Business registration & legal
How Much Does an LLC Cost in Ohio in 2026? Filing Fee, Ongoing Costs and First-Year Budget
Ohio LLC cost in 2026: the $99 Form 610 filing, no annual report, expedite and trade name fees, the $50 vendor's license, city income tax and worked budgets.
Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources
Contents (9)
- 1. The $99 articles of organization (Form 610)
- 2. Optional state fees: reservation, expedite, trade name and certificates
- 3. Statutory agent: the cost that keeps the LLC alive
- 4. Taxes: where Ohio's real recurring costs are
- 5. Ohio LLC cost: first-year and five-year budgets
- 6. Worked examples
- 7. Costs later in the LLC's life: changes, closing and forming elsewhere
- 8. Common mistakes that cost Ohio LLC owners money
- 9. What to do next
Ohio is one of the cheapest states in the country to form and keep an LLC. You pay $99 once to file articles of organization, and after that the Secretary of State charges nothing: there is no annual report, no biennial statement and no franchise tax for a small LLC. That does not mean an Ohio LLC is free to run. The recurring costs sit elsewhere, mainly in city income tax on your profits, a statutory agent if you hire one, and a vendor's license if you sell goods. This page is for founders pricing an Ohio LLC. It lists every state fee from the Revised Code and the Secretary of State's rules, the optional extras, the tax costs that follow, and first-year and five-year budgets. For the filing steps, see our Ohio LLC formation guide. Figures were checked in October 2026.
Quick answer
An Ohio LLC costs $99 to form with Form 610, and the state charges no annual fee after that. Optional state costs are a $39 trade name, a $39 name reservation and expedited handling from $100. Sellers add a $50 vendor's license.
No annual report — ignore mailers offering to file one
Statutory agent: free if you serve yourself; changing it costs $25
No commercial activity tax below $6 million of gross receipts
Main recurring cost: city income tax on net profit, e.g. 2.5% in Columbus
The $99 articles of organization (Form 610)
Ohio sets its business filing fees in section 111.16 of the Revised Code. An Ohio LLC is formed by filing articles of organization, Form 610, with the Secretary of State, and the fee is $99. It is the same online through Ohio Business Central or by mail. The articles name the LLC and its statutory agent, and the agent signs an acceptance of the appointment, which is part of the same filing, so there is no separate charge for appointing your first agent.
That $99 is a one-time cost. Unlike most states, Ohio does not follow it with an annual report: the LLC Act in Chapter 1706 has no annual filing for LLCs, and the Secretary of State charges no yearly fee to stay registered. This is the single biggest reason Ohio's long-run cost is low. Over five years, a Florida LLC pays $138.75 a year and a Georgia LLC $60 a year; an Ohio LLC pays the state nothing after formation.
The fee is not refunded if the filing is rejected, so search the name first. Ohio compares your proposed name against existing LLCs, corporations, partnerships and registered trade names, and changing only the ending or adding "the" rarely makes a name distinguishable. Our LLC name checker helps you shortlist before you search the state records.
Ohio LLC state fees (2026)
$99
Formation
Form 610, one time
$0
Annual fee
no annual report
$39
Trade name
five years
$5
Good standing certificate
Optional state fees: reservation, expedite, trade name and certificates
| Filing | State fee | When it is worth paying |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of organization (Form 610) | $99 | Always |
| Name reservation (180 days) | $39 | You need to hold a name before filing |
| Expedite level one (2 business days) | $100 | A lease, loan or contract depends on a date |
| Expedite level two (1 business day) | $200 | Deadline this week |
| Expedite level three (4 business hours) | $300 | Same-day closing |
| Trade name or fictitious name | $39 | Trading under a name other than the LLC's |
| Trade name renewal (every five years) | $25 | To keep a trade name registered |
| Certificate of good standing | $5 | A bank or lender asks for one |
| Change of statutory agent or address | $25 | Switching agents or moving |
| Certificate of dissolution | $50 | Closing the LLC |
| Foreign LLC registration | $99 | Out-of-state LLC doing business in Ohio |
Expedite. The Secretary of State's rule, Ohio Administrative Code 111:1-2-01, sets three levels charged on top of the normal fee: $100 for two business days, $200 for one business day and $300 for four business hours. Only level one can be requested by mail, payment must come with the filing, and certificates such as good standing cannot be expedited. The office can also limit customers to one expedited filing a day when demand is high. Level one doubles the cost of forming the LLC, so check current processing times on the Secretary of State's site before paying.
