Virginia LLC vs Kansas LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Virginia.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Kansas prices its biennial information report at $90, more than the $85 it charges to form the LLC online, which works out at $45 a year against Virginia's $50. Formation is $85 there and $100 here. The every-other-year rhythm is what catches people, because an LLC organized in an even year owes nothing until April 15 two years later, and forfeiture then costs $35 plus an $85 penalty plus $110 for each past-due report. Qualifying that Kansas LLC in Virginia is a further $100.
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Compare Virginia 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: October 1, 2026
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| Factor | Virginia | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $100 | $85 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Within minutes (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | $50 | $90 (biennial) |
| Annual Report Due | Last day of anniversary month | April 15 (biennial) |
| 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 | $100 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Virginia LLC cost and Kansas LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Virginia anonymous LLC guide and Kansas anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Virginia vs Kansas
| Factor | Virginia | Kansas |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 48.8% (#35 of 51) | 47.4% (#43 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +12.6% YoY (#14 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: Virginia vs Kansas
Virginia
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
Virginia charges $100 to form an LLC, while Kansas charges $85. Kansas is $15 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Kansas but operate in Virginia, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Virginia (a $100 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 $335, versus $100 for simply forming in Virginia. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Kansas publishes a standard turnaround (within minutes, online), while Virginia publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Virginia vs Kansas
Both Virginia and Kansas 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 Kansas doesn't change what a Virginia-based owner pays. Neither state imposes a separate franchise or privilege tax on LLCs beyond standard filing fees.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Virginia, your home state, actually offers more formation privacy than Kansas: Virginia allows anonymous LLC formation, while Kansas requires owner or manager information on public filings. Kansas's biennial Information Report must name every member owning 5% or more of the capital. 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 a Virginia-based business to form in Kansas.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Virginia LLCs file an annual report ($50, 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 Virginia, you maintain filings in both states, Kansas's report plus Virginia'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 $290 a year, versus about $50 to keep a domestic Virginia 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. For a typical small business based in Virginia, none of these usually apply. Registering a Kansas LLC to do business back home means $100 in Virginia foreign-registration fees, on top of Kansas's $85 formation fee, while Virginia's own annual report runs $50 a year and is due in the anniversary month. Virginia already allows anonymous formation, so the privacy argument for Kansas doesn't apply to a Virginia-based owner. 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.
- 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
- 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.