Is it cheaper to form an LLC in New Hampshire than Arizona?

No. New Hampshire costs more upfront ($100 vs $50), and if you operate in Arizona you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150) plus pay a New Hampshire registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $400 versus $50 for forming locally.

Can I form my Arizona business in New Hampshire?

Yes. Any Arizona business can form its LLC in New Hampshire. But if the business operates in Arizona, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

Does New Hampshire have better asset protection than Arizona?

Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.

State Comparison

Arizona LLC vs New Hampshire LLC (2026)

Compare Arizona LLC vs New Hampshire LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: August 13, 2026

For most businesses, forming an LLC in Arizona beats New Hampshire. Arizona runs $50 in year one and $0/yr after; New Hampshire runs $200 and $100/yr. See the full breakdown below.

Verdict: Arizona wins for most businesses

For most Arizona-based businesses, forming locally in Arizona is the smarter choice. You avoid paying fees in two states and managing compliance in both. New Hampshire only makes sense if your business genuinely operates there, and even then the total costs deserve a hard look.

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Factor	Arizona	New Hampshire
Filing Fee	$50	$100
Processing Time	Live queue, not fixed	Not published by the state
Annual Report Fee	$0	$100
Annual Report Due	None required	April 1
State Income Tax	Yes	No
Anonymous LLC	No	No
Publication Requirement	Yes (waived in Maricopa & Pima counties)	No
Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state)	N/A, you're in your home state	$150 + registered agent ~$150/yr

Full fee breakdown for either state: Arizona LLC cost and New Hampshire LLC cost.

Business Climate: Arizona vs New Hampshire

Factor	Arizona	New Hampshire
5-year business survival rate	52.1% (#22 of 51)	47.7% (#40 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+23.9% YoY (#13 of 51 by volume)	+26.1% YoY (#42 of 51 by volume)

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)

See the full 50-state survival ranking.

Compare LLC Costs: Arizona vs New Hampshire

State A

State B

Arizona

✓ Cheaper Upfront✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$50

Annual report feeNo report required

State entity taxNone

Publication (one-time)Required, newspaper sets the rate

Report dueNone required

Processing timeLive queue - no fixed turnaround

Late penaltyN/A

New Hampshire

Formation fee$100

Annual report fee$100

State entity taxNone

Report dueApril 1

Processing timeNot published by the state

Late penalty$50

Total Cost

Arizona

New Hampshire

1 Year

$50

$200

3 Years

$50

$400

5 Years

$50

$600

Will you operate outside your home state?

Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where a state requires publication, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Montana's annual report is free when filed by April 15 and $35 after, a waiver the Secretary of State applies at its discretion. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.

Filing Fees & Formation Costs

Arizona charges $50 to form an LLC, while New Hampshire charges $100. Arizona is $50 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in New Hampshire but operate in Arizona, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Arizona (a $150 filing) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the New Hampshire route at roughly $400, versus $50 for simply forming in Arizona. Note that Arizona also requires newly formed LLCs to publish a newspaper notice (Arizona requires a notice of the filing to be published for three consecutive publications in a newspaper in the county of the statutory agent's address, unless that county's population exceeds 800,000, currently Maricopa and Pima, in which case the Corporation Commission posts the notice itself, free of charge), which adds to the true formation cost. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Arizona nor New Hampshire publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.

Taxes: Arizona vs New Hampshire

New Hampshire has no personal income tax while Arizona does, but forming your LLC in New Hampshire won't change that. LLC profits pass through to you and are taxed where you live and operate (in Arizona), not where the LLC is registered, so a New Hampshire LLC offers no income-tax savings for an Arizona-based business. Arizona levies a personal income tax (flat 2.5%). Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.

Privacy & Asset Protection

Neither Arizona nor New Hampshire offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. The Certificate of Formation (RSA 304-C:31) doesn't require member/manager names, but the annual report (RSA 304-C:194) must set forth the names and business addresses of the LLC's managers or, if there are no managers, at least one member, so ownership/management can't stay off all routine public filings. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Arizona LLCs file no annual report at all, and New Hampshire LLCs file an annual report ($100, due April 1). If you form in New Hampshire while operating in Arizona, you maintain filings in both states, New Hampshire's report plus Arizona's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a New Hampshire registered agent roughly $150 per year. That brings ongoing costs of the New Hampshire route to roughly $250 per year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Arizona LLC in good standing. One more recurring cost to budget for: Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.

When New Hampshire Actually Makes Sense

Forming in New Hampshire makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in New Hampshire, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to New Hampshire in the near future, which would also move you out of Arizona's personal income tax. For a typical small business based in Arizona, none of these usually apply. Registering a New Hampshire LLC to do business back home means $150 in Arizona foreign-registration fees, on top of New Hampshire's $100 formation fee, while Arizona itself never asks for an annual report at all. Trading Arizona's no-annual-report status for New Hampshire's filing calendar is a step backwards for most owners. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

Frequently Asked Questions

: No. New Hampshire costs more upfront ($100 vs $50), and if you operate in Arizona you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150) plus pay a New Hampshire registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $400 versus $50 for forming locally.
: Yes. Any Arizona business can form its LLC in New Hampshire. But if the business operates in Arizona, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($150 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.
: Arizona, for most. Forming where you operate keeps costs and compliance simple. New Hampshire is worth considering only if you actually do business there or have investor requirements that point there.
: Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Arizona nor New Hampshire publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork. Only 19 of the 50 states publish anything about non-expedited turnaround at all. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in New Hampshire while operating in Arizona means you're not fully set up until the Arizona foreign registration is also processed, so the out-of-state route is rarely the faster path end to end. If your timing is genuinely fixed, buy the state's expedite tier rather than relying on a standard turnaround.

Comparison chart of forming an LLC in Arizona versus New Hampshire, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. On balance this guide favours Arizona. — Arizona and New Hampshire side by side on the factors that decide where to form. Source: MyStateLLC 50-state cost dataset, verified against each Secretary of State's published fee schedule, July 2026.

More State Comparisons

Arizona vs New Jersey →Arizona vs New Mexico →Arizona vs New York →Arizona vs Delaware →New Hampshire vs Delaware →

Arizona LLC Guide →New Hampshire LLC Guide →

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<p style="text-align:center;font-size:.8125rem;color:#6b7280">Source: <a href="https://www.mystatellc.com/llc/compare/arizona-llc-vs-new-hampshire-llc">MyStateLLC, Arizona vs New Hampshire LLC Comparison</a></p>