how much does it cost to get llc in nc annual fee [Glossary]

Last updated : Sept 21, 2022

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so you decided to move forward with your business idea whether that's selling products online being a consultant investing into real estate or being a 1099 contractor you decided that becoming an llc was the best option and in this way you have limited liability in case someone decides to sue your business they can't go after your personal assets this is the number one benefit of having an llc but what are the costs associated with starting an llc if you've done any research into it you've probably seen a lot of different fees and may not be 100 sure which ones are necessary today i will go over the necessary costs of starting an llc and the costs that you can avoid hey guys i'm crystal cpa at life accounting where we help you boost your profits and reduce your taxes if you're new welcome glad to have you here we post multiple videos weekly about business accounting and tax related topics if this interests you at all please do me and yourself a favor by subscribing to our channel also let me mention by no means am i giving you legal or financial advice as this video is for informational purposes only with that said i'll be sharing the cost associated with starting an llc and some costs you can completely avoid let's jump right into it the very first cost you should be aware of is state filing fees this is a necessary cost for starting your llc every state has its own filing fee in arizona it's 50 nevada 75 georgia's 100 new jersey is 125. alabama is 200. as you can see the fees generally range between 50 to 200 which is the case for nearly all 50 states the only outlier is massachusetts which has an llc filing fee of 500 so what does this fee cover in most cases the filing fee covers cost of filing your articles of organization with the state some business owners may want their articles of organization to be prepared by a lawyer in which case you can expect to pay anywhere between one thousand to two thousand dollars of course there's a diy option but you run the risk of errors the articles of organization generally includes your llc name address registered agent name and address how the llc will be operated and managed and a statement of purpose if you're confident you can file this information correctly with your state then you certainly can it is not legally required that a lawyer prepare this for you so if you want to save one to two thousand dollars it's completely possible for you to do so once you register your llc there's going to be an annual maintenance fee you have to pay to the state to keep your llc active similar to the filing fees it varies by state but generally ranges from 20 to 300 there are some more expensive states like rhode island with an annual fee of 450 or california being the highest of the mall at 800 dollars per year in annual llc fees usually you have to submit some kind of annual report with your annual fees indicating if any changes to the business have occurred again you could pay someone to do this for you but for the majority of you this is something that you can completely do on your own where i see llc owners waste a lot of time and money is registering their llc in a different state from where they live which i get states like michigan or iowa have really low filing and annual fees however if you register your llc in a state different than the state you live in you'll be considered a foreign llc in your resident state and as a foreign llc you'll have to file a certificate of authority and pay registration fees and depending on the state you may also have to pay state franchise taxes all of this is in addition to the filing and annual fees you'll have to pay in the state the llc is registered in unless you're a special case it's generally best to register your llc in the state you live to save those additional costs when you do file your llc there are some states like new york and nebraska that require new llcs to publish a notice of their formation in a newspaper usually the ad must run for a certain time period which can be expensive and cost you easily over a thousand dollars in new york city so we've gone over the required costs in forming your llc but there are some optional costs to consider like registered agent fees if you recall when you file your articles of organization you have to include your registered agent's name and address you can be your own registered agent but you may find it beneficial to pass this responsibility off to another organization a registered agent is a person or business that will receive legal and other documents on behalf of your business such as tax notices or subpoenas if you're a business owner who travels a lot or has a lot of off-site meetings or just generally not around during regular business hours monday through friday it would be wise to hire an outside party to be your registered agent also having an outside registered agent gives you some level of privacy registered agent information is public record which could be of concern if you have a home-based business to hire a registered agent will cost you anywhere between 50 to 500 per year and varies between companies now the cost associated with hiring a lawyer usually includes other services besides just registering your llc with the state like applying for your ein number setting up your bank account or even being your registered agent however you should know it is completely free to get your ein from the irs by applying for it on their website ein is usually available within 24 to 48 hours you also don't need to pay anyone to set up your bank account as i'm sure you've already set up a personal account on your own and your input is needed anyway to complete that process but some people are just not fully comfortable with performing these tasks and if that's you hiring a lawyer to help you along the way is not a bad idea though not required informing your llc is having an operating agreement lawyers can assist with this as well or you can find a template online for one to two hundred bucks the only issue with these templates is that it may not speak directly to the operational details of your particular business so it is important to have an operating agreement that is catered to your business other fees you may come across but are not completely necessary are llc name research fees you can actually look up llc names on your state secretary of state website and see if your llc name is available llc kit and seal which is just a binder that holds your company's documents and a seal used to emboss llc documents if you use a third-party site to start your llc you may see them try to upsell you on this but it's just not necessary rush fees usually when you first file your llc it takes about 10 to 14 days to be approved the state will offer you a rush option for an extra fee this is completely unnecessary though if you are needing the llc as soon as possible to execute a contract or something like that then this is a good option for you that's it for today's video hopefully you understand now what fees are required and not required to start your llc if this video was at all helpful please give it a like or

Thanks for your comment Melissia Lansford, have a nice day.
- Larry Tadiello, Staff Member

Thanks for this interesting article

Thanks otwockiU your participation is very much appreciated
- Larry Tadiello

About the author

Larry Tadiello

I've studied russian archaeology at University of Valley Forge in Phoenixville and I am an expert in optimal maintenance. I usually feel gloomy. My previous job was sound engineering technicians I held this position for 27 years, I love talking about breakdancing and pyrography. Huge fan of Angie Varona I practice parallel bars and collect ephemera.