Kentucky LLC compliance for 2026: the $15 annual report filed January 1 to June 30, the August 31 cliff, the $175 minimum LLET, and registered agent rules.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Kentucky LLCs file an annual report with the Secretary of State between January 1 and June 30 each year. Open the online services portal at sos.ky.gov, find your LLC by name or organization number, and confirm the registered agent name and address, principal office address, and member or manager details on the record. The fee is $15, payable by credit card or electronic check in the portal, or by check or money order if you mail the report instead. A newly organized LLC does not file in its first calendar year: the first annual report is due between January 1 and June 30 of the year following the calendar year in which the LLC was organized. Kentucky charges no late fee, but a report that has not arrived by August 31 leads to administrative dissolution, and reinstatement then costs a $100 penalty under KRS 14A.2-060(1)(j) plus $15 for each delinquent report. Set a calendar reminder for early June and have your current address details to hand before you sign in.
Forming a Kentucky LLC costs $40 for the Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State, the same online or by mail, and that is the second-lowest formation fee in the country. The recurring filing cost is the $15 annual report, filed between January 1 and June 30. The figure most owners miss is the Limited Liability Entity Tax: every business protected from liability by Kentucky law, LLCs included, owes a minimum of $175 a year at $3 million or less in total gross receipts or gross profits, with a sliding scale between $3 million and $6 million and a receipts-or-profits formula above that. Add the three together and a realistic first-year state cost is about $230, which is roughly $2 below the national average, not the bargain the $40 headline suggests. Optional items are priced separately: a name reservation is $15, and a certificate of good standing or a certified copy is $10 each. Missing the report does not add a fee, but leaving it unfiled past August 31 leads to administrative dissolution and a $100 reinstatement penalty plus $15 per delinquent report.
Nothing happens on July 1 in dollar terms, because Kentucky charges no late fee. The Secretary of State mails a Sixty Day Notice on July 1, and an annual report received by August 31 returns the company to good standing without penalty and without any surcharge. The report still costs $15. August 31 is the date that matters: a report not submitted by then results in administrative dissolution of the business, or revocation of the authority to conduct business in Kentucky for an out-of-state LLC. After dissolution, KRS 14A.2-060(1)(j) charges a $100 reinstatement penalty plus $15 for each delinquent annual report, so a two-year lapse costs $130 rather than $15. KRS 14A.7-030(1) allows reinstatement at any time, but the application must carry a Department of Revenue certificate showing all taxes owed have been paid, and an entity that has begun winding up is barred from reinstating. If the Sixty Day Notice has reached you, file the overdue report at sos.ky.gov while it still costs only the ordinary $15.
Yes. Kentucky requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical Kentucky street address who accepts service of process and official correspondence on the company's behalf. You can serve as your own agent if you have a Kentucky street address, since a PO box does not qualify, or appoint a commercial registered agent service. Our cost model assumes about $125 a year for a commercial agent, and that is the amount to budget alongside the $15 report and the $175 minimum Limited Liability Entity Tax.
Your agent's name and address appear on the Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State and are confirmed on each annual report, filed between January 1 and June 30. The practical consequence of letting the appointment lapse is the same as not filing at all: the Secretary of State can administratively dissolve the LLC, and reinstatement then costs a $100 penalty plus $15 for each delinquent report.
Before your next filing window, check that the agent details on the register still match reality, and remember that whatever address you list is public, so serving as your own agent means publishing a street address you control.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Kentucky 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.
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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.
