A federal corporation search is not one search but several, because the U.S. government does not maintain a single national registry of companies. Corporations and LLCs get their legal existence from the state they form in, so basic facts like legal name, formation date, and good-standing status live with state Secretary of State offices. Federal databases track something different: what a company does under federal oversight. That includes securities filings, government contracting, tax-exempt status, trademarks and patents, federal litigation, and sanctions exposure. Choosing the right database means starting with what you actually want to know.
Where State Records End and Federal Records Begin
If you need to confirm a company exists as a legal entity, you go to the state, not Washington. Most states let you search formation records online for free or a small fee. Federal databases don’t duplicate any of that. They track specific regulatory activity, and each one is run by the agency that oversees it.
One boundary trips people up constantly: the Employer Identification Number. The IRS assigns EINs to businesses for tax purposes, but there is no public federal tool for looking up a for-profit company’s EIN. The IRS lets a business confirm its own EIN, but third parties cannot verify a private company’s EIN through any federal database.1Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number Nonprofit EINs are the exception, because they surface through the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
Public Companies: SEC EDGAR
Any company that sells securities to the public must register with the Securities and Exchange Commission and file ongoing disclosures. Those filings are free through EDGAR, the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system. The full-text search at sec.gov/edgar/search lets you look up a company by name, ticker symbol, or Central Index Key (CIK) number, and search across the text of electronic filings going back to 2001.2Investor.gov. Registration Under the Securities Act of 1933
A handful of filings do most of the work in business research:
- Form 10-K is the annual report. It contains audited financials, management discussion, executive compensation, and risk factors — a full picture of the company’s business and financial condition.3Investor.gov. Form 10-K
- Form 10-Q is the quarterly financial update filed between annual reports.3Investor.gov. Form 10-K
- Form 8-K reports significant events shareholders should know about promptly, such as mergers, leadership changes, or bankruptcy filings.4U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Public Companies
- Form 4 discloses stock purchases and sales by directors, officers, and shareholders holding 10% or more, and must be filed within two business days of the transaction.
To map out a public company’s structure, look for Exhibit 21 attached to its latest 10-K. That exhibit lists subsidiaries with the parent’s percentage ownership and each subsidiary’s jurisdiction of incorporation, though companies may omit subsidiaries that aren’t individually significant.
The SEC also publishes enforcement actions, litigation releases, and administrative proceedings at sec.gov/enforcement-litigation. If a company has been charged with securities fraud, accounting violations, or other federal securities law breaches, the formal charges and outcomes appear there. Worth checking during any due diligence on a public company or investment.
Federal Contractors: SAM.gov
A business that wants to bid on federal contracts or receive federal grants must register in the System for Award Management at SAM.gov, and that registration must be active both when the company submits an offer and when the award is made.5Acquisition.GOV. Federal Acquisition Regulation Subpart 4.11 – System for Award Management6Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.204-7 – System for Award Management
You can search by legal business name, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), or Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code. The UEI is assigned during registration and functions as the standard identifier across federal systems.7SAM.gov. About Entity Registration The CAGE code, assigned by the Defense Logistics Agency, identifies a specific physical business location.6Acquisition.GOV. FAR 52.204-7 – System for Award Management An active registration confirms the company can compete for federal work.
Checking the Exclusions List
SAM.gov also holds the list of companies and individuals suspended or debarred from federal contracts and grants. Anyone on it has been formally barred, often for fraud, poor performance, or other serious misconduct. From the SAM.gov search interface, choose “Exclusions” under “Entity Information” and search by company name.8SAM.gov. Exclusions Run this before any subcontracting arrangement or partnership involving a federal contractor.
