NASHVILLE – Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett issued a new warning about unaffiliated mail and email solicitations involving annual business reports on the rise across Tennessee that could cause additional financial burden on businesses and charitable organizations.

Tennessee businesses and charitable organizations have reported receiving an official-looking mailer or email from a third-party called the Tennessee Business Filing Center. Wording on the solicitation offers a similar service, however, it requires additional excessive fees, compared to working through the state directly to file these reports.

“Our office has seen a steady increase in complaints from businesses about this misleading mailer requesting hundreds of dollars in fees to file annual reporting documents,” said Hargett. “This situation is similar to what we have seen in recent years, and we want all Tennessee businesses to know we provide this very same service at substantially lower costs.”

Business entities are required to file an annual report with the state by April 1 each year. These documents update or confirm business information on file with the Secretary of State’s office, and are required for entities to maintain “active status” so they can legally operate in Tennessee.

“All business owners should be wary of any correspondence that attempts to look like it is from the State of Tennessee,” Hargett added. “These groups are not affiliated with us, and we ask recipients of these unaffiliated communications to report them to us, so we can notify the proper authorities.”

Entities needing to file annual reports can do so through the Secretary of State’s Tennessee Charity and Business Filing System (TNCaB) by going to tncab.tnsos.gov.

The Division of Business and Charitable Organizations can be contacted to report suspicious activity by calling (615) 741-2286 or emailing TNSOS.corpinfo@tn.gov.

To file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office, call (615) 741-3491 or visit Attorney General & Reporter at www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral.html.