I'm a Washington agency having an interesting debate with Idaho. Insurance Department doesn't require me to be registered with the Secretary of State but recommends it strongly because they say I'm doing business in Idaho. The Idaho Secretary of State doesn't require me to be licensed since I don't have a physical presence in that state nor collect sales tax in that state and say I only need to file if the Insurance Department is requiring. But when I tell the insurance department that the secretary of state doesn't require it, they tell me I need to be because I'm doing business within the state and if I don't register then I'm not properly authorized (and of course on the paperwork, the DOI puts that all questions regarding SOS registration must be directed to the Secretary of State because the DOI staff cannot answer). But the Idaho DOI wants to give me a hard time about it even though the SOS has said no.
In my mind this falls into something akin to interstate commerce (the only caveat being that my actions are regulated by the individual states and not the federal government). I know of a lot of agencies that don't register with the secretary of state in every state in which they sell a product (cost prohibitive) unless they have a branch office or regularly set up at a trade show or something where they have a physical presence in the state.
Anyone else run into something similar? How have you handled?
In my mind this falls into something akin to interstate commerce (the only caveat being that my actions are regulated by the individual states and not the federal government). I know of a lot of agencies that don't register with the secretary of state in every state in which they sell a product (cost prohibitive) unless they have a branch office or regularly set up at a trade show or something where they have a physical presence in the state.
Anyone else run into something similar? How have you handled?
