Annual Cost of a US LLC: What Six States Charge

What a US company really costs is decided less on formation day than in the years that follow. Delaware charges a flat tax every year, California a much higher one, and Texas often nothing at all, but it wants a report. On top of that come federal obligations that cost nothing but get expensive if you miss them, plus services a company owned from abroad simply can't do without. Here you'll find the state fees from the official sources of the six major formation states, with the date we checked them, and the other cost categories you need to budget for.

1Three types of cost

When you plan the costs of a US company, you're dealing with three separate items. The first is the fees and taxes of your formation state: a one-time formation fee, then every year or every two years either a report with a fee or a flat tax. These amounts are set by law, they're the same for everyone, and you'll find them on this page with the date we checked them.

The second item is your federal obligations. The IRS charges nothing for the EIN or for its forms. It only gets expensive when a filing is missing. The third item is services: the Registered Agent, which a company owned from abroad can't do without, bookkeeping and tax returns. These costs are set by providers, not the state, and they depend on what your company does.

This page puts the state fees of the six major formation states side by side: Delaware, Florida, Texas, Wyoming, California and New York. Our own packages and their prices are on Form a US LLC; the state fees are included there at cost.

2The formation fee

Formation itself is inexpensive in all six states. California charges $70 for the Articles of Organization, Wyoming $100, Delaware $110, Florida $125, New York $200 and Texas $300. In Delaware the amount is made up of the filing fee plus a county fee; in Florida, $100 for the Articles and $25 for designating the Registered Agent. If you pay online by card in Texas, you pay an extra $0.25 plus 2.25 percent.

New York is the outlier, because the fee isn't the whole bill. Within 120 days of formation, the LLC must publish notice of its formation in newspapers and file the Certificate of Publication, which costs $50; the newspaper costs come on top and aren't set by the state. Miss the deadline and the LLC loses its authority to do business until the publication is completed. Details are in Form a New York LLC.

The table sums up the formation fees. They almost never decide which state you form in; what matters is the ongoing cost and where your company actually does business.

3Ongoing state costs per year

From the second year on, the states differ sharply. The table shows what every LLC owes there each year or every two years, when it's due and what happens if you miss it.

Delaware charges every LLC an Annual Tax of $400, but no annual report. Florida requires an Annual Report for $138.75, made up of a $50 report fee and an $88.75 Supplemental Corporate Fee. Wyoming requires an Annual Report with a License Tax of $60 or two-tenths of a mill on the dollar of assets located and employed in Wyoming, whichever is greater; up to $300,000 in Wyoming assets, it stays at $60.

Texas requires no report with the Secretary of State and no franchise tax up to annualized revenue of $2,650,000 (reports 2026 and 2027). The Public Information Report or Ownership Information Report with the Comptroller is still due every year by May 15. Above the threshold, the tax is calculated on the margin at 0.75 percent, or 0.375 percent for wholesale and retail. Details are in Form a Texas LLC.

New York requires a Biennial Statement for $9 every two years in the month of formation. An annual filing fee with the tax department on Form IT-204-LL only applies if the LLC has income, gains, losses or deductions from New York sources; it is then at least $25, and exactly $25 for a single-member disregarded LLC. An LLC with no New York income doesn't pay it, even if it was formed in New York.

California is the most expensive of the six states, so it gets its own section.

4Delaware: $400, no discounts

Delaware's Annual Tax is simple, but unforgiving. Every LLC, and every foreign LLC registered in Delaware, pays $400. The tax is due on June 1 after the end of the calendar year. It isn't prorated: if your LLC was active on the state register at any point between January 1 and December 31, you owe the full amount. So an LLC formed in December pays the same for its first month as for a whole year.

If you don't pay, you owe a $200 penalty plus 1.5 percent interest per month on the tax and the penalty. If the tax goes unpaid for three years, the Certificate of Formation is cancelled on the third anniversary of the due date. The state sends the tax bill to the Registered Agent at least 60 days before June 1, and the agent has to pass it on. How payment works is explained in Delaware LLC Franchise Tax.

5California: $800 and up

Every LLC formed in California or doing business there pays an Annual Tax of $800. That includes a Delaware or Texas LLC doing business in California. The first payment is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after registration with the Secretary of State, then each year on the 15th day of the fourth month of the tax year. For tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2027 and before January 1, 2030, the tax for the first tax year is $400.

On top of that comes an LLC Fee once California income reaches $250,000: $900 from $250,000, $2,500 from $500,000, $6,000 from $1 million and $11,790 from $5 million. It is estimated and paid by the 15th day of the sixth month of the tax year. With the Secretary of State, the LLC files a Statement of Information for $20 within 90 days of formation and every two years after that. More in California LLC.

