How Much Does an LLC Cost in New York? (2026 fees)
Forming an LLC in New York costs $200 to file. The annual report is $9, biennial. Acting as your own registered agent, five years costs $223 — every figure transcribed from the state's own fee schedule and dated.
Filing fee
$200
Annual report
$9 biennial
Year one
$205
Five years
$223
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Estimate only — not tax, legal, or accounting advice. This is the published math for New York LLC formation and ongoing costs. Confirm final figures with your payroll provider, accountant, or the state agency before acting on them.
New York LLC Filing Fee ($200)
Paid once, when you file the Articles of Organization. $200.00 for the Articles of Organization, the same by mail or online. "The fee may be paid by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or American Express." A name-availability search is a separate $5.00 per name under Executive Law §96, and is optional. The $200 is only the Department of State's share of forming a New York LLC — the §206 publication requirement below routinely costs more than the filing fee itself.
New York Annual Report ($9 biennial)
Due Biennial Statement, $9.00, required by Limited Liability Company Law §301(e). "Domestic limited liability companies are required to file a Biennial Statement two years after the filing of the Articles of Organization with the NYS Department of State, and every two years thereafter. The filing period is the calendar month in which the original Articles of Organization were filed by the Department of State." For an LLC it reports only "the address to which the New York Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process accepted on its behalf". Do not file early: "A Biennial Statement should not be filed prior to the calendar month in which the Biennial Statement is due." There is no late fee published, but "a corporation or LLC that fails to file its Biennial Statement will be reflected in the New York Department of State's records as past due", which shows on any Certificate of Status. "Expedited handling is not available for the filing of Biennial Statements.". Missing it is how most administrative dissolutions start, so it is worth a calendar entry rather than a memory.
New York publication requirement
Real, unavoidable, and the single largest variable cost of forming a New York LLC. Verbatim (Department of State): "Section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law requires a copy of the Articles of Organization or a notice related to the formation of most limited liability companies to be published in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks. The newspapers must be designated by the county clerk of the county in which the office of the LLC is located. The newspapers charge a fee for the publication of the notice." THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLISHES NO RATE, and this pack does not invent one. The only figure New York itself publishes is the $50.00 filing fee for the Certificate of Publication that must follow. Because the county clerk designates the newspapers and each newspaper sets its own rate, the cost is a function of which county the LLC names as its office — and that is the whole reason the amount ranges so widely between downstate and upstate counties. Anyone quoting a single national number for "the New York publication fee" is quoting a guess. Deadline and penalty are published and are strict: "Failure to publish and file the Certificate of Publication with the Department of State within 120 days will result in the suspension of the LLC's authority to carry on, conduct or transact business." The suspension is curable: "Any time following the suspension ... the limited liability company may file the certificate of publication with the affidavits of publication of the newspapers annexed thereto, at which time the suspension ... shall be annulled." There is an exemption at Arts and Cultural Affairs Law §23.03. It is a real cost and it is deliberately absent from the totals above, because it depends on where in the state you file.
What costs $0 in New York
- EIN from the IRS — An Employer Identification Number is issued free by the IRS. Nobody needs to be paid for it.
- Operating agreement — required, but free — New York is unusual: the operating agreement is MANDATORY, not optional. "The members of an LLC are required to adopt a written Operating Agreement. See Section 417 of the Limited Liability Company Law. The Operating Agreement may be entered into before, at the time of, or within 90 days after the filing of the Articles of Organization." It still costs $0 to file, because it is never filed: "The Operating Agreement is an internal document of the LLC and is not filed with the Department of State." The Department also notes "The law is silent on the consequences of not adopting an Operating Agreement."
- Designating the Secretary of State as agent for service of process — Mandatory and carries no separate fee — it is part of the Articles of Organization. Paying for a "New York registered agent" buys an optional convenience, not the statutory designation.
Listed first on purpose. Knowing what not to pay for is the part of this page most likely to save you money.
