State Guide · VA

Virginia LLC Guide (2026)

Everything you need to form and maintain an LLC in Virginia, state-specific fees, deadlines, and step-by-step instructions.

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: August 25, 2026

This hub indexes all Virginia LLC guides in one place, formation, compliance, registered agents, and business structure comparisons. Quick reference: state filing fee $100, standard processing not published by the state, annual report due Last day of anniversary month. For the complete step-by-step formation walkthrough, see the Full Formation Guide below.

Key LLC facts for Virginia: $150 minimum first-year cost, $50 each year after, an annual state report, and a personal income tax. In Virginia, members are not named in the public formation filing.
First-year cost is the unavoidable minimum to form and stay compliant; the second figure is what recurs annually. Source: Virginia's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026, with anonymity and income-tax status from MyStateLLC's 50-state datasets.
Filing fee$100#11 cheapest of 50 states
ProcessingNot publishedVirginia publishes no standard turnaround
Annual reportLast day of anniversary month
Key Finding

92,673 new business applications were filed in Virginia in the 2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months) window, up 12.6% year over year

Virginia ranks #14 of 51 jurisdictions by application volume and #23 per capita. For scale, the state counted 210,842 active business establishments as of 2023 (Census County Business Patterns). This monthly BFS series is a leading indicator of formation activity, ahead of the Census's annual establishment counts.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS), Jul 2026

Virginia Small Business Landscape

Small businesses in Virginia880,366 (99.6% of all Virginia businesses)
Small business employment1,602,868 workers (45.9% of private-sector employment)

Source: SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Small Business Profile

Virginia Business Survival

5-year survival rate48.8% of new Virginia businesses survive five years, #35 of 51 nationally

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics

See how Virginia’s 5-year survival rate compares nationally in our full state-by-state ranking.

Enterprise LLCs Formed in Virginia

Entity NameWhy They Chose Virginia
Capital One Auto Finance LLCVirginia's home-state formation gives McLean-headquartered Capital One a consolidated structure for its auto lending and consumer banking subsidiaries. Virginia's Bureau of Financial Institutions provides regulatory streamlining for in-state bank holding entities, reducing multi-state licensing complexity.
Booz Allen Hamilton LLCVirginia's Northern Virginia corridor hosts the highest concentration of US intelligence and defense contractors, Booz Allen uses Virginia LLCs for its cleared consulting subsidiaries because Virginia's contract law governs most federal agency agreements signed in the DC metro area.

Why Virginia attracts enterprise LLCs: Virginia's Northern Virginia tech corridor (home to Amazon Web Services' HQ2, the Pentagon, and CIA) makes it the nation's premier formation state for defense, cybersecurity, and cloud services LLCs, its government contracting ecosystem and no-franchise-tax policy support both startup and enterprise subsidiary formation.

Entity examples are illustrative and based on publicly available corporate registrations. Reasons reflect general state-level legal and tax advantages, not verified statements of each company's formation rationale. For educational purposes only; consult a licensed attorney before making formation decisions.

Check your business name

See if your domain and social handles are available before you file.

How Do You Start an LLC in Virginia?

Filing in Virginia costs $100 in state fees. Virginia publishes no standard processing time, so plan around the filing itself rather than a promised turnaround. You'll file Articles of Organization, appoint a registered agent, and complete any state-specific requirements before opening for business.

That is the filing fee alone. For the first-year and five-year totals, see Virginia LLC cost.

Full Formation Guide for VirginiaExact forms, fees & filing instructions

What Are the Ongoing Requirements for a Virginia LLC?

Virginia LLCs must file an annual report due Last day of anniversary month and keep a registered agent on file year-round. Missing deadlines triggers late fees and risks administrative dissolution.

Full Compliance OverviewAnnual report, fees & deadlinesAnnual Report GuideDue dates, forms & filing steps

How Do You Register a Foreign LLC in Virginia?

If your LLC was formed in another state (Delaware, Wyoming, etc.) but conducts business in Virginia, you must register as a foreign LLC. This requires a separate filing fee and a registered agent in Virginia.

Virginia Foreign LLC Registration GuideForms, fees & registered agent requirements

Does a Virginia LLC Need a Registered Agent?

Other Virginia LLC Compliance & Tax Guides

How Does a Virginia LLC Compare to Other Structures?

Virginia LLC Operating Agreement Templates

Virginia LLC Guides by Industry

How Do You Dissolve an LLC in Virginia?

Does Virginia Waive LLC Fees for Veterans?

What Does Moving a Rental Into an LLC Cost in Virginia?

Do You Need an LLC to Sell on eBay in Virginia?

How Does Virginia Compare to Other States for LLC Formation?

Side-by-side breakdowns of filing fees, annual costs, taxes and privacy rules, each written for a business owner already operating in Virginia.

Compare from a different home state →

More Virginia LLC Resources

Best Bank AccountsBest business bank accounts for a Virginia LLC →Grants & IncentivesSmall business grants & incentives in Virginia →Anonymous LLCHow to form an anonymous LLC in Virginia →
Edmond Hui

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.

Compare Virginia with Other States

Idaho LLC guideFiling fee $100 · See costs and requirements →Louisiana LLC guideFiling fee $100 · See costs and requirements →Maryland LLC guideFiling fee $100 · See costs and requirements →How to form an LLCGeneral step-by-step formation guide →Annual report complianceDeadlines and fees for all 50 states →
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