How Much Does a Kentucky LLC Cost in 2026?

Kentucky LLC one-time costs

What Kentucky charges once, when the LLC is formed, and the optional costs that arrive at the same time. The state fee is the same whether you file yourself or use a service.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Online filing prices; a few states charge a different amount on paper.

Kentucky LLC ongoing costs

What Kentucky charges to keep the LLC in good standing, when it is due, and what the state does when a report is late or missed.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Due rules, penalties and dissolution triggers are read from each state's statute or filing office page; the reinstatement figure is the state's own total at that point.

Kentucky LLC annual fee

Kentucky's recurring requirement: $15/year, due June 30. Kentucky calls the filing the Annual Report, and it goes to the Kentucky Secretary of State at web.sos.ky.gov. The Annual Report is due June 30, every year.

If you file late: No flat late fee published; a missed report still risks loss of good standing. After one missed report, Kentucky administratively dissolves the LLC, and the state's total to reinstate it at that point is $115.

The due date, filing window and portal are covered step by step in Kentucky LLC annual report.

Other recurring obligations

• Annual report. Jan 1 - Jun 30 of the year after formation, then yearly; failure = administrative dissolution. $15.
• Register with KY Dept. of Revenue (KY OneStop) if applicable. before taxable activity. $0.
• Limited Liability Entity Tax return (Form 725 single-member, Form 765 multi-member). 15th day of the 4th month after year-end (April 15 for a calendar year). $175 minimum.

Kentucky LLC filing fee: $40

The filing fee is what Kentucky charges to file your Articles of Organization, the document that creates the company. Kentucky charges $40. It is the one cost nobody can avoid: it is the same whether you file directly with the state or hire a service, and no legitimate service can waive it. Which form Kentucky uses, where it is filed and what it asks: how to register an LLC in Kentucky.

Kentucky posts its current processing times on its own site; we do not quote one.

By filing fee, Kentucky ranks 2 of 51 jurisdictions, cheapest first; the median state charges $100.

Five-year Kentucky LLC cost: $115

$40 to form, plus $15 a year in report fees for five years, comes to $115 paid to Kentucky over five years, assuming every report is filed on time. Taxes on the company's income, licenses and a registered agent service are separate.

What the Kentucky state fee does not include

The filing fee buys the state's approval of the Articles of Organization and nothing else. These are the costs that sit outside it.

• Registered agent. Kentucky requires one, with a street address in the state. Serving as your own agent is free; the address becomes public record. Our registered agent service can be added in the application. Kentucky registered agent requirements.
• Operating agreement. Not filed with the state and free if you write it yourself. Our self-help template is available after checkout.
• Business licenses and permits. Set by the city, county or licensing board for your line of business, not by the formation filing. Many Kentucky LLCs need none; a restaurant, contractor or salon usually needs several.
• Taxes. An LLC's income is taxed through its owners' returns unless it elects otherwise, and sales tax or employer registrations are separate state accounts with no formation fee attached.
• Filing service. Our fee is itemized on the checkout review screen before you pay, with same-day submission as an option. The state fee is identical either way.

How to pay less for a Kentucky LLC

• File the Articles of Organization yourself. Kentucky takes it online at web.sos.ky.gov for the $40 state fee alone.
• Be your own registered agent if you have a Kentucky street address and are there during business hours. The trade-off is privacy: the address goes on the public record.
• Write your own operating agreement. No state charges for it and Kentucky does not file it.
• File the Annual Report on time. Kentucky charges no late fee, but a missed report still leads to loss of good standing and dissolution.
• Form where you do business. An LLC that operates in Kentucky but is formed elsewhere must register in Kentucky as a foreign LLC anyway, paying Kentucky's registration fee and its recurring report on top of the home state's.

How Kentucky compares

By filing fee, Kentucky is number 2 of 51 jurisdictions, cheapest first. The filing fee is paid once; the recurring line is what separates states over time.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us.

Every state's fee is in LLC cost by state, and the case for and against forming elsewhere is in cheapest states to form an LLC.

Filing yourself vs. using us

Filing directly with Kentucky costs only the state's own fee: $40. The state takes formations at web.sos.ky.gov. Through us, you pay our service fee plus the Kentucky filing & processing, for the name check, the Articles of Organization prepared and submitted, the approved documents emailed to you and Kentucky's deadlines in writing. Both lines are itemized on the checkout review screen before you pay.

Sources

State fees verified October 2026; page last updated November 1, 2026. The figures above are read from Kentucky's own fee schedule, forms and statutes:

• web.sos.ky.gov (web.sos.ky.gov/forms/corp/KLC-Articles%20of%20Organization-Profit%20Limited%20Li...)
• web.sos.ky.gov (web.sos.ky.gov/FastTrack/FileLLC.aspx)
• sos.ky.gov (sos.ky.gov/bus/business-filings/Pages/Fees.aspx)
• sos.ky.gov (sos.ky.gov/bus/business-filings/Pages/Annual-Reports.aspx)
• web.sos.ky.gov (Kentucky Secretary of State, Annual Report filing)