19 of 51 jurisdictions verified against their Secretary of State so far. A state we have not read gets no entry rather than a guess.
Pick a different state to price the “form in Wyoming, operate at home” structure honestly — both filings, both annual reports, both agents.
The filing fee is year one; the annual obligations are forever. Comparisons that stop at year one are ranking states by the number that matters least.
Year one
$150 – $350
Every year after
$100 – $300
5-year total
$550 – $1,550
| Articles of Organization filing feeone-off$50.00 total for regular processing of Articles of Organization; $85.00 total if you add expedited processing. Arizona's fee schedule quotes TOTAL fees rather than add-ons, so $85 is the whole bill, not $50 + $85. All fees are non-refundable under A.R.S. §29-3213. | $50 |
| Publication requirementone-offformulaPublication is required by A.R.S. §29-3201 — but whether it costs anything depends on your statutory agent's county. If the statutory agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima county, the Commission publishes the notice on its own website at no charge and you do nothing. Outside those two counties you must publish in a newspaper, typically three consecutive publications, and pay that newspaper directly (commonly in the $30–$300 range depending on the paper — that range is market context, not a published figure, and the ACC sets no rate). Do not publish until the Commission approves the Articles; the approval letter tells you how. | $0 |
| Annual reportArizona LLCs file no annual report. The Corporation Commission's FAQ states it directly: "No, LLCs are not required to file annual reports. Only corporations are required to file annual reports." The LLC fee schedule carries no annual report line, consistent with that. The ongoing obligation is instead to keep a statutory agent and a valid principal address on file at all times — failing that leads to administrative dissolution under A.R.S. §29-3708. | $0 |
| Registered agent (commercial)Market range, not a statutory fee — this is the one line here you choose. | $100 – $300 |
What costs nothing in Arizona
- EIN from the IRS — An Employer Identification Number is issued free by the IRS. Nobody needs to be paid for it.
- Operating agreement — The Commission's own instructions: "An operating agreement is not required by statute." It is not filed with the ACC — "DO NOT FILE operating agreements with the Arizona Corporation Commission." It costs $0 to write one.
- Annual report — Arizona LLCs do not file one, so there is no annual report fee to pay and no annual report service to buy.
- Newspaper publication, in Maricopa or Pima county — If your statutory agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima county the ACC publishes the notice on its website automatically at no cost. Publication services sold to filers in those two counties are selling something the state already did for free.
- Name reservation — Not free ($10.00), but not required either — the Commission's instructions say plainly "Reserving the name is not required."
Listed because knowing what NOT to pay for is half of what this page is for.
- Arizona requires newspaper publication after formation. Publication is required by A.R.S. §29-3201 — but whether it costs anything depends on your statutory agent's county. If the statutory agent's street address is in Maricopa or Pima county, the Commission publishes the notice on its own website at no charge and you do nothing. Outside those two counties you must publish in a newspaper, typically three consecutive publications, and pay that newspaper directly (commonly in the $30–$300 range depending on the paper — that range is market context, not a published figure, and the ACC sets no rate). Do not publish until the Commission approves the Articles; the approval letter tells you how. It is a real cost and it is not in the totals below, because it depends on where you file.
Every verified state, ranked by the 5-year total
Own-agent figures, so this compares states rather than service purchases. Each state links to its full fee page.
| State | Filing | Per year after | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | $50 | $0 | $50 |
| Ohio | $99 | $0 | $99 |
| Hawaii | $51 | $15+formula | $126 |
| Utah | $59 | $18 | $149 |
| Colorado | $50 | $25 | $175 |
| Michigan | $50 | $25 | $175 |
| New York | $200 | $5 | $223 |
| Texas | $300 | $0+formula | $300 |
| Wyoming | $100 | $60 | $400 |
| Georgia | $110 | $60 | $410 |
| Illinois | $150 | $75 | $525 |
| Florida | $125 | $139 | $819 |
| Kentuckytrap | $40 | $190+formula | $990 |
| North Carolina | $125 | $200 | $1,125 |
| Nevadatrap | $75 | $350 | $1,825 |
| Delawaretrap | $110 | $400 | $2,110 |
| Tennessee | $300 | $400+formula | $2,300 |
| Pennsylvaniatrap | $125 | $707+formula | $3,660 |
| Californiatrap | $70 | $810+formula | $4,120 |
How Much Does an LLC Cost?: computed in your browser from verified fee packs; nothing is transmitted.
