Illinois LLC vs Virginia LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Illinois.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Virginia costs $100 to form and $50 for the annual registration fee, against $150 and $75 in Illinois, and it keeps members off the public record. Virginia will not let you pay early: the SCC assesses the fee and sends notice two months ahead, and paying before assessment is not possible. Three months past due the company is cancelled rather than merely penalised, and reinstatement costs $100 plus every unpaid fee. An Illinois business adds $150 to register the Virginia LLC at home.
Based in Virginia? Read Virginia LLC vs Illinois LLC →
Compare Illinois LLC vs Virginia 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 | Illinois | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $150 | $100 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $75 | $50 |
| Annual Report Due | Before 1st of anniversary month | Last day of anniversary month |
| 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 | $150 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Illinois LLC cost and Virginia LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Illinois anonymous LLC guide and Virginia anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Illinois vs Virginia
| Factor | Illinois | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 55.6% (#3 of 51) | 48.8% (#35 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +7.7% YoY (#7 of 51 by volume) | +12.6% YoY (#14 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: Illinois vs Virginia
Illinois
Virginia
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
Illinois charges $150 to form an LLC, while Virginia charges $100. Virginia is $50 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Virginia but operate in Illinois, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Illinois (a $150 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Virginia (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Virginia route at roughly $400, versus $150 for simply forming in Illinois. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Illinois nor Virginia publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: Illinois vs Virginia
Both Illinois and Virginia 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 Virginia doesn't change what an Illinois-based owner pays. Illinois levies a flat 4.95% personal income tax. Neither state imposes a separate franchise or privilege tax on LLCs beyond standard filing fees.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Virginia allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Virginia's Articles of Organization require only a registered agent (no members or managers), and Virginia LLCs file no information-bearing annual report (just a $50 annual registration fee), so owner names stay off public filings. One avoidable exposure: Virginia law requires the articles to state the registered agent's qualification, and one permitted qualification is that the agent is a member or manager of the LLC, selecting it names that person. Using a commercial agent or a Virginia State Bar member avoids it. Illinois doesn't offer that same privacy. Illinois doesn't permit anonymous LLC formation; management is disclosed 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 Virginia LLC as a foreign LLC in Illinois, that Illinois registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Illinois.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Illinois LLCs file an annual report ($75, due in the anniversary month), and Virginia LLCs file an annual report ($50, due in the anniversary month). If you form in Virginia while operating in Illinois, you maintain filings in both states, Virginia's report plus Illinois's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Virginia registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Virginia route to roughly $275 a year, versus about $75 to keep a domestic Illinois LLC in good standing.
When Virginia Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Virginia makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Illinois puts owner or manager information on public filings and Virginia doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Illinois still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Virginia, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Virginia in the near future. For a typical small business based in Illinois, none of these usually apply. Registering a Virginia LLC to do business back home means $150 in Illinois foreign-registration fees, on top of Virginia's $100 formation fee, while Illinois's own annual report runs $75 a year and is due in the anniversary month. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.
- Virginia statute: Va. Code s.13.1-1011(A)(3) (registered agent qualification)
- ilsos.gov/departments/business-services/limited-liability-companies.htmlIllinois Secretary of State: business entity filings
- ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActName=Limited+Liability+Company+Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000Illinois LLC filing fees
- scc.virginia.gov/businesses/Virginia State Corporation Commission: business entity filings
- scc.virginia.gov/businesses/forms-and-fees/virginia-limited-liability-companies/Virginia 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.