Florida LLC vs Delaware LLC (2026)

Who you file with in Florida and Delaware, and when

Over five years, the state charges we total come to $818.75 for a Florida LLC and $2,110 for a Delaware LLC, a difference of $1,291.25. Both totals are for an LLC formed and run in the same state, and leave out foreign registration and any tax that applies only above a revenue or owner threshold or after a tax election.

The dates come from the same verified rules as our annual report deadline tool, applied to a sample formation date as of November 1, 2026, the day this page was built. Where a rule cannot name a date, the row says who to ask instead.

Business Climate: Florida vs Delaware

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: Florida vs Delaware

Filing Fees & Formation Costs

Florida charges $125 to form an LLC, while Delaware charges $110. Delaware is $15 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Delaware but operate in Florida, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Florida (a $125 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Delaware (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Delaware route at roughly $385, versus $125 for simply forming in Florida. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Florida nor Delaware publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.

Taxes: Florida vs Delaware

Florida has no personal income tax, while Delaware taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a Florida-based owner keeps Florida's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Delaware adds no tax advantage. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).

Privacy & Asset Protection

Delaware allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Delaware's Certificate of Formation requires no member or manager names, and LLCs file no annual report, so ownership never appears on a public filing. Florida doesn't offer that same privacy. An authorized person signs the Articles, and the annual report lists managers/authorized members on Sunbiz, so management is a public record. A charging order is a court order that directs an LLC to pay a member's distributions to a creditor who has won a judgment against that member. Florida's LLC act permits a court to foreclose on the interest of a sole member, and bars it where the company has more than one member. Delaware's LLC act makes the charging order the exclusive remedy, and says so for single-member LLCs specifically. "Exclusive remedy" means the act names the charging order as the only way a member's creditor can collect from that member's interest in the LLC. To foreclose on a member's interest means a court orders that interest sold to pay the debt. We are reporting what each section says, not what a court would do with your facts. One important caveat: if you register your Delaware LLC as a foreign LLC in Florida, that Florida registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Florida.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Florida LLCs file an annual report ($138.75, due May 1), and Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Delaware while operating in Florida, you maintain filings in both states, Delaware asks for no report, but Florida still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Delaware registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Delaware route to roughly $688.75 a year, versus about $138.75 to keep a domestic Florida LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).

When Delaware Actually Makes Sense

Forming in Delaware makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Florida puts owner or manager information on public filings and Delaware doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Florida still requires a public foreign registration there), you're raising venture capital or institutional investment. Many investors specifically prefer or require Delaware entities, your business genuinely operates in Delaware, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Delaware in the near future and accept taking on Delaware's personal income tax, which Florida doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in Florida, none of these usually apply. Registering a Delaware LLC to do business back home means $125 in Florida foreign-registration fees, on top of Delaware's $110 formation fee, while Florida's own annual report runs $138.75 a year and is due May 1. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

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