The government fee is usually the largest line on a formation invoice, and it varies by more than fourteen times between the cheapest state and the most expensive. Here is every one of them, side by side, with the recurring cost that matters more over five years.
Choose a state and an entity type. We'll show the government fee, our package, the all-in total and what the state will want from you every year after that.
No personal state income tax; annual reports are due by 1 May.
Start this filingSearch by state name, or filter to the ones worth a second look.
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Figures are the standard government fees for a domestic entity filed online in 2026, verified against Secretary of State fee schedules in August 2026. They exclude expedite options, publication costs and county-level requirements. Several states calculate corporation fees from authorised share count, so the figure shown is the minimum — and Nevada is shown all-in, because its articles, initial list and state business licence are all due at formation. Fees move without much warning: Georgia added a service charge in late 2025, Kansas cut its LLC fee and New Jersey cut both fees in 2026, and Delaware raised its LLC tax to $400. We re-verify against the state before every filing, and you pay the state exactly what the state charges.
Four things determine what a state really costs you over five years.
Paid once. Ranges from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts. It's the number everyone compares and the one that matters least.
Paid every year or two, forever. California's $800 minimum franchise tax dwarfs its $70 filing fee within twelve months.
New York and Arizona require newspaper publication. Nevada adds a $200 business licence. These don't appear on any fee comparison chart.
Forming out of state doesn't remove your home state's requirements. It adds a second set to them.
Not for most people. You are taxed where you earn income and where you live, not where a certificate was filed. An Ohio resident running an Ohio business through a Wyoming LLC still owes Ohio income tax — and now also owes Wyoming's annual report and a foreign qualification in Ohio.
Where it genuinely helps: holding companies with no operations tied to a state, and situations where owner privacy is the actual objective.
New Mexico, Wyoming and Delaware don't require member or manager names in the public formation record. That said, the federal beneficial ownership regime has narrowed what state-level anonymity actually achieves, and banks will always know who owns the account. Treat state privacy as keeping your address off a Google-indexed database, not as invisibility.
New York LLCs must publish a notice in two newspapers designated by the county clerk for six consecutive weeks, then file a certificate of publication. In Manhattan this routinely costs $1,200 or more — often several times the filing fee itself. Choosing a different county for your principal office can reduce it substantially, and we'll walk you through the options before you file.
No. The state fee is passed through at cost and itemised separately on your invoice. If a state raises its fee between your order and your filing, we tell you before we submit rather than absorbing it quietly or billing you afterwards.
Tell a specialist where you live and what the business does. It's usually a thirty-second answer, and it's free.