How Much Does an LLC Cost in Kentucky? (2026 fees)
Forming an LLC in Kentucky costs $40 to file. The annual report is $15, annual. Acting as your own registered agent, five years costs $990 — every figure transcribed from the state's own fee schedule and dated.
Filing fee
$40
Annual report
$15 annual
Year one
$230
Five years
$990
⚠️ Kentucky charges 4.75× the filing fee, every year. Kentucky charges $40 to form an LLC and about $190 every year afterwards — 4.75× the filing fee, annually. The number most comparisons quote is the one that matters least.
Your data never leaves your device Learn more
Estimate only — not tax, legal, or accounting advice. This is the published math for Kentucky LLC formation and ongoing costs. Confirm final figures with your payroll provider, accountant, or the state agency before acting on them.
Kentucky LLC Filing Fee ($40)
Paid once, when you file the Articles of Organization. $40.00 for the Articles of Organization (form KLC), the same amount online through FastTrack or on paper. Verbatim from the Secretary of State's fee page under "Domestic Limited Liability Company (Profit, Non-Profit or Professional Service)": "Articles of Organization: $40.00"; the form's own instructions (KLC, rev. 7/25) restate it: "The filing fee for the document is $40.00. Your check should be made payable to the 'Kentucky State Treasurer.'" Among the cheapest formation fees in the country — but see the ongoing obligations, because Kentucky's real annual floor is $190, not $15.
Kentucky Annual Report ($15 annual)
Due Annual Report, $15.00, filed with the Secretary of State. The window is a five-month one and the deadline is a fixed date, not an anniversary — verbatim: "all entities conducting business in the Commonwealth of Kentucky are required to file annual reports with this office by June 30 of each year. Reports can be filed any time between January 1 and June 30". The first report is due the year AFTER formation; verbatim from the KLC form instructions: "The business entity must file an annual report with the Secretary of State between January 1 and June 30 of the year following the calendar year in which the corporation was formed." Missing it is not a fee, it is dissolution, and it is automatic: "Domestic entities that fail to file their annual reports by June 30 are administratively dissolved, meaning that until they reinstate, they are inactive and in bad standing with the Office of the Secretary of State." Reinstatement costs a $100.00 penalty plus "any delinquent filing fees", and requires letters of good standing from the Department of Revenue and (for profit companies) the Division of Unemployment Insurance. An Amended Annual Report is a further $15.00. One published limit: "you cannot make changes to principal and registered agent/office on the annual report postcard. Those changes must be made via a statement of change.". Missing it is how most administrative dissolutions start, so it is worth a calendar entry rather than a memory.
Kentucky Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET) — Kentucky Department of Revenue (from $175)
This is the obligation the "$40 to start a Kentucky LLC" pitch omits, and it is more than four times the formation fee, every year. Scope, verbatim from the Department of Revenue: "Kentucky imposes a tax on every business that is protected from liability by the laws of the state. This includes corporations, LLCs, S-Corporations, limited partnerships, and other types of businesses. It does not include sole proprietorships and general partnerships because these types of businesses do not have limited liability. (There are also some types of businesses that are statutorily exempt from the LLET)." The floor, verbatim: "If either total gross receipts or total gross profits amounts to $3 million or less, then the company just pays a $175 minimum LLET." Above that, verbatim: "If a business does not qualify for the small-business exemption and has total gross receipts or total gross profits in excess of $6 million, it multiplies its Kentucky gross receipts by 0.095% and its Kentucky gross profits by 0.75% to figure its LLET liability. (If total gross receipts or total gross profits falls between $3 million and $6 million, a sliding-scale formula is applied to the amount to calculate the LLET liability). The company then pays the smaller of the amount calculated on gross receipts or the amount calculated on gross profits." The sliding-scale formula between $3m and $6m is referred to but not printed on this page, so it is not reproduced here. Note the base: this is a GROSS receipts / gross profits tax, so a loss-making Kentucky LLC still owes the $175. Interaction with corporate income tax, verbatim: "If a company also owes Kentucky corporate income tax, it is allowed to reduce its income tax liability by the amount of its LLET liability less the minimum $175" — i.e. the $175 is never creditable away. Administered by the Department of Revenue, not the Secretary of State, which is exactly why it is missing from most "cost to form an LLC in Kentucky" summaries. Combined with the $15 annual report, the published annual floor for an ordinary Kentucky LLC is $190 before it earns a dollar. Cost of goods sold may only be deducted by "companies in certain economic sectors (manufacturing, producing, wholesaling, retailing, and reselling of tangible products)", and "Kentucky's definition of cost of goods sold also differs from the federal definition". The statutory LLET exemptions referred to on the same page were not enumerated there and were not evaluated here.
What costs $0 in Kentucky
- The formation fee itself, if the LLC is veteran-owned — Kentucky waives the $40 outright. Verbatim from the KLC instructions: "KRS 14A.1-070(45) defines a veteran-owned business as one that is at least 51% unconditionally owned by one or more veterans, or in the case of a publicly-owned business, at least 51% of the stock is unconditionally owned by one or more veterans. KRS 14A.2-165 states that the fee for this filing is waived if the business is veteran-owned." Evidence is required with the filing — "Include copies of DD-214 forms or active duty military IDs of all prospective veteran-owners with redactions to remove social security numbers, dates of birth, and home addresses" — and the Secretary of State destroys them after verification. "Veteran" is defined broadly enough to include current servicemembers: "any person who served in the United States Armed Forces, Reserves, or National Guard and was separated or released therefrom with an honorable discharge, discharge under honorable conditions, or general discharge under honorable conditions or any person who currently serves".
- EIN from the IRS — An Employer Identification Number is issued free by the IRS. Kentucky charges nothing for it and neither should anyone else.
- Operating agreement — Not filed with the Division of Business Filings and not priced anywhere on the Kentucky fee schedule. It costs $0 to write one.
- Copies of your own filing — Verbatim from the KLC instructions: "To make a copy of the filing for delivery to the local county clerk's office, visit www.sos.ky.gov and print a copy from the organization search tool." Kentucky does not charge for the copy it tells you to take to the county.
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 Kentucky 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 Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings — Fees (Domestic Limited Liability Company (Profit, Non-Profit or Professional Service)) (effective 2026-01-01)
Source of record
- Kentucky Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings — Fees (Domestic Limited Liability Company (Profit, Non-Profit or Professional Service)) ↗Secretary of State
Run it against the official tool: Kentucky Department of Revenue — Corporation Income and Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET calculation) ↗
🎓 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
$40 to file the Articles of Organization. $40.00 for the Articles of Organization (form KLC), the same amount online through FastTrack or on paper. Verbatim from the Secretary of State's fee page under "Domestic Limited Liability Company (Profit, Non-Profit or Professional Service)": "Articles of Organization: $40.00"; the form's own instructions (KLC, rev. 7/25) restate it: "The filing fee for the document is $40.00. Your check should be made payable to the 'Kentucky State Treasurer.'" Among the cheapest formation fees in the country — but see the ongoing obligations, because Kentucky's real annual floor is $190, not $15. 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.