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LLC Costs · Verified July 11, 2026

What a Florida LLC actually costs (2026)

Florida's numbers look friendly — $125 to form, $138.75 a year to keep. The thing to actually plan around is a date: May 1. Florida enforces its annual-report deadline with a $400 flat penalty and a September dissolution, and it grants no grace.

By Abdullah Riahi, Founder & Editor·August 28, 2026·6 min read
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summarize

The short answer

A Florida LLC costs $125 to file, plus a $138.75/yr annual report and a registered agent (~$125/yr) — about $388.75 in year one. Five-year cost: $818.75 in state fees acting as your own agent, or $1,443.75 with a typical $125/yr registered-agent service. Florida's late fee is not a percentage or a nuisance charge — it's a flat $400 that triples your annual cost on May 2. Every figure on this page was verified against the official state source on July 11, 2026.
Ready to form? Northwest handles Florida for $39 + state fee →Registered agent included free for year one, then ~$125/yr · their address on the public record instead of yours

The full Florida LLC cost table

CostAmountRequired?
Florida state filing fee$125 one-timeYes
Recurring state cost$138.75/yr — Annual ReportYes
Registered agent$0 as your own agent, or ~$125/yr for a serviceYes (one or the other)
EIN (federal tax ID)$0 direct from the IRSUsually
First-year total$263.75 as your own agent · $388.75 with a service
Five-year total$818.75 as your own agent · $1,443.75 with a service

Late filing adds a $400 penalty.

The May 1 deadline is the whole game in Florida

Every Florida LLC files an annual report with Sunbiz between January 1 and May 1 — $138.75 on time. On May 2 the price becomes $538.75: a flat $400 late fee, applied automatically, with no discretion and no appeal. Keep not filing and the state dissolves the LLC in September. That $400 penalty is nearly three times the fee itself, which makes Florida's real cost structure less about the numbers and more about calendar discipline. The report itself is a five-minute confirmation of your details — there is no financial disclosure — so the penalty exists purely to punish forgetting.

What Florida doesn't charge

The pleasant half of the ledger: no state income tax on individuals, no franchise tax on LLCs. A Florida LLC's pass-through profits reach a Florida-resident owner without state income tax — one of the few big states where that's true. Combined with the mid-pack $125 formation fee, a compliant Florida LLC costs about $263.75 in state fees across its first year, and $138.75 each year after. It's not the cheapest state in the Southeast (Michigan-style $25 reports don't exist here), but for what is effectively America's small-business capital — Florida leads the nation in new business applications per our Formation Index — the pricing is unremarkable in the best way.

Every other Florida LLC fee, from the Sunbiz schedule

First, a detail almost every guide flattens: Florida's $125 formation cost is actually two separate fees — a $100 filing fee plus a mandatory $25 registered agent designation. You cannot avoid the $25 by acting as your own agent; it is the fee for naming one, whoever it is. Everything else below is optional or situational, straight from the state's fee schedule, checked 31 August 2026.

FilingFeeNotes
Filing fee (required)$100The Articles of Organization themselves
Registered agent designation (required)$25Mandatory — this is the other half of the “$125”
Certificate of status at formation (optional)$5Cheapest proof-of-existence document of any state on this site
Certified copy at formation (optional)$30Banks and lenders sometimes ask
Annual report (by May 1)$138.75Includes the supplemental fee
Annual report received after May 1$538.75The $400 penalty, stated as a total
Amended annual report$50Correcting a report you already filed
Name reservation$25Optional — Florida does not require it
Change of registered agent$25Switching agent mid-year
Registered agent resignation (active LLC)$85Paid by the agent, not you — but it signals a costly exit
Any other amendment$25Name change, member change, address change
Articles of dissolution / withdrawal$25Closing the LLC properly
Reinstatement$100Plus every missed year's annual report fee

The reinstatement line is the one to take seriously, because it compounds with Florida's September dissolution. Miss the May 1 report, ignore the $538.75, and the state dissolves the LLC in September — reviving it then costs $100 plus the full annual report fee for every year missed, on top of losing your name if someone else took it. The sequence turns a $138.75 filing into several hundred dollars and a scramble, which is why this page keeps returning to one date.

Check the math for your exact situation

Our LLC cost calculator computes first-year and five-year totals for all 51 jurisdictions from the same verified dataset as this page — including Florida — and the full table is downloadable as CSV.

Form your Florida LLC with Northwest →$39 + Florida's $125 state fee · registered agent free for year one · see our full review for how we score them

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Frequently asked questions

What happens if I miss Florida's May 1 annual report deadline?expand_more
A flat $400 late fee applies from May 2 — on top of the $138.75 report fee, so the bill becomes $538.75. There is no grace period and the fee isn't waivable. If the report still isn't filed by the fourth Friday of September, the state administratively dissolves the LLC. Set the reminder in January; the filing window opens January 1.
How much does a Florida LLC cost per year?expand_more
$138.75 — the Sunbiz annual report fee, due between January 1 and May 1 each year. There's no franchise tax and no state income tax on pass-through profits, so for a compliant LLC that's the entire recurring state cost. Add about $125/yr if you use a registered-agent service.
Does Florida have a franchise tax on LLCs?expand_more
No. Florida charges LLCs no franchise tax, and the state has no personal income tax, so a standard LLC's profits pass through to owners free of state income tax. The annual report fee ($138.75) is the only recurring state charge — Florida's revenue model for small businesses is essentially that one fee plus its famous $400 lateness penalty.
Why is the Florida LLC filing fee $125 when the state lists $100?expand_more
Because it is two fees. Sunbiz charges a $100 filing fee for the Articles of Organization plus a mandatory $25 registered agent designation — $125 required in total. The $25 applies whoever the agent is, including yourself, so it is not avoidable. Two further items are genuinely optional at formation: a certificate of status ($5) and a certified copy ($30), which is where the $160 figure some guides quote comes from.

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This guide is for general informational purposes and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Pricing referenced in this guide reflects provider rates as of July 2026 and can change — always confirm current details on the official site before purchasing.