Name reservation. $39 holds a name for 180 days. It only makes sense if you need time between choosing the name and filing. Filing Form 610 claims the name directly.
Trade name. If your LLC trades under any name other than its legal name, register a trade name with the Secretary of State for $39. Section 1329.04 makes a registration effective for five years; renewal costs $25 and must be filed within six months before it expires. A fictitious name report follows the same term. Unlike Florida and Georgia, Ohio has no newspaper publication for trade names, so $39 is the whole cost. Our DBA guide compares the rules across states.
Certificate of good standing. At $5, it is one of the cheapest in the country. Banks often ask for one when you open an account or apply for a loan. See our certificate of good standing guide.
Statutory agent: the cost that keeps the LLC alive
Every Ohio LLC must keep a statutory agent, Ohio's term for a registered agent. The agent can be an Ohio resident, including you, or a business authorized to act as agent in Ohio, and must have an Ohio street address; a post office box alone is not enough. Serving as your own agent costs nothing.
Commercial statutory agent services commonly charge about $50 to $300 a year. That range is our estimate from published provider pricing, not an official figure. Owners pay for privacy, because the agent's address is public, and for reliability, because a lawsuit served while nobody is at the address can lead to a default judgment. Out-of-state owners need one.
Because Ohio has no annual report, the agent is also the main way an Ohio LLC can lose its registration. If the agent resigns or moves without an update, the Secretary of State can send a notice; if no new agent is appointed within 30 days, the articles are cancelled. Reinstatement within two years costs only $25 plus the new agent appointment, but a cancelled LLC can face problems with banks and contracts in the meantime. Filing a change of agent or address costs $25.
Ohio statutory agent options
| Yourself or a member | Commercial service | |
|---|---|---|
Yearly cost | $0 | About $50–$300 (estimate) |
Address on public record | Your own | The service's office |
Must be available in business hours | Yes | Handled by the service |
Change later | $25 | $25 |
Yearly cost
- Yourself or a member
$0
- Commercial service
About $50–$300 (estimate)
Address on public record
- Yourself or a member
Your own
- Commercial service
The service's office
Must be available in business hours
- Yourself or a member
Yes
- Commercial service
Handled by the service
Change later
- Yourself or a member
$25
- Commercial service
$25
Taxes: where Ohio's real recurring costs are
City income tax. This is the cost most new Ohio owners miss. Most Ohio cities and villages levy an income tax on wages earned there and on business net profits. Columbus, the largest city, charges 2.5%. A one-person LLC in Columbus that earns $60,000 of net profit owes about $1,500 a year in city tax, far more than any state fee. Rates, credits for tax paid to other cities, and filing rules vary by city, so check with your city's income tax office as soon as you form. Ohio lets businesses elect to file municipal net profit returns centrally through the Ohio Business Gateway instead of with each city.
State income tax. A default LLC passes its profit through to the owners. Ohio individuals can deduct up to $250,000 of business income, and business income above that is taxed at a flat 3%. For most small LLC owners, the business income deduction means no Ohio income tax on the business profit at all. An owner with $300,000 of business income pays 3% on the $50,000 above the deduction, about $1,500.
Commercial activity tax. Ohio's CAT is a tax on gross receipts, not profit. From 2025 it applies only to taxable gross receipts above $6 million in a calendar year, and the old annual minimum tax was eliminated from 2024. An LLC under the exclusion owes nothing and does not need to register. Above it, the rate is 0.26% of receipts over the exclusion: a distributor with $7 million of Ohio receipts pays 0.26% of $1 million, or $2,600. Many older cost guides still quote a $150 minimum; that no longer applies.
