South Dakota LLC vs Kansas LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in South Dakota.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Kansas organizes for $85 online and charges $90 for an information report every second year, about $45 annually, undercutting South Dakota's $150 and $55 on both lines. That report costs more than the formation did, and the year it falls in depends on whether you formed in an odd or an even year, which is exactly how owners lose track of it. Forfeiture is the expensive outcome, with reinstatement reaching $670. South Dakota's $750 admission fee outweighs the $75 saved at the start.
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Compare South Dakota LLC vs Kansas 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 | South Dakota | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $150 | $85 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Within minutes (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | $55 | $90 (biennial) |
| Annual Report Due | Anniversary month | April 15 (biennial) |
| State Income Tax | No | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $750 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: South Dakota LLC cost and Kansas LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: South Dakota anonymous LLC guide and Kansas anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: South Dakota vs Kansas
| Factor | South Dakota | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 52.7% (#19 of 51) | 47.4% (#43 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +15.4% YoY (#47 of 51 by volume) | +25% YoY (#36 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: South Dakota vs Kansas
South Dakota
Kansas
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
South Dakota charges $150 to form an LLC, while Kansas charges $85. Kansas is $65 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Kansas but operate in South Dakota, you must also register as a foreign LLC in South Dakota (a $750 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Kansas (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Kansas route at roughly $985, versus $150 for simply forming in South Dakota. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Kansas publishes a standard turnaround (within minutes, online), while South Dakota publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: South Dakota vs Kansas
South Dakota has no personal income tax, while Kansas taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a South Dakota-based owner keeps South Dakota's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Kansas adds no tax advantage. Neither state imposes a separate franchise or privilege tax on LLCs beyond standard filing fees.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither South Dakota nor Kansas offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. Kansas's biennial Information Report must name every member owning 5% or more of the capital. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. 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.
Annual Maintenance Costs
South Dakota LLCs file an annual report ($55, due in the anniversary month), and Kansas LLCs file a biennial report ($90, due April 15, every two years). If you form in Kansas while operating in South Dakota, you maintain filings in both states, Kansas's report plus South Dakota's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Kansas registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Kansas route to roughly $295 a year, versus about $55 to keep a domestic South Dakota LLC in good standing.
When Kansas Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Kansas makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Kansas, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Kansas in the near future and accept taking on Kansas's personal income tax, which South Dakota doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in South Dakota, none of these usually apply. Registering a Kansas LLC to do business back home means $750 in South Dakota foreign-registration fees, on top of Kansas's $85 formation fee, while South Dakota's own annual report runs $55 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.
- sdsos.gov/business-services/corporations/default.aspxSouth Dakota Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sdsos.gov/general-information/filing-fees.aspxSouth Dakota LLC filing fees
- sos.ks.gov/businesses/register-a-business.htmlKansas Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.ks.gov/forms/business_services/dl.pdfKansas 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.