Thinking of forming in another state to save money? Price both structures — operating in New York means registering here either way, so the second state is added to the bill rather than substituted for it. Compare every verified state →
Verified 2026-08-05 against New York State Department of State, Division of Corporations — Articles of Organization for Domestic Limited Liability Company (effective 2026-01-01)
Source of record
- New York State Department of State, Division of Corporations — Articles of Organization for Domestic Limited Liability Company ↗Secretary of State
Run it against the official tool: NYS Department of State — Biennial Statements for Business Corporations and Limited Liability Companies ↗
🎓 Understand this tool
What it is
The full price of an LLC in each verified state: the one-off filing fee, the report the state expects every year or two, any franchise or gross-receipts tax on top, and what those add up to over the years you actually intend to be in business.
How it works
Every figure comes from a rule pack transcribed from the Secretary of State or tax agency that sets it, with the source and verification date shown. The projection multiplies the recurring obligations out over your chosen horizon; where a state publishes a formula rather than a flat amount, the tool carries the formula and its floor rather than inventing a number.
Getting the most from it
- Pick the state you would form in — only states we have verified appear, and the count is stated.
- If the business will operate in a DIFFERENT state, say so: the tool then prices both filings, both annual reports, and the registered agent you would have to rent.
- Toggle the registered agent off if you have an address in the state and are willing to be your own — most states allow it at no cost.
- Change the projection length and watch the ranking of states change with it.
- Read the zero-cost list before paying anyone for anything on it.
Reading your result
The year-one figure is what starting costs; the every-year-after figure is what staying costs; and the multi-year total is the honest basis for comparing states. A trap badge means the state charges more every year than it charged to form — the number in most comparison tables is the smallest one that state will ever bill you.
What it can't tell you
It prices state obligations, not your taxes: state income tax, sales tax registration, and local licences depend on what the business does and are not in these figures. It also cannot decide whether an LLC is the right structure — that question involves liability and tax facts this page cannot see.
Frequently asked questions
$200 to file the Articles of Organization. $200.00 for the Articles of Organization, the same by mail or online. "The fee may be paid by cash, check, money order, MasterCard, Visa or American Express." A name-availability search is a separate $5.00 per name under Executive Law §96, and is optional. The $200 is only the Department of State's share of forming a New York LLC — the §206 publication requirement below routinely costs more than the filing fee itself. That is the only mandatory cost to form — an EIN from the IRS is free and an operating agreement is a document you write yourself, not something the state charges for.
Related calculators
Startup cost
A line-item budget that keeps the two questions separate: what it costs to open, and what it costs every month to stay open. The headline output is the cash needed to launch and survive a chosen runway with no revenue at all — the deliberately pessimistic figure lenders actually ask about.
Break-even
Work out how many units you need to sell before the business covers its costs. Charts the crossing point, counts your own pay as a cost, includes the card fees and refunds most calculators leave out, and separates cash break-even from the accounting one. A planning estimate from your own figures.
Employee cost
What a hire actually costs once employer taxes, benefits and overhead are counted. Social Security to this year’s wage base, Medicare, federal unemployment after the state credit, and your state’s own unemployment tax at its own wage base — every rate cited to the agency that published it, with the math shown.
Change alerts — when a state revises the guideline or deadline behind this page
One email when the numbers change. Double opt-in, no spam, unsubscribe anytime.