Arkansas LLC vs Michigan LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Arkansas.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Michigan is cheaper on both axes: $50 for articles filed with LARA's Corporations Division rather than a Secretary of State, $75 in year one against Arkansas's $195, and a $25 annual statement each February 15 against the $150 charged here. Ordinary Michigan LLCs face no late fee at all, although a professional LLC pays $75 for the same statement and does. Let two years lapse and restoration costs $50 plus every missed statement. Arkansas registration for that LLC is $270.
Based in Michigan? Read Michigan LLC vs Arkansas LLC →
Compare Arkansas LLC vs Michigan 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: September 23, 2026
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| Factor | Arkansas | Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $45 | $50 |
| Processing Time | Most within 2 business days | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $150 | $25 |
| Annual Report Due | May 1 | February 15 |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | Yes |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $270 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Arkansas LLC cost and Michigan LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Arkansas anonymous LLC guide and Michigan anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Arkansas vs Michigan
| Factor | Arkansas | Michigan |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 48% (#39 of 51) | 55% (#4 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +24.3% YoY (#35 of 51 by volume) | +17.3% YoY (#11 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Arkansas vs Michigan
Arkansas
Michigan
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. 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 the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. 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. 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
Arkansas charges $45 to form an LLC, while Michigan charges $50. Arkansas is $5 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Michigan but operate in Arkansas, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Arkansas (a $270 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Michigan (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Michigan route at roughly $470, versus $45 for simply forming in Arkansas. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Arkansas publishes a standard turnaround (most within 2 business days), while Michigan publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Arkansas vs Michigan
Both Arkansas and Michigan levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Michigan doesn't change what an Arkansas-based owner pays. Michigan levies a flat 4.25% individual income tax; Treasury confirmed on April 15, 2026 that the rate remains 4.25% for the 2026 tax year because the statutory rate-reduction trigger wasn't met. All Arkansas LLCs owe a $150 annual franchise tax, due May 1.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Michigan allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Articles of Organization (Form CSCL/CD-700) require only the company name, purpose, duration, resident agent, and registered office, signed by an organizer who may be a third party, and Michigan's annual statement requires only the resident agent's name and registered office address. No member or manager is listed on any routine public filing. One caveat: Michigan law requires the annual statement to name the person signing and the capacity in which they sign, so a member who signs it personally appears on the public record (an authorized agent may sign instead). A professional LLC is no exception (form CSCL/CD-701 names no member or manager either) but its Article V attests that all members and managers are licensed or otherwise legally authorized to render one or more of the services stated, except as Michigan's LLC Act provides; that limits who may own a PLLC, not who is disclosed. Arkansas doesn't offer that same privacy. Arkansas requires member/manager information on public filings. 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. One important caveat: if you register your Michigan LLC as a foreign LLC in Arkansas, that Arkansas registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Arkansas.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Arkansas LLCs file an annual report ($150, due May 1), and Michigan LLCs file an annual report ($25, due February 15). If you form in Michigan while operating in Arkansas, you maintain filings in both states, Michigan's report plus Arkansas's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Michigan registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Michigan route to roughly $325 a year, versus about $150 to keep a domestic Arkansas LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: All Arkansas LLCs owe a $150 annual franchise tax, due May 1.
When Michigan Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Michigan makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Arkansas puts owner or manager information on public filings and Michigan doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Arkansas still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Michigan, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Michigan in the near future. For a typical small business based in Arkansas, none of these usually apply. Registering a Michigan LLC to do business back home means $270 in Arkansas foreign-registration fees, on top of Michigan's $50 formation fee, while Arkansas's own annual report runs $150 a year and is due May 1. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
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Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- Michigan statute: MCL 450.4207(3) (annual statement contents)
- Michigan statute: MCL 450.4103(2) (signer named on filings)
- Michigan statute: MCL 450.4103(3) (signing by authorized agent)
- Michigan law: Section 904 of P.A. 23 of 1993 (professional LLC ownership)
- sos.arkansas.gov/business-commercial-services-bcs/forms-fees/llcArkansas Secretary of State: business entity filings
- michigan.gov/lara/bureau-list/cscl/corpsMichigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations Division: business entity filings
- michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/lara/cscl/Folder6/Filing_Fees.pdfMichigan LLC filing fees
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.