6A second state, a second set of costs

The tables apply to the state of formation. If your LLC does business in another state, it usually has to register there as a foreign company, and that state charges its own fees. Texas charges $750 to register a foreign LLC, Florida $100 for the Certificate of Authority, Delaware $200 and Wyoming $150.

The ongoing consequences matter more. A registered foreign LLC has to keep a Registered Agent in the second state and meet that state's annual obligations. Delaware expressly charges its $400 to foreign LLCs too, Florida requires the Annual Report from them as well, Texas requires the report to the Comptroller, and California collects its $800 from every LLC doing business there. So if you form in Delaware and operate in Texas, you pay in both states. Foreign Qualification explains when registration is required.

For a company with real operations in the US, this is often a good reason to form right where the business actually happens. Choosing the right state compares the options.

7The federal level: no fees, but obligations

Federal agencies charge nothing for an LLC's basic setup. The IRS issues the EIN, the company's tax number, free of charge, and it explicitly warns against websites that charge for it. Beneficial ownership reporting to FinCEN no longer applies to American companies: since an interim rule from March 2025, which FinCEN later made final, US companies are exempt from the reporting requirement.

What remains are filings that cost nothing but get expensive if you miss them. An LLC owned by a single person abroad files a Form 5472 every year with a pro forma Form 1120 cover sheet, due on the Form 1120 deadline, which is the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year. If you don't file it or don't keep the required records, you risk a $25,000 penalty per year, plus another $25,000 for each 30-day period or part of one if the filing is still missing more than 90 days after an IRS notice. More on this in Form 5472.

An LLC with several members files Form 1065 as a partnership, due by March 15 if the fiscal year is the calendar year; the details are in Form 1065. If the LLC has a foreign owner holding at least 10 percent, Form BE-13 is due to the Bureau of Economic Analysis within 45 days of formation. It is mandatory and treated as confidential; see BE-13 report.

8Registered Agent, bookkeeping, tax advice

Beyond state fees, there are costs no statute puts a number on, but every company owned from abroad pays them. The most important is the Registered Agent. Delaware, Florida, Texas, Wyoming and California require every LLC to have an agent with an address in the state; New York instead requires designating the Secretary of State. If you don't live in the state of formation yourself, you hire an agent and pay them every year, in every state where the company is formed or registered. What the agent has to provide is covered in Registered Agent and business address.

The second item is bookkeeping. An LLC with a foreign owner must be able to document its transactions with that owner, a partnership needs capital accounts for each member, and a company with real US operations needs ongoing books anyway. The third item is tax returns: the LLC's federal returns, its members' returns where applicable and, depending on the state and the business, sales tax or payroll tax returns.

These costs depend on the structure, not the state. A dormant single-member LLC needs little; an active partnership with employees in two states needs a lot. So budget for them based on what your company is meant to do, and with every quote, ask which state fees are included and which are billed separately.

9The bill for the first full year

Finally, an example using state fees only. An LLC that operates in its state of formation and has no income from other states pays the state the following in its first full year after formation: in Texas, nothing if revenue is below the threshold; in New York, nothing without New York income, and $9 the following year for the Biennial Statement; in Wyoming at least $60; in Florida $138.75; in Delaware $400; and in California $800, plus the LLC fee from $250,000 of income, and $20 every two years for the Statement of Information.

These numbers are the floor, not the ceiling. Registered Agent, bookkeeping and tax returns come on top, and registering in a second state doubles some of the items. If you want to know the total cost for your plans, it's best to work it out together with the question of which state your business really operates in. We sort that out in the company formation consultation.

In short

• State formation fees range from $70 in California to $300 in Texas; New York also requires newspaper publication.
• On an ongoing basis, Delaware charges $400 a year, Florida $138.75, Wyoming at least $60 and California $800 ($400 for a first tax year from 2027 to 2029); New York charges $9 every two years.
• Texas charges no franchise tax up to $2.65 million in annual revenue (reports 2026 and 2027), but requires a report every year by May 15.
• At the federal level, the EIN and filings carry no fee; miss Form 5472 and you risk a $25,000 penalty.
• Registered Agent, bookkeeping and tax returns are the ongoing service costs; if you do business in a second state, you also pay registration and annual fees there.

How we help you

• Form an LLCThe US LLC with a permanent establishment, turnkey in six states.
• LLC and LP Tax ReturnForm 1065 and K-1 for your LLC or LP.
• US Company FormationLLC, Inc or LP in Delaware, Florida, California, New York, Texas or Wyoming.
• Company formation consultationEntity type, state and tax consequences, before you commit.