How much does it cost to start an LLC in North Carolina?

Articles of Organization cost $125 under North Carolina law, whether you file on paper or online (online adds a $3 credit-card or $2 ACH processing charge). A name reservation is an optional $10. If you cannot wait out the posted 15-20 business day processing window, 24-hour filing is $100 and same-day filing is $200.

How much is the North Carolina LLC annual report fee?

$200 per year, due April 15 of each year after the year the LLC was created. Filing online costs $203 with a credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds its payment-processing charge; a paper report is exactly $200.

Does an LLC pay franchise tax in North Carolina?

Only if it elects to be taxed as a corporation. A default-classified LLC (partnership or disregarded entity) is not subject to NC franchise tax. An LLC that has elected C-corp or S-corp treatment pays $1.50 per $1,000 of its tax base with a $200 minimum and a $500 cap on the first $1,000,000.

What happens if I miss the North Carolina LLC annual report deadline?

There is no separate late fee, but the $200 is still owed and the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve the LLC. Bringing it back costs $100 for the Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution plus every delinquent $200 annual report.

North Carolina LLC Cost (2026)

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

In North Carolina, the first-year state cost of an LLC is $325, before any registered-agent service. Forming an LLC in North Carolina costs $125 to file the Articles of Organization with the state, the Annual Report costs $200 every year.

Bar chart of LLC costs in North Carolina: $325 in unavoidable state charges in the first year and $200 a year after that. North Carolina charges $200 for its annual report. — The recurring figure covers the annual report plus any flat state entity tax. Source: North Carolina's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026.

Articles of Organization$125

Annual Report$200

First-year state cost$325

Five-year state cost$1,125

How much does it cost to form an LLC in North Carolina?

North Carolina has a modest $125 formation fee but by far the most expensive routine annual report of these five states at $200 per year - more than the cost of forming the LLC. Paper filers pay exactly $200; online filers pay $203 by credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds its payment-processing charge. The report is due April 15 every year after the year of creation and there is no statutory late fee, so the real penalty for lapsing is administrative dissolution plus a $100 reinstatement. Optional charges are $10 for a name reservation, $15 for a paper Certificate of Existence ($10 electronic), $100 for 24-hour expedited filing and $200 for same-day filing under North Carolina law.

Which fees does a North Carolina LLC pay, and how often?

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Articles of Organization (L-01)	$125	One time	North Carolina Secretary of State
Annual Report	$200	Every year	North Carolina Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$325	N/A	N/A
Franchise Tax (only LLCs that elect corporate tax treatment), does not apply to a standard North Carolina LLC	$200	Only after a corporate election	North Carolina Department of Revenue
Registered agent service (optional)	$50 to $300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedite and special handling fees in our record: Same-day (document received by 12:00 noon) ($200), 24-hour (excluding weekends and holidays) ($100)	$100 to $200, by option	One time	North Carolina Secretary of State
Name reservation (optional)	$10	One time	North Carolina Secretary of State
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$15	Per copy	North Carolina Secretary of State

North Carolina law sets a flat $125 regardless of filing method; online filers additionally pay the state's payment-processing charge ($3 by credit card, $2 by ACH).

Franchise Tax (only LLCs that elect corporate tax treatment): $1.50 per $1,000 of the tax base, capped at $500 on the first $1,000,000 of the base, with a $200 minimum. An LLC is not subject to North Carolina franchise tax unless it elects to be taxed as a corporation for federal purposes.

Why the Franchise Tax (only LLCs that elect corporate tax treatment) is not in the total: A default-classified LLC owes no North Carolina franchise tax at all; the $200 minimum bites only after a corporate or S-corp election.

North Carolina law forms the LLC on filing articles of organization, and a separate section lists their contents; neither imposes a newspaper publication step. The only publication provision in the LLC act is permissive notice to unknown claimants of a DISSOLVED LLC. The section on known claims calls for notice served in writing, with no newspaper.

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 North Carolina.

Next steps for an LLC in North Carolina

What does a North Carolina 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)	$325	$450
Each year after	$200/yr	$325/yr
Five-year total	$1,125	$1,750

First filing timing: The first annual report is due April 15 of the year following the year of creation, so an LLC created in 2026 files its first report by April 15, 2027.

Is North Carolina expensive compared with other states?

North Carolina ranks 42nd cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $92.84 above the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 43rd.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$290
Arizona	$50	$275
Missouri	$50	$275

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in North Carolina. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in North Carolina anyway. Paying both states. See foreign qualification in North Carolina before forming elsewhere to save on fees.

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

Annual Report

Frequency	every year
Due	April 15 of each year after the year of creation
Fee	$200

North Carolina charges no statutory late fee on a delinquent LLC annual report, but the $200 fee is due regardless and continued failure to file leads to administrative dissolution.

An LLC that fails to file its annual report can be administratively dissolved; the Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution costs $100 and all delinquent annual reports must be brought current.

Full North Carolina annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

What cost traps are specific to North Carolina?

$200 every single year - the highest recurring report fee in the region

North Carolina's $200 LLC annual report costs more each year than the $125 it took to form the company, and $203 if you pay online by credit card. Over five years that is $1,000-$1,015 in report fees alone.

Entity creation takes 15-20 business days unless you pay to expedite

The Secretary of State's posted turnaround for entity creation is 15-20 business days. Cutting that to 24 hours costs $100 and same-day (documents in by noon) costs $200 under North Carolina law.

Electing corporate taxation triggers a $200 minimum franchise tax on top of the report

A default-classified LLC owes no NC franchise tax, but an LLC that elects C-corp or S-corp treatment becomes liable for the franchise tax with a $200 minimum - stacking on top of the $200 annual report.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Articles of Organization cost $125 under North Carolina law, whether you file on paper or online (online adds a $3 credit-card or $2 ACH processing charge). A name reservation is an optional $10. If you cannot wait out the posted 15-20 business day processing window, 24-hour filing is $100 and same-day filing is $200.
: $200 per year, due April 15 of each year after the year the LLC was created. Filing online costs $203 with a credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds its payment-processing charge; a paper report is exactly $200.
: Only if it elects to be taxed as a corporation. A default-classified LLC (partnership or disregarded entity) is not subject to NC franchise tax. An LLC that has elected C-corp or S-corp treatment pays $1.50 per $1,000 of its tax base with a $200 minimum and a $500 cap on the first $1,000,000.
: There is no separate late fee, but the $200 is still owed and the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve the LLC. Bringing it back costs $100 for the Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution plus every delinquent $200 annual report.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every fee above was checked against North Carolina's own published sources on July 29, 2026 , the North Carolina 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 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

12 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified North Carolina 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.

sosnc.gov/fees/by_title/_Business_Registration_limited_liability_companies
ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_57D/GS_57D-1-22.html
ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_55D/GS_55D-11.html
sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration/annual_report_due_dates
sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration
ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/corporate-income-franchise-tax/corporate-income-and-franchise-tax-rates
North Carolina statute: N.C.G.S. 55D-11 (expedited filing fees)
North Carolina statute: N.C.G.S. 57D-1-22 (LLC filing fees)
North Carolina statute: N.C.G.S. 57D-2-20 (LLC formation)
North Carolina statute: N.C.G.S. 57D-2-21 (articles of organization contents)
North Carolina statute: Chapter 57D, 57D-6-11 (notice to unknown claimants of a dissolved LLC)
North Carolina statute: N.C.G.S. 57D-6-10 (known claims against a dissolved LLC)

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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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