Updated: March 15, 2012
The following discussion of the annual costs of forming an LLC in each state and the District of Columbia apply only to LLC’s that are classified as partnerships for tax purposes. The discussion does not apply to LLCs that have elected to be treated as corporations for tax purposes. It also does not apply to single-member LLC’s because there are special rules for such LLCs in several states. The amounts below are subject to change, especially during times like these when states are looking for ways to increase revenues.
Important reminder: A LLC must register as a “foreign” LLC in each jurisdiction in which it is “doing business” other than the jurisdiction in which it was formed. (The question of what constitutes “doing business” in a state is very complex and will be the subject of a future post.) Thus, finding the lowest cost jurisdiction in which to form an LLC may be counter-productive because in many cases the LLC will still be required to register as a foreign corporation in the state where the principal place of the business is located. Thus, a LLC might find itself paying fees in two jurisdictions when it could have paid fees in only one.
The Corporation Secretary's Blog 