Kentucky LLC vs Missouri LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Kentucky.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Missouri charges nothing recurring: no annual report and no franchise tax, so $0 a year against Kentucky's $190. Formation is $50 online, $10 above Kentucky's $40, but $105 on paper, and the Secretary of State advertises that $55 gap as the saving for filing online. Mailing form LLC-1 is the commonest way to overpay for a Missouri LLC. Missouri also keeps member names off the public filing. None of that removes the $90 Kentucky charges to register an out-of-state LLC, or the $175 minimum entity tax if you form here instead.
Based in Missouri? Read Missouri LLC vs Kentucky LLC →
Compare Kentucky LLC vs Missouri 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 | Kentucky | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $40 | $50 |
| Processing Time | Same day to 3 business days | Usually instant (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | $15 | None |
| Annual Report Due | June 30 | None required |
| 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 | $90 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Kentucky LLC cost and Missouri LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Kentucky anonymous LLC guide and Missouri anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Kentucky vs Missouri
| Factor | Kentucky | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 54.1% (#11 of 51) | 42.9% (#49 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +34.1% YoY (#26 of 51 by volume) | +24.6% YoY (#17 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: Kentucky vs Missouri
Kentucky
Missouri
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
Kentucky charges $40 to form an LLC, while Missouri charges $50. Kentucky is $10 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Missouri but operate in Kentucky, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Kentucky (a $90 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Missouri (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Missouri route at roughly $290, versus $40 for simply forming in Kentucky. Both states publish a standard turnaround, Kentucky (same day to 3 business days) and Missouri (usually instant, online), though a published figure is a norm, not a guarantee.
Taxes: Kentucky vs Missouri
Both Kentucky and Missouri 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 Missouri doesn't change what a Kentucky-based owner pays. Kentucky levies a flat 4% personal income tax. Missouri levies a graduated individual income tax with a top rate of 4.7% for 2026, confirmed by the Department of Revenue's 2026 withholding tax formula. Kentucky imposes the Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET), $175 minimum per year.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Missouri allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. The Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) require only the registered agent's and organizer(s)' names (organizers need not be members, managers, or owners) plus a member-managed/manager-managed checkbox with no names, and the Secretary of State's FAQ confirms LLCs file no annual report, so no routine public filing ever lists members or managers. Kentucky doesn't offer that same privacy. Kentucky's annual report confirms the names and addresses of members/managers. 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 Missouri LLC as a foreign LLC in Kentucky, that Kentucky registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Kentucky.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Kentucky LLCs file an annual report ($15, due June 30), and Missouri LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Missouri while operating in Kentucky, you maintain filings in both states, Missouri asks for no report, but Kentucky still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Missouri registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Missouri route to roughly $165 a year, versus at least $190 to keep a domestic Kentucky LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Kentucky imposes the Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET), $175 minimum per year.
When Missouri Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Missouri makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Kentucky puts owner or manager information on public filings and Missouri doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Kentucky still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Missouri, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Missouri in the near future. For a typical small business based in Kentucky, none of these usually apply. Registering a Missouri LLC to do business back home means $90 in Kentucky foreign-registration fees, on top of Missouri's $50 formation fee, while Kentucky's own annual report runs $15 a year and is due June 30. 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.
- sos.ky.gov/bus/business-filings/OnlineServices/Pages/default.aspxKentucky Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.ky.gov/bus/business-filings/Pages/Fees.aspxKentucky LLC filing fees
- sos.mo.gov/business/corporationsMissouri Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/fees.pdfMissouri 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.