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Alabama's Certificate of Formation is the document that creates your LLC. You file it with the Alabama Secretary of State for a $200 fee.What sets Alabama apart is its Business Privilege Tax. Instead of a simple annual report, your LLC files this tax return with the Department of Revenue. It's due every year your LLC stays open.This page walks through forming a brand-new domestic LLC in... Read more >

When establishing a Limited Liability Company (LLC), you'll need to decide between a Multi-Member LLC and a Single-Member LLC — and that decision matters more than most people realize.Over 9 years of consulting, I've helped more than a hundred business owners make this choice. I've also seen firsthand how picking the wrong structure can cost thousands in unnecessary taxes or leave you exposed... Read more >

You can look up an LLC in Illinois through the Business Entity Search database run by the Secretary of State. It's free, and it covers every LLC, corporation and partnership on file in the state.This guide walks through every reliable way to search Illinois business records, from the online database to a direct call to the Business Services office. It also covers how to check whether a name is... Read more >

Dissolving an LLC isn't just about filing a form and calling it a day. There's a specific sequence to follow, and if you skip steps, you can end up personally liable for debts you thought were gone. The most common mistake founders make is rushing to file paperwork before settling outstanding obligations. It's an expensive lesson to learn the hard way. Here's the process to close an LLC cleanly... Read more >

You form a Minnesota LLC by filing the Articles of Organization with the Minnesota Secretary of State, Business Services. The fee is $135 by mail or $155 online or in person.Minnesota's own special rule sits in that same filing. You only need a registered office street address. Naming an agent there stays optional for a domestic LLC.This guide covers a brand new domestic Minnesota LLC. It... Read more >

You form a New York LLC by filing Articles of Organization with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations. The fee is $200. New York also requires new LLCs to publish notice of formation in two newspapers.This guide covers forming a new domestic LLC, one that will operate in New York. If your LLC already exists in another state and you want to do business here too, you'll file... Read more >

To start an LLC in Michigan, you file Articles of Organization with LARA's Corporations Division. The fee is $50. Michigan skips two rules that trip up founders in other states. It has no publication step. It skips a separate initial report too.This guide covers how to form a new LLC in Michigan for the first time. An LLC that already exists in another state files as a foreign LLC instead.... Read more >

You form an LLC by filing Articles of Organization with the Oklahoma Secretary of State's Business Filing Department. The fee is $100. After that, the state keeps you on file with a $25 Annual Certificate due each year on your filing's anniversary.This guide walks a new domestic LLC through naming the business and appointing a registered agent. Then it covers filing the Articles and the rules... Read more >

You form a Montana LLC by filing Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division. The filing costs $35. It goes through the state's online Business Filing Portal, the only way to submit it.Montana also waives the LLC annual report fee for anyone who files by April 15. That's worth knowing before you budget for this.This guide walks a new domestic LLC through... Read more >

To form an LLC in Kentucky, you file Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State's Division of Business Filings for $40. Kentucky also charges a Limited Liability Entity Tax, a minimum $175 a year collected by the Department of Revenue.This guide covers forming a new domestic LLC that will run in Kentucky. Bringing in an LLC formed elsewhere is a different, foreign-registration... Read more >

To start an LLC in Wisconsin, you file Articles of Organization (Form 502) with the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions for a $170 filing fee by mail or $130 online.DFI runs the whole process on its own, and instead of a fixed date, it ties your first annual deadline to the quarter you formed in.This guide is for anyone forming a new domestic LLC in Wisconsin. It covers each field... Read more >

To start an LLC in Mississippi, you submit a Certificate of Formation to the Mississippi Secretary of State's Business Services Division. The fee is $50, filed online through the state's own system. Mississippi charges no fee for a domestic LLC's annual report.This guide walks a first-time founder through forming a new Mississippi LLC step by step, then covers what the state expects afterward.... Read more >