How much does it cost to start an LLC in Louisiana?

$125 to file Articles of Organization, which also covers the required Initial Report (Form 973), under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session, effective October 1, 2026. Add $5 if you pay by credit card, $35 for 24-hour expedite or $60 for while-you-wait service, and the cost of a notary, since Louisiana requires the articles to be notarized.

When is the Louisiana LLC annual report due and what does it cost?

Louisiana law requires the report on or before the anniversary date of organization each year, not a fixed calendar date. The fee is $35, under a 2026 Louisiana law, effective October 1, 2026. There is no late fee, but if you miss three consecutive years the Secretary of State must revoke your articles of organization.

How long does it take to form an LLC in Louisiana?

The Secretary of State does not publish a routine turnaround time. It says only that expedited documents are processed ahead of others received the same day. You can buy 24-hour expedite for $35 or while-you-wait (2-4 hour) priority expedite for $60.

Louisiana LLC Cost (2026)

By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Louisiana Secretary of State fee schedule

In Louisiana, the first-year state cost of an LLC is $160, before any registered-agent service. Forming an LLC in Louisiana costs $125 to file the Articles of Organization (must be filed together with the domestic LLC Initial Report, Form 973) with the state, the Annual Report costs $35 every year.

Bar chart of LLC costs in Louisiana: $160 in unavoidable state charges in the first year and $35 a year after that. Louisiana charges $35 for its annual report. — The recurring figure covers the annual report plus any flat state entity tax. Source: Louisiana's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026.

Articles of Organization (must be filed together with the domestic LLC Initial Report, Form 973)$125

Annual Report$35

First-year state cost$160

Five-year state cost$300

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Louisiana?

Louisiana charges $125 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 $35 annual report due on the LLC's anniversary date. Those fees took effect on October 1, 2026 under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session, which raised formation from $100, the annual report from $30, 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.

Which fees does a Louisiana LLC pay, and how often?

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Articles of Organization (must be filed together with the domestic LLC Initial Report, Form 973) (365)	$125	One time	Louisiana Secretary of State
Annual Report	$35	Every year	Louisiana Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$160	N/A	N/A
Registered agent service (optional)	$50 to $300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedite and special handling fees in our record: Expedite, 24 hour processing ($35), Priority expedite, 2-4 hour / while-you-wait ($60)	$35 to $60, by option	One time	Louisiana Secretary of State
Name reservation (optional)	$25	One time	Louisiana Secretary of State

The single $125 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." The fee rose from $100 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. For what formation services charge on top of these state fees, see the best LLC services in Louisiana.

Next steps for an LLC in Louisiana

What does a 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)	$160	$285
Each year after	$35/yr	$160/yr
Five-year total	$300	$925

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 23rd cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $72.16 below the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 24th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$125
Arizona	$50	$110
Missouri	$50	$110

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.

When is the Louisiana filing deadline, and what happens if you miss it?

Annual Report

Frequency	every year
Due	On or before the anniversary date of organization of each limited liability company
Fee	$35

No statutory late fee. The report fee rose 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

What cost traps are specific to Louisiana?

Louisiana LLC fees rose on October 1, 2026

Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session raised Articles of Organization from $100 to $125, the annual report from $30 to $35, and foreign LLC registration from $150 to $185, effective October 1, 2026. Older guides and forms may still show the earlier fees.

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

: $125 to file Articles of Organization, which also covers the required Initial Report (Form 973), under Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session, effective October 1, 2026. Add $5 if you pay by credit card, $35 for 24-hour expedite or $60 for while-you-wait service, and the cost of a notary, since Louisiana requires the articles to be notarized.
: Louisiana law requires the report on or before the anniversary date of organization each year, not a fixed calendar date. The fee is $35, under a 2026 Louisiana law, effective October 1, 2026. There is no late fee, but if you miss three consecutive years the Secretary of State must revoke your articles of organization.
: No, not anymore. The Louisiana Department of Revenue confirms the franchise tax has been repealed for franchise tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2026. Even before repeal it reached an LLC only if the LLC was taxed as a C corporation federally.
: The Secretary of State does not publish a routine turnaround time. It says only that expedited documents are processed ahead of others received the same day. You can buy 24-hour expedite for $35 or while-you-wait (2-4 hour) priority expedite for $60.

Where do 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.

Sources

9 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Louisiana 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. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

sos.la.gov/business-services/forms-fee-schedule
static.sos.la.gov/shared/fee_changes_2026.pdf
sos.la.gov/media/az4hakzc/365-articles-of-organization-louisiana-limited-liability-company.pdf
legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76256
legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=76257
revenue.louisiana.gov/tax-education-and-faqs/faqs/income-tax-reform/is-the-corporation-franchise-tax-repealed/
Louisiana law: La. R.S. 12:1308.1(A) (report due date)
Louisiana statute: La. R.S. 12:1308.1 (annual report due date)
Louisiana bill: Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session (annual report fee)

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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.

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