LLC and LLP Cost by State

Form where you operate, usually

The state you form in is usually the state you work in. An LLC formed in Delaware or Wyoming that has its office, staff or customers in another state must also register in that home state as a foreign LLC, and then pays both: the home state's registration fee, its yearly report and any minimum tax it charges every LLC doing business there, on top of everything the formation state charges. California's $800 annual tax, for one, applies to every LLC "doing business in or organized in" California, so a Delaware LLC run from Los Angeles pays the $800 and Delaware's $400 a year as well. Pick a home state under "We will operate in" and the tool adds its foreign fees to each other state: with two members, a Delaware LLC operating in California comes to $5,840 over five years against $4,130 for a California LLC, and a Wyoming LLC operating in Texas to $1,090 against $300.

Delaware still makes sense for a company raising venture money, whose investors want Delaware law and its Court of Chancery. For a two- or three-owner business that sells locally, a second state mostly adds a second set of fees and a second registered agent. Partnership and LLC laws by state sets out what each state's act fills in when the operating agreement is silent, which matters more than the fee.

How the five years are counted

Year 1 is the year you form. Each charge falls in the year it is due, which is how a business pays it: the formation filing and anything due with it in year 1, and a report or tax that is paid the spring after a year closes (Delaware's $400 LLC tax on June 1, Kentucky's limited liability entity tax and Rhode Island's $400 annual charge with the return) in year 2 onward. That is why most states show four yearly payments in five years. A report filed every two years falls in years 2 and 4 or in years 3 and 5, by the state's rule: Iowa and Nebraska take theirs in odd-numbered years and Kansas in years that match the year of formation, placed here as if you form in 2026. California's statement of information is due within 90 days of forming and every two years after, so it counts three times.

Counted are the formation filing and anything the state makes mandatory with it (Alabama's name reservation, Florida's registered agent designation, Nevada's initial list and $200 state business license, Washington's initial report, New York's $50 certificate of publication), the periodic report, and the taxes or licenses every such entity owes whatever it earns: California's $800, Delaware's $400, Rhode Island's $400, Vermont's $250 minimum, Kentucky's $175 minimum, Arkansas's $150 franchise tax, Tennessee's $100 franchise tax minimum, Nevada's $200 business license, Alaska's $50 business license, the District of Columbia's $250 franchise tax minimum (owed above $12,000 of DC gross income) and New York's $25 minimum IT-204-LL fee. Where a fee depends on the number of owners (Tennessee's $50 a member, Delaware's and Texas's per-partner LLP fees, New Jersey's $150 an owner once there are three or more), the members box sets it. Online filing fees are used where online and paper differ.

New York, Arizona and Nebraska make a new LLC publish a notice in newspapers, and New York and Arizona do the same for an LLP. The newspapers set the price, the states publish none, and in New York County it can cost more than every state fee together, so the tool leaves it out and marks the state until you type in a quote. Arizona waives the notice when the statutory agent is in Maricopa or Pima County.

What it leaves out

• Income and gross receipts taxes. Only flat minimums every entity owes are counted. California's LLC fee (from $900 once California income reaches $250,000), Tennessee's 6.5% excise tax, Texas's franchise tax above $2.65 million of revenue, Ohio's commercial activity tax, Washington's B&O tax, Kentucky's tax above its minimum and every state's income tax depend on what the business earns, and the partners' own income tax is separate again.
• Local licenses. City and county business licenses, a DBA or fictitious name filing and any newspaper notice it requires (California, Florida, Georgia and Illinois among them), and professional licenses.
• Late fees and optional services. Expedited filing, certified copies, name reservations where optional, card convenience fees, and the penalties for a late report, which in Florida are $400 and in California $250.
• The operating agreement and the lawyer. Not a state fee, and usually the largest cost of forming well. The clauses a multi-member operating agreement needs is where to start.
• Foreign fees for an LLP. The home state option adds foreign fees for an LLC only; an LLP that does business in another state registers there as a foreign LLP, at fees not in this comparison.

Choosing between an LLC and an LLP

Only a partnership can register as an LLP, and California and New York limit it to licensed professional firms, while an LLC can be formed by one owner or many for any lawful business. The fees differ too: an LLP is far dearer than an LLC in Delaware ($300 a partner to register and every year), Texas ($200 a partner), Pennsylvania (an annual registration of at least $340 for each partner who lives in the state) and West Virginia ($500 a year), and cheaper in a few. LLP vs LLC vs limited partnership compares the liability shield each gives, and general partnership vs LLC covers the case for forming anything at all.

Where the figures come from

Every fee was read on the state's own fee schedule, filing form or the statute that sets it, and minimum taxes on the state tax department's page or statute, between September 30 and October 1, 2026; the full table with each fee's wording, the statute and our confidence in the row is in LLC and LLP filing fees by state. Foreign LLC registration and report fees were read on the same official pages on October 1, 2026. A few rows rest on less: Indiana's formation and LLP fees and its foreign registration fee come from compilations, the District of Columbia lists no LLP line, Montana shows its annual report fee as waived when filed on time, and Georgia records an LLP with a county clerk at a fee the county sets. Fees change, often on July 1 or October 1, so check the state's page on the day you file. For each state's agencies, small business centers and bar referral services, see business partnership resources by state.

Each state's fee pages

• Alabama: fee schedule, source 2, source 3
• Alaska: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• Arizona: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5 (confidence medium)
• Arkansas: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, foreign LLC fees
• California: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7, foreign LLC fees
• Colorado: fee schedule, source 2
• Connecticut: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• Delaware: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4
• District of Columbia: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5 (confidence medium)
• Florida: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5
• Georgia: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, foreign LLC fees
• Hawaii: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, foreign LLC fees
• Idaho: fee schedule, source 2, source 3
• Illinois: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, foreign LLC fees
• Indiana: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7, foreign LLC fees (confidence low)
• Iowa: fee schedule, source 2, source 3
• Kansas: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• Kentucky: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4
• Louisiana: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5
• Maine: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5
• Maryland: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4
• Massachusetts: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• Michigan: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, foreign LLC fees
• Minnesota: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6 (confidence medium)
• Mississippi: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4 (confidence medium)
• Missouri: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6
• Montana: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5 (confidence medium)
• Nebraska: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7 (confidence medium)
• Nevada: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• New Hampshire: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6 (confidence medium)
• New Jersey: fee schedule, source 2, source 3
• New Mexico: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, foreign LLC fees (confidence medium)
• New York: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, foreign LLC fees
• North Carolina: fee schedule, source 2, source 3
• North Dakota: fee schedule, source 2
• Ohio: fee schedule, source 2, source 3 (confidence medium)
• Oklahoma: fee schedule, source 2, source 3 (confidence medium)
• Oregon: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4 (confidence medium)
• Pennsylvania: fee schedule, source 2, source 3 (confidence medium)
• Rhode Island: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6, source 7, source 8, foreign LLC fees
• South Carolina: fee schedule, source 2, source 3 (confidence medium)
• South Dakota: fee schedule, source 2 (confidence medium)
• Tennessee: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5
• Texas: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, foreign LLC fees
• Utah: fee schedule, source 2, source 3 (confidence medium)
• Vermont: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6
• Virginia: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, foreign LLC fees
• Washington: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4 (confidence medium)
• West Virginia: fee schedule, source 2, source 3, source 4, source 5, source 6
• Wisconsin: fee schedule (confidence medium)
• Wyoming: fee schedule

General information, not legal or tax advice. State fees change and the charges an entity owes depend on its facts; check each state's fee page before filing, and have a lawyer or accountant in your state confirm where to form.