New York · Limited liability company
What an LLC costs in New York
$550 in your first year. That's $200 to file with New York Department of State, Division of Corporations, and about $30 a year to keep it in good standing after that.
First-year breakdown
- State filing fee $200 One-time, paid when you form the LLC
- Biennial Statement $9 — year 2 Not owed in your first year — see the ongoing filings below
- Newspaper publication Estimate from $350 Required by statute, not listed on the state fee schedule. This is the LOW end — costs vary sharply by county.
- Total, first year from $550
Don't file on this alone. We're still verifying figures state by state. Open the source link below and confirm before you pay anything or rely on a deadline.
The requirement nobody mentions
Publication
NY LLC Law 206 requires publishing a notice of formation in TWO newspapers (one daily, one weekly) designated by the county clerk of the LLC's county, once a week for SIX consecutive weeks, within 120 days of the Articles becoming effective. A Certificate of Publication with both newspapers' affidavits must then be filed with NY DOS for a $50 fee. Total cost varies enormously by county: roughly $300-$600+ in low-cost/rural counties (e.g. Albany, Sullivan) up to about $1,500-$2,300+ in New York City counties. New York County (Manhattan) is the single most expensive, followed by Bronx and Kings (Brooklyn); Queens and Richmond also run well above $1,000. County-level dollar figures come from cross-checked publication-service sites - newspaper rates are private and no state agency publishes a price list.
Keeping it alive
Your biennial statement
| Filing | Biennial Statement |
|---|---|
| How often | biennial |
| Fee | $9 |
| When it's due | Every two years, by the last day of the calendar month in which the Articles of Organization were originally filed. The first Biennial Statement is due in that month two years after formation - i.e. year two, not year one. |
| If you're late | No automatic dissolution for a missed Biennial Statement; DOS records mark the LLC 'past due'/delinquent, and any Certificate of Status reflects this, which can block financing or contracts. |
| If you keep ignoring it | SEPARATE ISSUE: failure to file the Certificate of Publication within 120 days of the Articles becoming effective causes AUTOMATIC SUSPENSION of the LLC's authority to conduct business in New York (curable by later filing the Certificate of Publication). Unrelated to Biennial Statement delinquency. |
State tax: No traditional franchise tax on standard pass-through LLCs, but most LLCs with any NY-source gross income must file Form IT-204-LL and pay an annual filing fee: $25 minimum (income $0-$100,000), rising to $4,500 for income over $25,000,000. An LLC with zero NY-source income owes nothing. Due March 15 following the close of the tax year, so for most new LLCs it first comes due in year two.
What we're less sure about
Caveats on this page
- FLAGSHIP CONTENT: the publication requirement is the single best 'gotcha' in the dataset. Cost can exceed $2,000 in Manhattan and blindsides people who have already filed.
- First-year total uses the LOW end of publication cost (~$300) and assumes a low-cost county.
- Biennial Statement ($9) and IT-204-LL ($25 min) excluded - both structurally fall in year two.
Ready to file?
You can file directly with New York Department of State, Division of Corporations yourself — that's always the cheapest route, and we link to the form above. If you'd rather someone handle the paperwork and act as your registered agent, we compare the services that do it.
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