Vendor's license and sales tax. If you sell taxable goods or services, you need a vendor's license from your county auditor (or the Department of Taxation for transient vendors) before your first sale. Since April 9, 2025 the application fee is $50. You collect the 5.75% state rate plus county tax from customers. Our Ohio sales tax guide covers rates by county and filing.
Free federal items. The EIN is free from the IRS. FinCEN beneficial ownership reports are Not required for US-formed companies for an Ohio-formed LLC under the current federal rule. Any site charging for either is a filing service.
Ohio LLC cost: first-year and five-year budgets
The table compares three LLCs formed in 2026. State fees are from ORC 111.16 and the expedite rule; the agent is a market estimate. City income tax is left out because it depends on profit, not on having an LLC.
| Item | DIY minimum | Online shop with brand name | Rushed launch with agent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of organization (Form 610) | $99 | $99 | $99 |
| Expedite level one | — | — | $100 |
| Trade name | — | $39 | $39 |
| Vendor's license | — | $50 | $50 |
| Certificate of good standing | — | — | $5 |
| Commercial statutory agent (estimate) | $0 (self) | $0 (self) | $125 |
| EIN | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| CAT (below exclusion) | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| First-year total | $99 | $188 | $418 |
| Each later year (state) | $0 | $0 | $0 + agent |
Five-year totals. Because Ohio has no annual fee, the DIY LLC's five-year state cost is still $99. The online shop pays $188 over five years, plus a $25 trade name renewal when the five years term ends. The rushed launch with a commercial agent pays $418 in year one and about $125 a year after, or about $918 over five years, almost all of it the agent. For comparison, a Florida LLC pays about $680 in state fees over the same period, a Georgia LLC about $350 and a New York LLC from about $618 upstate.
Add your Ohio LLC costs to your launch budget
Worked examples
A Dayton freelance photographer. Jamal files Form 610 online for $99, names himself statutory agent at his home studio and gets his EIN the same day. He trades under the LLC's own name, so no trade name is needed. His only other spend is Dayton's city income tax on his net profit, filed each spring. Five years later he has paid the state $99 in total.
A Columbus online candle shop. Two partners form "Short North Goods LLC" for $99 and register the trade name "Wick & Ember" for $39. Because they sell taxable goods, they get a vendor's license from the Franklin County auditor for $50. Year-one state cost: $188. Their first-year net profit is $40,000, so Columbus city tax at 2.5% is about $1,000, more than five times the state fees.
A Cincinnati contractor with a lease deadline. Maria needs the LLC approved within two business days to sign a lease. She pays $99 plus $100 for level one expedite, hires a statutory agent at about $125 a year so her home address stays off the record, and orders a $5 good standing certificate for the landlord after approval, since certificates can't be expedited. With a trade name and vendor's license for materials she resells, year one costs $418.
A Pennsylvania LLC expanding into Ohio. It registers as a foreign LLC for $99 and appoints an Ohio statutory agent. It pays no Ohio annual fee afterwards, but its Ohio work can create city income tax and, if receipts are large, CAT obligations.
Ohio LLC cost checklist
0/6Costs later in the LLC's life: changes, closing and forming elsewhere
Changing the LLC. Most later changes are cheap in Ohio. Switching statutory agents or updating the agent's address is $25, and a trade name renewal is $25 every five years. Changes to the articles themselves, such as a new legal name, go on the Secretary of State's amendment form; check the fee shown on the current form before you file, because it is not listed separately for LLCs in section 111.16. Changes that only affect your internal arrangements, such as adding a member or changing profit shares, go in the operating agreement and cost nothing at the state.
Closing the LLC. When you wind the business up, a certificate of dissolution costs $50. Before filing it, close your vendor's license, file final sales tax and city net profit returns, and cancel any CAT account, because those agencies can keep sending notices to a company that has dissolved at the state but not with them. A foreign LLC that leaves Ohio pays $50 to cancel its registration.