Nonprofits: IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search verifies whether an organization holds tax-exempt status and can receive tax-deductible contributions.9Internal Revenue Service. Tax Exempt Organization Search It’s the standard check before donating or partnering with a 501(c)(3) or other exempt entity.10Internal Revenue Service. Exemption Requirements – 501(c)(3) Organizations
The most revealing document available through the tool is the Form 990 annual information return. It shows revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities, governance, and compensation for key employees. Exempt organizations must make their 990s available for public inspection for three years from the filing due date, though they need not disclose individual donor names and addresses (private foundations aside).11Internal Revenue Service. Public Disclosure and Availability of Exempt Organization Returns and Applications – Public Disclosure Overview
The same tool lists organizations that lost exempt status. The IRS automatically revokes exemption when an organization fails to file a required annual return for three consecutive years, effective on the original due date of the third missed return. The revocation list updates monthly and includes each organization’s name, EIN, last known address, and effective date of revocation.12Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption If exemption has been revoked, donations aren’t tax-deductible and the organization may owe taxes on income earned after the revocation date.
Intellectual Property: USPTO
The United States Patent and Trademark Office runs separate systems for trademarks and patents.
Trademarks
The USPTO Trademark Search at uspto.gov/trademarks/search covers federally registered marks and pending applications. Search by word mark, owner name, serial number, or registration number. Run this before adopting any new business name, logo, or slogan, because using a mark that creates confusion with an existing federal registration can lead to an infringement lawsuit whether or not you knew about the other mark.
For the full history of a specific registration, use Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) at tsdr.uspto.gov. Enter a serial or registration number to see current status, every document exchanged with the USPTO, and maintenance records showing whether the owner has kept the registration current.13United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) Expired maintenance filings suggest the mark may no longer be actively protected.
Patents
Patent Public Search at ppubs.uspto.gov holds the full text and images of granted utility, design, and plant patents along with published applications. Search by keyword, inventor, assignee (the company that owns the patent), patent number, or classification code. Use it to confirm a company actually holds the proprietary technology it claims and that the protection is still in force.
Federal Litigation and Bankruptcy: PACER
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) is where federal litigation history lives. The PACER Case Locator at pcl.uscourts.gov searches all federal appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts from a single interface.14PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Case Locator
Registration is free. Once you have an account, you can search a company name across all federal courts or limit the search to bankruptcy. Results and documents cost $0.10 per page, capped at $3 per document, and if your quarterly total stays at $30 or less the fees are waived entirely.15PACER: Federal Court Records. PACER Pricing – How Fees Work Most one-off due diligence stays well under that.
Bankruptcy filings matter for business research in particular. A Chapter 7 filing means the company was liquidated; a Chapter 11 filing means it attempted or is attempting to reorganize. Either way, that’s information you want before signing a contract, extending credit, or investing.
Sanctions Screening: OFAC
The Office of Foreign Assets Control maintains the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List of individuals and companies subject to U.S. economic sanctions. Doing business with a listed entity can expose you to serious civil and criminal penalties. At sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov, select “Entity” as the search type, enter the company name, and filter by “SDN.” The tool uses approximate matching to catch misspellings and name variants, and a confidence slider adjusts how closely results must match.16Office of Foreign Assets Control. OFAC Sanctions List Search This is standard practice in international business and financial compliance.
What You Can’t Find Federally
Two searches people commonly expect to run at the federal level aren’t available. The first is a private company’s EIN, covered above. The second is beneficial ownership.
The Corporate Transparency Act originally required most U.S. companies to report their beneficial owners to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. That requirement has been substantially rolled back. In March 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule removing beneficial ownership reporting for all U.S.-created entities and their beneficial owners.17FinCEN.gov. FinCEN Removes Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for US Companies and US Persons Treasury also announced it would not enforce penalties against domestic companies.18U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury Department Announces Suspension of Enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act Against US Citizens and Domestic Reporting Companies Only entities formed under foreign law and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction still qualify as reporting companies, and they have 30 calendar days after registration takes effect to file.19FinCEN.gov. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Even for those filings, the FinCEN database is not open to the public. Access is limited to federal law enforcement and, eventually, certain financial institutions under strict protocols. For general business research, it is not a tool you can use.
Matching the Database to the Question
For financial health and structure of a public company, start with EDGAR. For government contracting eligibility and the exclusions list, use SAM.gov. For nonprofit legitimacy and 990 disclosures, use the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. For intellectual property, check the USPTO. For federal litigation and bankruptcies, register for PACER. For sanctions exposure, run the OFAC search. None of these will confirm whether a company is incorporated or in good standing; that record lives with the state.