Choose your state like a surveyor, not a gambler.
A formation atlas for founders outside the United States. Every state fee on this site is verified against official state sources — formation fees checked 2026-11-03, ongoing duties checked 2026-11-04 — and the source is recorded on each state’s sheet. One package forms the LLC, supplies the registered agent for year one, and includes the EIN, including the route for founders with no Social Security number.
Payments are not open yet. Our selling company forms first, so checkout today joins the launch list — it never charges you. That is stated here, not buried at the payment step.
The Chart — formation fee by state
- ≤ $50
- $51–100
- $101–150
- $151–300
- > $300
- Wyoming / Delaware — specialist sheets →
Select a state on the Chart to open its dossier. Keyboard: tab to a state and press Enter.
Three comparisons that decide most formations
Cheapest to form
MT $35 · KY $40 · AR $45
Montana, Kentucky and Arkansas are the lowest state fees in the Atlas. Cheap to form is not the same as cheap to keep — each dossier prices both. Montana’s sheet → · Kentucky’s sheet → · Arkansas’s sheet →
Heaviest ongoing load
CA $800/yr · NV $350/yr · MA $500 to form
California’s $800 annual franchise tax, Nevada’s $350 annual list-and-licence stack, and Massachusetts’s $500 formation fee are the loads that surprise founders who compared formation fees only. California’s sheet → · Nevada’s sheet → · Massachusetts’s sheet →
No annual report at all
AZ · NM · OH · AL · SC · MO
Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Alabama, South Carolina and Missouri impose no recurring report on an LLC — the duty calendar for those six is empty. *Pennsylvania is nearly on this list: a $7 annual report, due September 30 — small, but a real date. Arizona’s sheet → · Ohio’s sheet → · Alabama’s sheet → · Pennsylvania’s sheet →
The Ledger — every state, sortable
Every state's figures as a working instrument: sort by the fee or by what the duty costs each year, filter by band, and tick up to three states to compare them side by side. No figure here exists without a source on its state sheet.
| State | Ongoing duty | 5-year total | Compare | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $35 | Annual report — due Apr 15 — $20 (waived when filed on time) | $0/yr | $1,030 | |
| Kentucky | $40 | Annual report — due Jun 30 | $15/yr | $1,095 | |
| Arkansas | $45 | Annual franchise tax report — due May 1 | $150/yr | $1,640 | |
| Arizona | $50 | No annual report for LLCs; corporations file an annual report with the Corporation Commission | $0/yr | $1,045 | |
| Colorado | $50 | Annual report — Annually, in the entity's Periodic Report month (the month shown as 'Periodic report… | $25/yr | $1,145 | |
| Hawaii | $50 | Annual report — due by the end of your registration quarter — $15 | $15/yr | $1,105 | |
| Iowa | $50 | Biennial report — due Apr 1 in odd-numbered years | $15/yr | $1,105 | |
| Michigan | $50 | Annual statement — due Feb 15 — $25 (LLC) | $25/yr | $1,145 | |
| Mississippi | $50 | Annual report — due Apr 15 | $0/yr | $1,045 | |
| Missouri | $50 | No annual or biennial report for LLCs — the state imposes no recurring report duty on a domestic LLC… | $0/yr | $1,045 | |
| New Mexico | $50 | No annual or biennial report for LLCs — the state imposes no recurring report duty on a domestic LLC… | $0/yr | $1,045 | |
| Utah | $59 | Annual report — Renewal (annual report) due one year from the date of registration and annually… | $18/yr | $1,126 | |
| California | $70 | Statement of Information — biennial for LLCs ($20), annual for corporations ($25); $800/yr minimum… | $810/yr | $4,305 | |
| Kansas | $85 | Biennial report — Business Entity Information Report due biennially by April 15 of each succeeding even… | $45/yr | $1,260 | |
| Indiana | $95 | Biennial report — Business Entity Report due every other year (biennial) in the anniversary month in… | $15.5/yr | $1,152 | |
| District of Columbia | $99 | Biennial report — due Apr 1 every 2 years — $300 | $150/yr | $1,694 | |
| Ohio | $99 | No annual report for LLCs or corporations — keep your statutory agent current | $0/yr | $1,094 | |
| Idaho | $100 | Annual report — due by the end of your anniversary month — no fee | $0/yr | $1,095 | |
| Maryland | $100 | Annual report — Form 1 Annual Report and Business Personal Property Return due April 15 each year, filed… | $300/yr | $2,295 | |
| Nebraska | $100 | Biennial report — due April 1 in odd-numbered years; delinquent June 16 of that year (domestic and foreign… | $12.50/yr | $1,145 | |
| New Hampshire | $100 | Annual report — due Apr 1 — $100 | $100/yr | $1,495 | |
| New Jersey | $100 | Annual report — Annual report due every year on the last day of the month in which business formation… | $75/yr | $1,395 | |
| Oklahoma | $100 | Annual report — Annual Certificate due on the anniversary date of filing the articles of organization,… | $25/yr | $1,195 | |
| Oregon | $100 | Annual report — Annual report (renewal) due on the anniversary of registration. SOS: entities 'must file… | $100/yr | $1,495 | |
| Virginia | $100 | Annual registration — Last day of the month the LLC was organized or registered in Virginia — $50 | $50/yr | $1,295 | |
| West Virginia | $100 | Annual report — due Jun 30 — $25 | $25/yr | $1,195 | |
| Georgia | $110 | Annual registration — Annual registration due by April 1 of each year; may be filed as early as January… | $60/yr | $1,345 | |
| South Carolina | $110 | No annual or biennial report for LLCs — the state imposes no recurring report duty on a domestic LLC… | $0/yr | $1,105 | |
