How Much Does an LLC Cost in Louisiana?
By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Louisiana Secretary of State fee schedule
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.
What you actually pay in Louisiana
Louisiana currently charges $100 for Articles of Organization — a single fee that also covers the mandatory Initial Report (Form 973), which the Secretary of State will not accept the articles without — plus a $30 annual report due on the LLC's anniversary date. Every one of those numbers changes on October 1, 2026 under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session: formation goes to $125, the annual report to $35, 24-hour expedite from $30 to $35, while-you-wait expedite from $50 to $60, and foreign LLC registration from $150 to $185. Louisiana's corporate franchise tax was repealed for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026, so there is no longer an entity-level tax layer. Two Louisiana-specific extras: the articles must be notarized, and credit-card payments add a $5 statutory convenience fee.
Louisiana LLC fee breakdown
| Cost | Amount | How often | Charged by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (must be filed together with the domestic LLC Initial Report, Form 973) (365) | $100 | One time | Louisiana Secretary of State |
| Annual Report | $30 | Every year | Louisiana Secretary of State |
| Required state cost, first year | $130 | — | — |
| Registered agent service (optional) | $50–$300 | Every year | Commercial provider |
| Expedited processing (optional) — Expedite — 24 hour processing (rises to $35 on 10/1/2026) $30, Priority expedite — 2-4 hour / while-you-wait (rises to $60 on 10/1/2026) $50 | $30+ | One time | Louisiana Secretary of State |
| Name reservation (optional) | $25 | One time | Louisiana Secretary of State |
The single $100 fee covers both the Articles of Organization and the mandatory Initial Report (Form 973) — "The Articles of Organization cannot be accepted for filing unless an Initial Report (Form 973) is also filed." This fee RISES TO $125 on October 1, 2026 under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session. Credit-card payments carry an additional $5 statutory convenience fee.
: The Louisiana Department of Revenue states: "Yes. The franchise tax has been repealed for franchise tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026."
Form 365 and its instructions impose no newspaper-publication requirement; they do require the Articles of Organization to be signed before a notary who types or prints their name and notary or bar roll number.
Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator.
Louisiana LLC cost over five years
State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.
| Period | State cost only | With registered agent |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (formation + first filing) | $130 | $255 |
| Each year after | $30 | $155 |
| Five-year total | $250 | $875 |
First filing timing: R.S. 12:1308.1 requires the report "on or before the anniversary date of organization" each year, so the first report is due on the first anniversary of the date the articles of organization were filed. The statute applies to any domestic LLC organized on or after July 7, 1992.
Is Louisiana expensive compared with other states?
Louisiana ranks 18th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost — $104.53 below the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 24th.
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Louisiana. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Louisiana anyway — paying both states. See foreign qualification in Louisiana before forming elsewhere to save on fees.
Louisiana filing deadline and late penalties
Annual Report
| Frequency | every year |
| Due | On or before the anniversary date of organization of each limited liability company (La. R.S. 12:1308.1(A)) |
| Fee | $30 |
No statutory late fee, but the fee itself rises from $30 to $35 on October 1, 2026 under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session.
"The secretary of state shall revoke the articles of organization of a domestic limited liability company if it fails to file an annual report for three consecutive years" (R.S. 12:1308.2(A)), after at least 30 days' written notice mailed to the last designated registered agent. Articles are reinstated if an application for reinstatement, the current annual report, and the R.S. 12:1364(A)(1) reinstatement fee are filed within three years of the effective date of revocation.
Full Louisiana annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator
Cost traps specific to Louisiana
Every Louisiana LLC fee rises on October 1, 2026
Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session raises Articles of Organization from $100 to $125, the annual report from $30 to $35, and foreign LLC registration from $150 to $185. Filing before October 1 saves $25 on formation.
Your articles must be notarized
Form 365 requires the Articles of Organization to be executed before a notary, and Louisiana law requires the notary to print or type their name and notary or bar roll number on the document — an extra step and cost most states do not impose.
Fourteen parishes must file online, and cards cost extra
Businesses in Ascension, Bossier, Caddo, Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Lafayette, Livingston, Orleans, Ouachita, Rapides, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Terrebonne must file all available business documents online through geauxBIZ, and credit-card payments are subject to an additional $5 statutory convenience fee.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
Every fee above was checked against Louisiana's own published sources on July 29, 2026 — the Louisiana Secretary of State fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state-level tax applies, the state tax authority. Commercial formation-service pages were not used.
The first-year total is the Articles of Organization (must be filed together with the domestic LLC Initial Report, Form 973) fee plus the first year of any recurring state charge. Where a state's first report is not due until the following year, that is noted above. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring charges, which avoids the timing question entirely. Registered-agent service is excluded from all state figures.
Primary sources:
- https://www.sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
- https://static.sos.la.gov/shared/fee_changes_2026.pdf
- https://www.sos.la.gov/media/az4hakzc/365-articles-of-organization-louisiana-limited-liability-company.pdf
- https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76256
- https://legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76257
- https://revenue.louisiana.gov/tax-education-and-faqs/faqs/income-tax-reform/is-the-corporation-franchise-tax-repealed/