How to Form a Corporation in Louisiana

What you file in Louisiana

This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side (name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN), see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.

What it costs to incorporate and stay filed

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded. Both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.

Louisiana is the 19th cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.49. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.

States that are cheaper to incorporate in

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in Louisiana. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation. Which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in Louisiana before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.

Louisiana corporation vs Louisiana LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

Worth noticing: a corporation is $30 cheaper to file here than an LLC. That is the exception nationally. Corporations are the cheaper filing in only 14 of the 50 states, the two entities cost the same in 26, and the LLC is cheaper in 10.

Full Louisiana LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

State taxes a Louisiana corporation pays

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

Louisiana's corporation franchise tax has been REPEALED for franchise tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026. (It previously applied to corporations at $2.75 per $1,000 of taxable capital up to $300,000 and $3.00 per $1,000 above, with a $110 minimum; it generally did not apply to LLCs not taxed as corporations.)

What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Louisiana levies, or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.

C-corp return: Form CIFT-620 (Louisiana Corporation Income and Franchise Tax Return)

Electing S-corporation status in Louisiana

Louisiana follows the federal S election. Full Louisiana S-corporation election guide.

Where these numbers come from