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A DBA is the state filing that lets you do business under a name that is not your own legal name. Utah law now calls it a D.B.A. certificate, and Provo, Orem and Lehi owners all file with the same state office. This guide covers the name search, the filing, what it costs, and the renewal that decides whether you keep the name.
Register a Utah DBA with the Utah Division of Corporations at businessregistration.utah.gov within 30 days of starting business under the name. The filing fee is $22, the registration lasts 3 years, and you can renew starting 60 days before it expires. If you miss the renewal and then miss the 30-day window after the state's expired notice, the name is permanently expired and anyone can claim it.
You need one if you do business in Utah under any name other than your own legal name. A plumber named Dale Hansen who advertises as "Hansen Plumbing" needs a DBA. If he advertises as "Dale Hansen" he does not. Utah code defines a D.B.A. as exactly that: a person doing business under a name different from the person's legal name.
An LLC that does business under the exact name on its certificate of organization does not need one either. The same LLC selling under a second name does. Utah restated all of this in the chapter that took effect October 1, 2026, which replaced the old assumed name law and renumbered it as Title 42, Chapter 2, Conducting Business as a D.B.A.
The deadline is 30 days after you start doing business under the name. The penalty is spelled out too: until you comply, you cannot file a lawsuit in a Utah court under that name, and the Division's director can add a late filing fee of up to three times the normal fee. Provo and Orem both ask for proof of state registration on a license application, so a missing DBA also holds up your city license. Our Utah County business license guide covers what each city asks for after this step.
The search tool is the Business Entity Search at businessregistration.utah.gov, the same site you file on. The Division points to it for name availability. Search the plain words of your name with no LLC or Inc on the end, and look at every entity type in the results, not only DBAs. The statute requires a DBA name to be distinguishable from a registered name or trademark of record at the Division.
The code also bans certain words. A DBA name cannot contain LLC or L.L.C. unless the owner is a registered LLC, cannot contain Inc. or incorporated unless the owner is a registered corporation, cannot include the number sequence 911, and cannot suggest you are a state or city agency. The Division says filings that need a name conflict review can take 5 to 7 business days.
A clean search is not trademark protection. Utah's code says approval of a DBA does not authorize use of a name in violation of someone else's trademark or common law rights, and the Division's own form carries the same warning. Search the federal trademark database and Google before you print signs.
File online at businessregistration.utah.gov, or send the paper Business Name Registration / DBA Application. The certificate has to carry these items.
These are the Division of Corporations' fiscal year 2026 fees, in effect since July 1, 2025. All of them are nonrefundable. Third-party filing sites quote different numbers, so go by this schedule.
| Filing | Fee |
|---|---|
| DBA registration (3 years) | $22 |
| DBA renewal | $18, marked on the schedule with a $5 portal surcharge |
| Late renewal fee | $10 |
| Changing information on a DBA | $17 |
| Transferring or canceling a DBA | No charge |
| Utah LLC certificate of organization, for comparison | $59 |
A DBA is effective for three years from the day you register. You can renew starting 60 days before the end date. Put the date on your calendar when you register, because the statute says the state's expiration notice goes to your registered agent.
Here is the part that costs people names. If the three years pass with no renewal, the Division sends the registered agent a notice that the registration is expired. If you do not renew within 30 days after that notice, the registration is permanently expired and anyone can immediately claim the name. After that you would be starting over with a new filing, if the name is still free.
To renew, log in at businessregistration.utah.gov with a UtahID, click Renewal, then DBA and Business Trust Renewal, and search by the business name or entity number. The renewal walks through the purpose statement, address, registered agent and owner, and anything you change there counts as an amendment. If your registered agent or address changed during the three years, fix it here.
A DBA is only a name. Utah's code gives it no name rights, and the SBA says plainly that registering a DBA does not provide legal protection by itself. You are the same person with the same personal exposure, just trading under a different label.
If you plan to hire, sign a lease or take on customer risk, price an LLC too. The certificate of organization is $59 with the same division. The free place to talk it through is the Utah Valley SBDC at UVU's Business Resource Center, 815 West 1250 South in Orem, 801.863.8230. It offers free one-on-one advising, and the Lehi office at UVU North Campus is open Tuesday afternoons by appointment.
Registering the DBA is the state step. Your city license is separate. Provo asks for proof of registration with the Department of Commerce, and Orem's home occupation application asks for your state business name registration. Our Lehi business license guide covers Lehi's fees and renewal.
Use the identical spelling of your DBA on the city application, your sales tax account and your lease. Your registration record is public, so if you work from home, the Division's form says you may list the business address instead of your house.
Keep the stamped certificate with your business papers. A copy the Division certifies counts as presumptive evidence of what it says. Then set up a free Google Business Profile with the exact DBA name, and add the business to our Local Directory. Our guide to where to advertise in Utah County compares your options with published prices.
We publish Provo FOMO, a free daily newsletter with about 3,100 Utah County subscribers, and we sell ads in it, so weigh this knowing that. A new business announcing itself is a normal fit for one of our ad plans, and a single issue starts at $99.
