Do veterans get a free LLC in Connecticut?

No. Everyone pays the same statutory fee to file a certificate of organization, and the LLC Act contains no veteran provision of any kind. Certification through CTDVA is a procurement credential, not a discount on filing.

What happened to Connecticut's veteran exemption from the business entity tax?

The legislature created it in 2016 as a first-taxable-year exemption for veteran-owned businesses formed on or after July 1 of that year. It then eliminated the business entity tax itself for tax years starting in 2020 and later. The exemption has no remaining effect because there is no longer a tax to be exempt from. Nothing was enacted to replace it.

What counts as a veteran-owned micro business in Connecticut?

Majority veteran ownership, with veteran defined by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 27-103(a)(1), plus gross revenue under the state's three-million-dollar micro business ceiling. Service-connected disability isn't part of the test, so veterans without a rating can certify.

Does the fifteen percent price preference mean I win the bid?

No. The statute says the Commissioner of Administrative Services may give a price preference of up to fifteen percent, which makes it both discretionary and capped, and it operates inside the determination of the lowest responsible qualified bidder. You still have to be responsive, qualified and competitive. It's a thumb on the scale, not a set-aside.

Do I need a VA disability rating to certify in Connecticut?

No. Connecticut's program turns on veteran status and business size, not on disability. That's a real difference from the federal SDVOSB route, where a service-connected disability is the whole basis of the category.

Does certification lower my Connecticut annual report fee?

It doesn't. The annual report fee under § 34-243u(a)(15)(B) is the same for every LLC on file. Miss the filing and you risk administrative dissolution, which is a far more expensive problem than the fee.

Is certification worth it if all my clients are private companies?

Probably not on its own, because the only concrete benefit the statute attaches is a state-bidding price preference. If there's a plausible path to public work in your line of business, the application is short and CTDVA lists no fee for it, so the cost of trying is mostly your time.

LLC Guide

Connecticut's veteran tax break outlived the tax it exempted you from

There's no filing-fee waiver here, and the 2016 business entity tax exemption for veteran-owned businesses is dead in substance because the tax itself was repealed for everyone. The benefit that still works is a price preference on state bids.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: August 2026

Connecticut does not discount LLC filing fees for veterans — the fee is $120 for everyone — but Connecticut does run its own Connecticut Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification. See the sources below.

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.

Read this guide for another state:

Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

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No. A certificate of organization costs $120 in Connecticut whether you served or not, and the one veteran tax exemption on the books was rendered moot when the underlying tax was repealed for every business.

Chapter 613a, the Connecticut Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, contains no veteran provision at all, and the fee statute prices organization the same way for every filer. In 2016 the legislature did add a first-taxable-year exemption from the biennial business entity tax for veteran-owned businesses. Then it eliminated the business entity tax for everybody. The exemption survives as a piece of legislative history, not as money in your pocket. What's still live is CTDVA's Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification and the discretionary bid preference attached to it.

What a Veteran Pays to Form an LLC in Connecticut

Standard state filing fee	$120
What a veteran pays today	$120
Veteran-specific saving	$0 — no veteran discount on this fee
State veteran-owned business certification	Connecticut Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification

Verified August 6, 2026 against Connecticut primary sources — listed at the end of this guide.

Why Connecticut Has No Veteran LLC Fee Waiver

Connecticut prices LLC organization in Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243u(a)(3), and the price includes appointing your registered agent. One number, everyone pays it. Search the whole of chapter 613a for the word "veteran" and you'll get nothing back, which is the cleanest possible answer to whether a waiver exists. The annual report is the same story under § 34-243u(a)(15)(B). Certification through the Department of Veterans Affairs does not reduce it, defer it, or change the due date. Where veterans do get confused is the old business entity tax: for tax years starting in 2020 and after, the statute simply stops imposing it, and the current text of § 12-284b(b) carries no veteran language. If an article tells you Connecticut gives veteran-owned businesses a free first year on that tax, it was written before the repeal and nobody updated it.

Authority: Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243u(a)(3): 'filing a certificate of organization, including appointment of registered agent, one hundred twenty dollars.' The whole of chapter 613a (Connecticut Uniform Limited Liability Company Act) contains zero occurrences of the word 'veteran'. — cga.ct.gov

Veteran-Owned Business Certification in Connecticut

Program	Connecticut Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification
Administered by	Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CTDVA), 287 West Street, Rocky Hill, CT 06067
Minimum veteran ownership	51%
Service-connected disability required	No

