Arizona Benefit Corporation & Entity Restructuring Act

On January 1st, 2015, the Arizona state legislature made three big announcements affecting corporate entities. This post will cover: the brand new Arizona benefit corporation, the Arizona Entity Restructuring Act, and new Arizona state forms for corporate filings.

Arizona Benefit Corporation

Arizona becomes the latest state to offer benefit corporations as an entity option. Benefit corporations are dedicated to a social cause, typically championing “people” and “planet” in addition to “profit.” To form an Arizona benefit corporation, you must include a “general public benefit” statement in your Articles of Incorporation. To maintain good standing, an Arizona benefit corporation is required to file an annual report ($45), as well as an annual benefit report ($10). You can download more information on Arizona benefit corporations here.

Arizona Entity Restructuring Act

The Arizona state legislature recently passed the Arizona Entity Restructuring Act, effective January 1. The highlights of the Act are:

– Applies to all entity types, i.e., corporations, LLCs, partnerships, etc.
– Streamlined procedure for filing with respect to mergers and domestications;
– Allows conversion of one entity type to another (e.g., corporation to LLC);
– Changed share exchange to interest exchange;
– Allows division.

All entities undergoing a merger, conversion, etc. must comply and use the new Arizona state forms.

New Arizona State Forms

Arizona is one of a handful of states that updated its corporate filing forms. Per the Arizona Entity Restructuring Act, entities must use these forms immediately. From our experience, you should always use the most up-to-date forms in order to get your filings approved quickly. Arizona takes a notoriously long time to process most applications, so don’t double your wait time by using the outdated version.

A full list of the new Arizona state forms is available on the Arizona Corporation Commission website.

As an Arizona registered agent, we are committed to providing updates to state forms and other requirements. We stay on top of changing legislation so that you don’t have to.

If you’re starting a business in Arizona, including an Arizona benefit corporation, Harbor Compliance would be happy to assist you. Simply visit our incorporation page to get started!