Why mergers and “newco” structures are typically inferior to redomestication

Another frequent proposal involves creating a new entity in the destination state and merging the North Carolina entity into it. While mergers can work, they often introduce unnecessary legal complexity, higher costs, and avoidable execution risk. Mergers can also raise collateral issues: third-party consents, lender approvals, licensing questions, and governance documentation that is more involved than what is typically required for a statutory conversion.

By comparison, redomestication is purpose-built for the problem of how to move a company out of North Carolina while keeping the company intact. When done correctly, it is streamlined, predictable, and operationally conservative. It seeks to preserve what should be preserved (identity, FEIN, contracts, name) while changing what must be changed (the governing statute and domicile).

Procedural and documentation considerations that determine success

Moving domicile is a legal process, and successful execution depends on getting the details right. Proper redomestication generally requires alignment between the entity’s governing documents and the conversion filings, appropriate approvals (for example, member or shareholder consent), and careful attention to the entity’s name availability and statutory requirements in the destination state. One must also coordinate registered agent transitions, address updates, and the company’s internal records so the change is consistent and defensible.

From an accounting and operational standpoint, the transition should be accompanied by a practical checklist: bank records, payroll accounts, vendor onboarding documents, insurance policies, and licensing profiles should reflect the new domicile and governing law where applicable. These are not mere formalities; they reduce friction with counterparties and help prevent “compliance drift” that produces notices, account freezes, or delayed transactions later. Business owners seeking clarity on how to move a company out of North Carolina the right way should approach the matter as a comprehensive continuity plan, not a standalone filing.

Common misconceptions that create unnecessary expense and risk

Misconception one is that dissolution is “cleaner” than conversion. In reality, dissolution can create a cascade of consequences: assignment paperwork, fresh onboarding with vendors, new bank underwriting, and a new compliance track record that does not benefit an established business. Misconception two is that foreign registration alone changes domicile; it does not. Misconception three is that a merger is always required; it often is not, and it may be the more expensive choice.

The overarching misconception is that a domicile move is primarily a clerical task. In practice, it is a legal and compliance event with downstream effects that can touch contracts, licensing, taxes, employment administration, and banking. These risks are manageable, but only when identified and handled deliberately. That is why a guided redomestication process is routinely the more prudent choice for established businesses.

Conclusion: the prudent pathway for moving a company out of North Carolina

For owners evaluating how to move a company out of North Carolina, the objective should be clear: achieve a change in domicile while preserving the company’s continuity, contracts, FEIN, and operational stability. Redomestication is specifically designed to accomplish that objective, and it generally avoids the waste, delay, and risk that arise from dissolutions, avoidable mergers, or indefinite foreign registrations.

Where the business has permanently ceased operations in North Carolina and intends to operate under a different state’s laws going forward, redomestication is typically the best mechanism to align legal domicile with business reality. To proceed with a reliable, streamlined approach, review how to move your company out of North Carolina using redomestication and initiate the process through the firm’s redomestication portal.

Start Your Redomestication Now

Domestication vs. Foreign Registration vs. Merger vs. Dissolution: A Comparison

Domestication is, in many circumstances, far preferable to registering an LLC or corporation as a foreign entity, especially where the LLC or corporation has permanently moved its operations and will not be returning to the prior state in the near future.

Some attorneys, unfortunately, confuse their clients by recommending a foreign entity registration in the new state, or worse, a merger, where a redomestication™ would have accomplished the goals of moving their business to a new state efficiently and effectively.

The top seven benefits of moving your company (LLC, corporation, or partnership) to a new state via redomestication™ to transfer your business include:

1. Maintaining your existing federal employer identification number, eliminating the tax headaches of forming a new company or transferring assets between companies (and inadvertently triggering a hefty tax bill from the IRS) when you move your business to a new state;
2. Keeping your existing business credit history and track record, safeguarding your reputation with clients, vendors, and creditors when moving your LLC or corporation to a new state;
3. Continuing your existing business name (in almost every case), protecting your most important assets when moving your company to a new state: your brand, reputation, and time you have already invested in search engine optimization;
4. Maintaining your existing contracts with customers and vendors because moving your business to a new state via redomestication™ does not create a new company: it maintains your existing company, saving you dozens (or even hundreds) of hours re-writing (and re-negotiating) contracts and changing banks;
5. Eliminating the need to continue paying registration fees and taxes in your prior state (assuming you have discontinued your operations there and have permanently relocated to a new state), potentially saving you tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in state taxes every quarter when you move your business to a new state;
6. Avoiding unnecessary IRS scrutiny because moving your LLC or corporation to a new state via redomestication™ is a tax-free transaction under the Internal Revenue Code; and
7. Reducing the amount of time you spend on administrative filings, saving you untold hours annually, by moving your company to a new state.

Before taking the "penny wise and pound foolish" approach of foreign entity registration or spending countless hours and exorbitant legal fees (and possibly taxes) on a merger or merger-gone-wrong to move your company to a new state, ensure you understand your options.

In most circumstances, redomestication™ (and not a foreign entity registration or costly and complicated merger) is the best route to achieve a change in company domicile to a new state.

Start Your Redomestication Now