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Every line
How much does a New York LLC cost?
The filing fee is the small part. Most of a New York LLC's first year cost is newspaper advertising, and how much depends on a county you choose at formation.
Two hundred dollars to file the Articles of Organization, roughly $300 to $2,650 for six weeks of newspaper publication, and $50 for the Certificate of Publication.
| Item | Cost | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization | $200 | Yes |
| Newspaper publication | $300 to $2,650 | Yes |
| Certificate of Publication | $50 | Yes |
| Expedited handling | $25, $75, or $150 | Optional |
| Name reservation | $20 | Optional |
| Registered agent | $0 to $249 a year | Optional |
| EIN from the IRS | $0 | Effectively yes |
| Operating agreement | $0 to legal fees | Required by statute |
Cheapest honest first year, upstate and doing everything yourself, lands near $550. In Manhattan the same LLC runs past $2,800.
The big line
Why publication dominates the budget
New York requires six weeks of notices in two newspapers picked by the county clerk. Those papers set their own rates, so the county on your Articles drives most of your first year cost.
Nowhere else in the country does a routine LLC filing carry an advertising bill this size. It is the defining cost of forming here.
All 62 counties, with the published sources compared against each other, are on publication cost by county. The rule itself is on the publication requirement.
Your registered agent's address does not set the publication county, so no agent can discount this line. Ours is in Manhattan and it changes nothing about your bill either way.
Year two onward
What it costs to keep alive
Nine dollars every two years for the Biennial Statement, plus a registered agent fee if you use one, plus whatever the Department of Taxation and Finance assesses on income.
| Item | Cost | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Biennial Statement | $9 | Every two years |
| Registered agent | $49 with us | Yearly, optional |
| Certificate of Change | $30 | Only when the agent or address changes |
| Certificate of Amendment | $60 | Only when the Articles change |
| State LLC filing fee | $25 to $4,500 | Yearly, based on New York source gross income |
That last row catches people. It is a tax department item rather than a Department of State one, it scales with income, and it is separate from the $9 Biennial Statement. Most small LLCs land at the $25 floor.
New York does not charge an annual report fee. The $9 Biennial Statement is the only recurring Department of State charge.
Comparison
An LLC against a corporation
On first year cost alone a New York corporation is cheaper, because the publication rule does not apply to it.
| First year | LLC in Manhattan | Corporation in Manhattan |
|---|---|---|
| Formation filing | $200 | $125 |
| Publication | $1,500 to $2,650 | None |
| Certificate of Publication | $50 | None |
| Total | $1,750 to $2,900 | $125 |
Cost is one input and not the main one. Tax treatment, ownership, and the formalities a corporation has to keep up usually matter more. See incorporating in New York before you decide on price.
Ready to file the LLC? The sequence is on how to start a New York LLC.
One line of that budget is ours
Forty nine dollars a year for the registered agent. The rest goes to the state and the newspapers.