How much does an LLC cost in Florida?
$125 to file, then $138.75 a year to keep. Below: the exact deadlines, what happens if you miss them, and the costs Florida charges that the comparison tables leave out.
FL Florida state filing fees — US only
Fees compiled August 27, 2026 · state detail verified August 26, 2026
To form
$125
one-off
To keep
$138.75
per year
First year
$263.75
40 of 51 cheapest
Compare Florida against any other state →
What you pay, and when
| You file with | Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) |
|---|---|
| The document | Articles of Organization |
| Filing fee | $125 |
| Processing | Online filings through Sunbiz are typically processed within a few business days. |
| Recurring filing | Annual Report |
| Recurring fee | $138.75 · Annual |
| Deadline | Between January 1 and May 1 every year. Filing opens on January 1. |
| If you are late | A $400 late fee, applied automatically the moment May 1 passes. It is not discretionary, it is not waived on request, and it is nearly three times the report fee itself. |
| Registered agent | Florida requires a registered agent with a Florida street address who signs to accept the appointment. The $125 formation fee already includes the $25 registered agent designation. |
| State income tax | Florida has no personal income tax, so LLC profit passing through to you is not taxed at state level. |
The cost over time
The filing fee is the number everyone compares. It is almost never the number that matters — you pay it once, and then you pay the recurring fee for as long as the company exists.
| If you keep it for | Florida | Cheapest state (Arizona) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $263.75 | $50 | +$213.75 |
| 3 years | $541.25 | $50 | +$491.25 |
| 5 years | $818.75 | $50 | +$768.75 |
| 10 years | $1,512.50 | $50 | +$1,462.50 |
State fees only. Excludes registered agent, formation services, publication where required, and local licences.
Where Florida sits nationally
Florida ranks 40 of 51 on first-year cost and 40 of 51 on ongoing cost, against a national median first year of $175. The cheapest state is Arizona at $50; the most expensive is Massachusetts at $1,000.
| State | Filing | Per year | Year 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maine | $175 | $85 | $260 |
| Washington | $200 | $60 | $260 |
| Florida you are here | $125 | $138.75 | $263.75 |
| Alaska | $250 | $50 | $300 |
| Texas | $300 | $0 | $300 |
Should you form in Florida?
One of the better states to hold an LLC in if you live there — no income tax, a moderate formation fee, and a predictable annual cost. The whole risk in Florida is the calendar, not the money.
What the comparison tables miss
The $400 late fee is the harshest simple penalty in the country
Florida's annual report is $138.75. Miss May 1 and you pay $538.75. There is no grace period and the fee is applied automatically — the Department of State does not have discretion to waive it. For a state that is otherwise cheap, this single deadline accounts for most of what Florida LLC owners actually end up paying.
Not filing at all gets the LLC dissolved in September
If the report is still outstanding by the third Friday of September, Florida administratively dissolves the LLC. Reinstatement costs $100 on top of everything else, and the company has no liability protection for the gap.
Your first annual report arrives sooner than you expect
The annual report is due by May 1 of the year after you form — not twelve months after formation. Form an LLC in November and the first report falls due about five months later, at full price, with the same $400 penalty sitting behind it. People who form late in the year routinely assume they have a year of grace, and they do not.
The $125 already includes the registered agent designation
Florida charges $100 for the Articles of Organization plus $25 to designate a registered agent, and the two are always filed together — which is why the figure quoted everywhere is $125 rather than $100. Paying a commercial registered agent is a separate, optional cost on top of that; you can name yourself if you have a Florida street address and do not mind it appearing on the public record.
Online filing only
Florida annual reports can only be filed electronically at Sunbiz.org. There is no paper route, so if the email reminder goes to an address you no longer read, nothing else arrives to prompt you. The reminder goes to the email address on file for the business, which makes keeping that address current a real compliance task rather than an administrative nicety.
Costs this page does not include
- Registered agent — typically $50–$300 a year if you do not act as your own.
- Formation services — $0–$300 one-off. You can file directly with the state yourself.
- Local business licences — many cities and counties require their own, separately from the state.
- An EIN — free from the IRS. Anyone charging for one is charging for a ten-minute form.
- Foreign registration in every other state where you actually do business.
An LLC does not reduce your federal tax
Worth restating on every one of these pages, because so much of the marketing implies otherwise. A single-member LLC is a disregarded entity federally: the same Schedule C, the same self-employment tax, an identical return to being a sole proprietor. What it buys is liability protection, which may well be worth the fees — but that is a different thing from a tax saving.
The election that actually reduces tax is S-corp status, which is separate from being an LLC and generally only pays off above roughly $80,000 of profit. You can model that with the S-corp vs sole proprietor calculator, and see what Florida leaves you with using the take-home pay calculator.
Sources
- Florida Division of Corporations — file annual report
- Florida Department of State — May 1 deadline reminder
Fees change, sometimes mid-year. Everything here was verified August 26, 2026, but confirm the current figure with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) before you file. This is a comparison tool, not a quote, and it is not legal or tax advice.