Your Vermont LLC Is Doing Business in Another State
The short answer. You keep one LLC. It stays registered in Vermont, which charges $45 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, 14 cost more in year-one registration than Vermont's own first-year total of $200, 32 cost less, and 1 costs the same. 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 Vermont
When the Annual Report is due. Within three months after the expiration of the company's fiscal year (11 V.S.A. § 4033(c)) - March 31 for a calendar-year LLC.
Every Vermont fee behind these figures is broken out on what an LLC costs in Vermont.
What a second state adds
These are the states closest to Vermont’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 ($200) |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | $750 | $55/yr | $550 more |
| Texas | $750 | None | $550 more |
| Massachusetts | $500 | $520/yr | $300 more |
| Georgia | $235 | $60/yr | $35 more |
| Delaware | $200 | $400/yr | the same |
| Minnesota | $185 | None | $15 less |
| Washington | at least $180 | $70/yr | not comparable, this is a floor |
| Alabama | $150 | None | $50 less |
| Arizona | $150 | None | $50 less |
| Illinois | $150 | $75/yr | $50 less |
| Louisiana | $150 | $30/yr | $50 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 Vermont's own costs
Our notes, from Vermont's published fee schedules and statutes.
Vermont charges $155 to file Articles of Organization and $45 for the annual report, both set directly by statute at 11 V.S.A. 4012. The bigger recurring cost is the $250 minimum business entity tax under 32 V.S.A. 5921, which a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership owes to the Department of Taxes every year regardless of profit - so realistic annual upkeep is about $295, not $45. Single-member LLCs treated as disregarded entities escape the $250. The annual report deadline is unusual: it runs three months after the company's fiscal year end rather than from the formation anniversary. A certificate of existence is $35 and a certified copy is $25.
The $250 minimum entity tax dwarfs the $45 annual report. 32 V.S.A. 5921 imposes a flat $250 annual tax on an LLC taxed as a partnership, payable to the Department of Taxes by the federal return due date (generally March 15) on Form BI-471. The Department states there is no minimum dollar threshold for filing, so it is owed even in a loss year. A single-member LLC that is a disregarded entity does not owe it.
Fiscal-year-end deadline, not an anniversary date. Vermont ties the annual report to the fiscal year end on record for the company, and the report is due within three months after it (11 V.S.A. 4033(c)). Owners who assume a formation-anniversary deadline miss it.
Missing one report terminates the LLC outright. Under 11 V.S.A. 4034 the articles of organization terminate for failure to file the annual report - there is no flat late fee, just termination, and reinstatement costs $35 plus $45 for each year missed. A foreign LLC also pays $170 a year for the same report rather than $45.
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.