Forming in another state instead. Some Ohio owners consider a Delaware or Wyoming LLC. If the business is run from Ohio, it will usually have to register in Ohio as a foreign LLC for $99 anyway, keep an Ohio statutory agent and pay Ohio city and state taxes, while also paying the other state's yearly fees, such as Delaware's $400 annual tax. Because Ohio charges no annual fee of its own, forming at home is almost always the cheaper choice for an Ohio business.
Common mistakes that cost Ohio LLC owners money
Paying for an "Ohio annual report". Private companies mail official-looking notices offering to file an annual report or supply a compliance certificate for a fee. Ohio has no annual report for LLCs, and a real certificate of good standing is $5.
Letting the statutory agent lapse. With no annual report, an agent problem is the easiest way to lose your registration. Keep the agent's details current; a change costs $25.
Ignoring city income tax. Owners who assume Ohio's business income deduction means "no tax" can be caught by city net profit tax, which has no equivalent deduction. Register with your city early.
Budgeting for a CAT minimum that no longer exists. Small LLCs below $6 million owe no CAT and need not register.
Paying expedite by default. Level one at $100 doubles the cost of the LLC; check processing times first.
What to do next
Check your name with our LLC name checker, choose a statutory agent and follow the filing steps in our Ohio LLC guide. Put the fees and your expected city income tax into the startup cost calculator, and if you sell taxable goods, get your vendor's license using the Ohio sales tax guide. Comparing states? See the cost guides for Florida, Georgia, New York and Texas.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.
Frequently asked questions
The Ohio Secretary of State charges $99 to file articles of organization (Form 610). Optional state costs are a $39 name reservation, a $39 trade name, expedited handling from $100 and a $5 certificate of good standing. If you sell taxable goods, the vendor's license is $50. The EIN is free.
No. Ohio has no annual report or annual registration fee for LLCs, so once the $99 articles are filed the state charges nothing to keep the LLC registered. Your recurring costs are a statutory agent service if you use one, city income tax on profits, tax returns and, for very large businesses, the commercial activity tax.
Not since 2025 for most. The CAT applies only to taxable gross receipts above $6 million a calendar year, and the annual minimum tax was eliminated from 2024. An LLC under the exclusion owes no CAT. Above it, the rate is 0.26% of receipts over $6 million.
Registering a trade name or fictitious name with the Secretary of State costs $39. A registration lasts five years and renews for $25, filed within six months before it expires. There is no newspaper publication requirement for an Ohio trade name.
The Secretary of State offers three levels on top of the normal fee: $100 for processing within two business days, $200 for one business day and $300 for four business hours. Only level one can be requested by mail, and certificates such as good standing cannot be expedited.
The Secretary of State can send a notice, and if no agent is appointed within 30 days the articles are cancelled. A cancelled LLC can be reinstated within two years by appointing an agent and paying the $25 reinstatement fee. Changing agents or the agent's address normally costs $25.
Sources & verification
Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 12 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify
- 1.Ohio Revised Code § 111.16 — Secretary of State fees — State of Ohio (reproduced by FindLaw) · accessed 12 October 2026
- 2.Ohio Admin. Code 111:1-2-01 — Corporations expedited filing — Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School) · accessed 12 October 2026
- 3.Ohio Revised Code § 1329.04 — Term of trade name registration — State of Ohio (reproduced by FindLaw) · accessed 12 October 2026
- 4.Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) filing deadline reminder (July 2026) — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 12 October 2026
- 5.Sales and Use Tax — Ohio Department of Taxation · accessed 12 October 2026
- 6.2026 Official Revenue Estimate of the City Auditor — City of Columbus · accessed 12 October 2026
- 7.Ohio Revised Code §§ 5747.01 and 5747.02 — Income tax — State of Ohio (reproduced by FindLaw) · accessed 12 October 2026
- 8.Get an Employer Identification Number — IRS · accessed 12 October 2026
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