| Connecticut | $120 | Annual report — Each year between January 1 and March 31 — $80 | $80/yr | $1,435 | |
| Florida | $125 | Annual report — Annual report due by May 1 of each year (filing window January 1-May 1; check/money… | $138.75/yr | $1,675 | |
| Louisiana | $125 | Annual report — Annual report due on or before the anniversary date of organization of the LLC each year… | $35/yr | $1,260 | |
| North Carolina | $125 | Annual report — Annual report due April 15 of each year after the year of creation (SOS Annual Report… | $200/yr | $1,920 | |
| Pennsylvania | $125 | Annual report — due Sep 30 — $7/yr | $7/yr | $1,148 | |
| Wisconsin | $130 | Annual report — By the end of the calendar quarter containing the anniversary of formation/registration… | $25/yr | $1,225 | |
| North Dakota | $135 | Annual report — due Nov 15 (LLCs) / Aug 1 (corporations) — $50 (LLC) | $50/yr | $1,330 | |
| Illinois | $150 | Annual report — due by the 1st of your anniversary month — $75 | $75/yr | $1,445 | |
| Rhode Island | $150 | Annual report — file Feb 1–May 1 — $50; plus a $400/yr annual charge to the Division of Taxation | $450/yr | $2,945 | |
| South Dakota | $150 | Annual report — due in your anniversary month — $55 online | $55/yr | $1,365 | |
| Minnesota | $155 | Annual renewal — due Dec 31 — no fee | $0/yr | $1,150 | |
| Vermont | $155 | Annual report — due within three months after your fiscal year end — $45 | $45/yr | $1,330 | |
| Maine | $175 | Annual report — due Jun 1 — $85 online (LLC) | $85/yr | $1,510 | |
| Washington | $180 | Annual report — By the expiration date, which is the last day of the month in which the business was… | $70/yr | $1,455 | |
| Alabama | $200 | No annual or biennial report for LLCs — the state imposes no recurring report duty on a domestic LLC… | $0/yr | $1,195 | |
| New York | $200 | Biennial statement — $9 every 2 years (LLCs also have a newspaper publication requirement after… | $4.50/yr | $1,213 | |
| Alaska | $250 | Biennial report — due Jan 2 every 2 years — $100 (free initial report within 6 months of formation) | $50/yr | $1,445 | |
| Tennessee | $300 | Annual report — First day of the fourth month following the close of the fiscal year (April 1 for… | $300/yr | $2,495 | |
| Texas | $300 | No Secretary of State annual report — franchise tax + Public Information Report due May 15 (the report… | $0/yr | $1,295 | |
| Nevada | $425 | Annual list + state business license renewal — due the last day of your anniversary month — $350/yr (LLC) | $350/yr | $2,820 | |
| Massachusetts | $500 | Annual report — On or before the anniversary date of the filing of the original certificate of… | $500/yr | $3,495 |
The route-plotter — five questions
Where you live, where your customers are, how many owners, and whether an EIN without an SSN is your blocker — five answers produce a one-page Route Brief: your state’s dossier summary, its total cost, its duty calendar and your EIN path, on the page and printable. If Wyoming or Delaware is your pick, the plotter routes you to the specialist instead of selling you ours.
Five-year cost of ownership — six states that prove the point
| State | Formation fee | Duty / yr | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montana | $35 | $0/yr | $1,030 |
| Florida | $125 | $138.75/yr | $1,675 |
| Texas | $300 | $0/yr | $1,295 |
| New York | $200 | $4.50/yr | $1,213 |
| California | $70 | $810/yr | $4,305 |
| Nevada | $425 | $350/yr | $2,820 |
The spread between the cheapest and the heaviest five-year total here is more than $3,000 — and none of it is our fee, which is the same $399 in every row. It is the states’ own charges, which is why this Atlas leads with them.
Wyoming and Delaware — surveyed by specialists
We do not form there — deliberately. Dedicated specialist businesses serve Wyoming and Delaware for foreign founders: Wyoming For Foreigners and Delaware LLC For Foreigners. On the Chart they are hatched, not greyed out — surveyed, by the people whose whole business is those two states. Choose either in the diagnostic or at checkout and you are routed to that specialist’s waitlist, with the reason stated. We would rather lose the sale than sell you the wrong shopfront.
The EIN is part of the package — because half a formation is no formation
A US LLC without an EIN cannot get far with payment processors or banks. That is why the EIN is included here, including for founders with no SSN or ITIN: the Form SS-4 route by fax or mail, the CP 575 that comes back, what a 147C is when you lose it, and the Form 5472 duty that follows a foreign-owned single-member LLC every year — penalty $25,000 for a missing filing. The full guide is the deepest page on this site.
Founders by country — the Atlas, read from home
The state dossiers survey the American side. The country sheets survey yours: what your own country's rules ask of a US LLC, how the money crosses, and which states founders from your country choose. First sheets published: India — FEMA, funding the account, and getting paid and Nigeria — ownership, the EIN route, and proving the business to a bank. Six more are in survey; the full index is Founders by country.
Join the launch list
Formation Complete opens when our selling company is formed and its payment and fulfilment chain has been proven end to end with a paid test order. Join the list and you receive one email when formation opens, and nothing else. Your Route Brief from the diagnostic lives on the results page, yours to keep either way.