West Virginia · Limited liability company

What an LLC costs in West Virginia

$155 in your first year. That's $100 to file with West Virginia Secretary of State (formation/annual report); WV State Tax Division (business registration), and about $25 a year to keep it in good standing after that.

First-year breakdown

  • State filing fee $100 One-time, paid when you form the LLC
  • Annual Report $25 Due between January 1 and June 30 each year, following the calendar year in which the LLC was registered.
  • Business registration certificate $30 West Virginia repealed its business franchise tax in 2015. But W. Va. Code 11-12-3 requires a one-time $30 Business Registration Certificate before any business activity: 'No person shall, without a business registration certificate, engage in or prosecute, in the State of West Virginia, any business activity.' It is a permanent certificate — the former annual renewal was eliminated after June 2010 — and is mandatory for essentially every LLC.
  • Total, first year $155

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.

Verified Checked Source: code.wvlegislature.gov All sources

In context

$155 puts West Virginia mid-range nationally

24 of 51 jurisdictions cost more than West Virginia. The national range runs $35 to $1,000, median $150.

Montana — $35Arizona — $50Hawaii — $50Iowa — $50Mississippi — $50Missouri — $50New Mexico — $50Colorado — $75Indiana — $75Michigan — $75Utah — $77Kansas — $85District of Columbia — $99Ohio — $99Idaho — $100Louisiana — $100New Hampshire — $100New Jersey — $100Georgia — $110South Carolina — $110Florida — $125Nebraska — $125North Carolina — $125Oklahoma — $125Pennsylvania — $125Virginia — $150Minnesota — $155Wisconsin — $155Wyoming — $160Maine — $175North Dakota — $185Arkansas — $195Alabama — $200Connecticut — $200Oregon — $200Vermont — $200South Dakota — $205Kentucky — $215Illinois — $225Alaska — $250Washington — $250Texas — $300Maryland — $400Nevada — $425Delaware — $510New York — $550Rhode Island — $550Tennessee — $700California — $890Massachusetts — $1,000

$35 · Montana$1,000 · Massachusetts

Keeping it alive

Your annual report

FilingAnnual Report
How oftenannual
Fee$25
When it's dueDue between January 1 and June 30 each year, following the calendar year in which the LLC was registered.
If you're late$50 delinquency fee for a late annual report, per W. Va. Code 59-1-2a(h)(1)(A) ('$50 for an annual delinquency'), effective for filings from 1 July 2026.
If you keep ignoring itAdministrative dissolution/revocation possible for failure to file by the June 30 deadline.

State tax: West Virginia repealed its business franchise tax in 2015. But W. Va. Code 11-12-3 requires a one-time $30 Business Registration Certificate before any business activity: 'No person shall, without a business registration certificate, engage in or prosecute, in the State of West Virginia, any business activity.' It is a permanent certificate — the former annual renewal was eliminated after June 2010 — and is mandatory for essentially every LLC.

What we're less sure about

Caveats on this page

  • CORRECTED (10 Sep 2026). The $30 Business Registration Certificate is statutory and mandatory, so it belongs in the first-year figure: $100 + $25 + $30 = $155, not $125.
  • The $50 annual report late fee is now confirmed in statute (59-1-2a(h)(1)(A)), not just on a fee schedule.
  • Narrow statutory exemptions to the registration requirement exist in 11-12-4 and were not exhaustively reviewed.

Ready to file?

File directly with West Virginia Secretary of State (formation/annual report); WV State Tax Division (business registration). It is the cheapest route in every state, it takes about twenty minutes online, and the form is linked below.

File it yourself with West Virginia → What you'll owe after that

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Where these figures come from

We publish a number only when we can point at the page that sets it. These are those pages — the statute and the agency, not someone else's article.

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If you're weighing West Virginia against somewhere else

Most people forming an LLC are choosing between two or three states, or checking whether their neighbour is cheaper. These are the comparisons that actually change the answer.

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