Ohio LLC vs Hawaii LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Ohio.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Hawaii forms an LLC for $50 and keeps it for $12.50 a year, cheaper than Ohio at both ends of the first year. The number that decides it is the General Excise Tax, 4% of gross income for most activities plus a 0.5% Oahu county surcharge, charged on receipts rather than profit, so a Hawaii LLC owes it in a year it loses money. That is a Hawaii-source obligation, not a reason for an Ohio business to move. Ohio's $99 buys a company with no report and no annual fee, and the foreign registration back into Ohio is $99.
Based in Hawaii? Read Hawaii LLC vs Ohio LLC →
Compare Ohio LLC vs Hawaii 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 | Ohio | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $99 | $50 |
| Processing Time | 3 to 7 business days (paper) | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | None | $12.50 online, $15 by mail |
| Annual Report Due | None required | Anniversary quarter |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | Yes | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $99 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Ohio LLC cost and Hawaii LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Ohio anonymous LLC guide and Hawaii anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Ohio vs Hawaii
| Factor | Ohio | Hawaii |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 54.4% (#8 of 51) | 51% (#26 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +16.1% YoY (#8 of 51 by volume) | -7.9% YoY (#44 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: Ohio vs Hawaii
Ohio
Hawaii
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
Ohio charges $99 to form an LLC, while Hawaii charges $50. Hawaii is $49 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Hawaii but operate in Ohio, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Ohio (a $99 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Hawaii (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Hawaii route at roughly $299, versus $99 for simply forming in Ohio. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Ohio publishes a standard turnaround (3 to 7 business days, paper), while Hawaii publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Ohio vs Hawaii
Both Ohio and Hawaii 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 Hawaii doesn't change what an Ohio-based owner pays. Ohio levies a personal income tax, but the Business Income Deduction exempts the first $250,000 and taxes business income above it at a flat 3%. Ohio's Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) applies only to taxable gross receipts above $6 million (0.26%); smaller businesses owe no CAT. Hawaii imposes a General Excise Tax (GET) on business gross receipts.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Ohio, your home state, actually offers more formation privacy than Hawaii: Ohio allows anonymous LLC formation, while Hawaii requires owner or manager information on public filings. Hawaii's foreign application and annual report list the names and addresses of each manager or member. 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. From a privacy standpoint there's no reason for an Ohio-based business to form in Hawaii.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Ohio LLCs file no annual report at all, and Hawaii LLCs file an annual report ($12.50, due in the anniversary quarter). If you form in Hawaii while operating in Ohio, you maintain filings in both states, Hawaii's report, though Ohio asks for nothing on the foreign-registration side, and pay a Hawaii registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Hawaii route to roughly $162.50 a year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Ohio LLC in good standing. The taxes inside those totals: Ohio's Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) applies only to taxable gross receipts above $6 million (0.26%); smaller businesses owe no CAT. Hawaii imposes a General Excise Tax (GET) on business gross receipts.
When Hawaii Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Hawaii makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Hawaii, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Hawaii in the near future. For a typical small business based in Ohio, none of these usually apply. Registering a Hawaii LLC to do business back home means $99 in Ohio foreign-registration fees, on top of Hawaii's $50 formation fee, while Ohio itself never asks for an annual report at all. Ohio already allows anonymous formation, so the privacy argument for Hawaii doesn't apply to an Ohio-based owner. Trading Ohio's no-annual-report status for Hawaii's filing calendar is a step backwards for most owners. 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.
- ohiosos.gov/businesses/Ohio Secretary of State: business entity filings
- codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-111.16Ohio LLC filing fees
- cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/dllc/Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division: business entity filings
- cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/dllc/fees/Hawaii 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.