Your Louisiana LLC Is Doing Business in Another State
The short answer. You keep one LLC. It stays registered in Louisiana, which charges $30 a year to keep it in good standing, and a state that finds you are doing business there adds its own registration and its own filings on top. Whether your activity counts is decided by that state's own rule, not by this page. Of the 47 other states that have one figure to compare, 24 cost more in year-one registration than Louisiana's own first-year total of $130, and 23 cost less. Tennessee and Washington are outside those figures: Tennessee's fee scales with member count from $300, and Washington's $180 is before back fees, so neither has one figure to compare.
What you keep paying in Louisiana
When the Annual Report is due. On or before the anniversary date of organization of each limited liability company (La. R.S. 12:1308.1(A))
Every Louisiana fee behind these figures is broken out on what an LLC costs in Louisiana.
What a second state adds
These are the states closest to Louisiana’s own cost line, plus the three dearest to enter. Each figure is that state’s first-year registration cost for an out-of-state LLC, beside what it charges every year after. Whether your activity counts as doing business there depends on the facts, and each state defines it differently.
| State | Year one to register | State charges, each year after | Against your year one ($130) |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | $750 | $55/yr | $620 more |
| Texas | $750 | None | $620 more |
| Massachusetts | $500 | $520/yr | $370 more |
| Alabama | $150 | None | $20 more |
| Arizona | $150 | None | $20 more |
| Illinois | $150 | $75/yr | $20 more |
| North Dakota | $135 | $50/yr | $5 more |
| Florida | $125 | $138.75/yr | $5 less |
| New Jersey | $125 | $75/yr | $5 less |
| Connecticut | $120 | $80/yr | $10 less |
| Kansas | $115 | $45/yr | $15 less |
A state charge of None is not a tax of none. The column is the recurring charge our fee dataset records, and a state that asks for no recurring filing may still levy an entity-level tax that sits outside it.
What we verified about Louisiana's own costs
Our notes, from Louisiana's published fee schedules and statutes.
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.
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
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.