1
Confirm you clear the micro business ceiling
Certification is limited to businesses under the gross-revenue cap, on top of majority veteran ownership. Pull your last full year of gross receipts before you start the paperwork, because this is the condition applicants most often miss.
2
Gather your discharge documentation
The Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs verifies veteran status against the § 27-103(a)(1) definition, so have your DD-214 ready. You will also need proof of the ownership percentage, which for an LLC usually means the operating agreement and the membership schedule.
3
Apply through CTDVA in Rocky Hill
The program is run by the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs at 287 West Street, Rocky Hill. Its certification page lists no application fee. Call 860-616-3600 if you want to confirm the current document list before you send anything, since the checklist is short enough that one phone call usually settles it.
4
Register as a state vendor and use the certification when you bid
The certification only pays off through state purchasing, so pair it with vendor registration at the Department of Administrative Services. Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 4a-59(c)(D) the DAS Commissioner may give a certified veteran-owned micro business a price preference of up to fifteen percent when determining the lowest responsible qualified bidder.

Program details verified against portal.ct.gov.

State Benefits vs Federal Benefits — What Is Actually Different

Most of what gets published as “veteran LLC benefits in Connecticut” is actually federal, and identical in all 50 states. Three separate things get run together:

What it is	Who runs it	Does it make forming an LLC cheaper?
Filing-fee waiver	Connecticut Secretary of State, by statute	Not available in Connecticut
Veteran-owned business certification	Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CTDVA), 287 West Street, Rocky Hill, CT 06067	No — it helps you win contracts, not file paperwork
SBA loans, VBOC counselling, VA benefits	Federal agencies	No — and they are the same in every state

Certification is worth doing on its own merits, but it is not a discount on formation. If a page tells you Connecticutgives veterans a “free LLC” and then links you to a certification portal, it has conflated the first row with the second.

Free Help for Veteran Business Owners in Connecticut

The Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs administers the Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification itself, and it is the office to call with eligibility questions rather than a general small-business hotline. It's at 287 West Street in Rocky Hill, reachable at 860-616-3600, and worth a call before you assume anything about cost. For the bidding side, the Department of Administrative Services holds the actual purchasing authority and can tell you how the price preference is applied in practice on a given solicitation.

Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs — Veteran-Owned Micro Business Certification program — portal.ct.gov · 860-616-3600

Veteran Business Outreach Centers (VBOCs) are funded by the SBA and provide free business planning and formation counselling to veterans, service members and military spouses. Find your VBOC.

Forming the LLC Itself

Nothing about the formation process changes because you are a veteran — the forms, the registered agent requirement and the annual filing are the same. The full walkthrough lives in our Connecticut formation guide rather than being repeated here.

How to start an LLC in Connecticut →

Sources

Every figure on this page was checked against these primary sources on August 6, 2026.

Chart comparing the standard Connecticut LLC filing fee with what a veteran actually pays to form an LLC, and the difference between the two. — What a veteran pays to form an LLC in Connecticut, against the standard filing fee. Source: Connecticut Secretary of State.

Frequently Asked Questions

: No. Everyone pays the same statutory fee to file a certificate of organization, and the LLC Act contains no veteran provision of any kind. Certification through CTDVA is a procurement credential, not a discount on filing.
: The legislature created it in 2016 as a first-taxable-year exemption for veteran-owned businesses formed on or after July 1 of that year. It then eliminated the business entity tax itself for tax years starting in 2020 and later. The exemption has no remaining effect because there is no longer a tax to be exempt from. Nothing was enacted to replace it.
: Majority veteran ownership, with veteran defined by Conn. Gen. Stat. § 27-103(a)(1), plus gross revenue under the state's three-million-dollar micro business ceiling. Service-connected disability isn't part of the test, so veterans without a rating can certify.
: No. The statute says the Commissioner of Administrative Services may give a price preference of up to fifteen percent, which makes it both discretionary and capped, and it operates inside the determination of the lowest responsible qualified bidder. You still have to be responsive, qualified and competitive. It's a thumb on the scale, not a set-aside.
: No. Connecticut's program turns on veteran status and business size, not on disability. That's a real difference from the federal SDVOSB route, where a service-connected disability is the whole basis of the category.
: It doesn't. The annual report fee under § 34-243u(a)(15)(B) is the same for every LLC on file. Miss the filing and you risk administrative dissolution, which is a far more expensive problem than the fee.
: Probably not on its own, because the only concrete benefit the statute attaches is a state-bidding price preference. If there's a plausible path to public work in your line of business, the application is short and CTDVA lists no fee for it, so the cost of trying is mostly your time.

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What a Veteran Pays to Form an LLC in Connecticut

Why Connecticut Has No Veteran LLC Fee Waiver

Veteran-Owned Business Certification in Connecticut

Confirm you clear the micro business ceiling

Gather your discharge documentation

Apply through CTDVA in Rocky Hill

Register as a state vendor and use the certification when you bid