The minimum New York LLC Cost is $200, which covers the processing fee for filing your LLC formation documents (known as the Articles of Organization).

Having said that, the total cost of forming a New York LLC will depend on several factors, including your personal preferences, business needs, and the county you’re based in.

In our How Much Does an LLC Cost in New York article, we’ve broken down everything you need to know about the different costs associated with launching and maintaining an LLC.

New York LLC Cost

In the table below, you can find a summary of the main requirements of forming a New York limited liability company (LLC) and their associated fees.

                                                                   

Requirement	Fee
Articles of Organization	$200-$250
Certificate of Publication	50+
Registered Agent	$0-$130+
LLC Name	$0-$45+
Operating Agreement	$0+

New York LLC Filing Fee ($200-$300)

In New York, all domestic LLCs are required to submit their Articles of Organization with the Department of State in order to be legally registered, while foreign LLCs must submit an Application for Authority instead.

If you choose to submit either of these documents by yourself, you’ll be required to pay one of the following registration fees:

• Domestic Entities: $200
• Foreign Entities: $250

Having said that, if you choose to use an LLC formation service, the cost will be a little higher as it will include a small service fee in addition to New York’s state filing fee.

The fees for an LLC formation service can range significantly, but can start from as low as $29, increasing if you decide to purchase any additional offerings.

Note: For more details on the formation process you can check out our New York LLC Formation guide.

New York Certificate of Publication ($50+)

Within 120 days of filing their formation documents, all LLCs will need to publish a copy of their Articles of Organization or a Notice of Formation (or Application of Authority for foreign entities) in two local newspapers designated by their local County Clerk for six consecutive weeks.

The costs of publication can vary anywhere from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on the county in which you need to complete this and whether it’s for a domestic or foreign entity. Fees also tend to be higher in counties such as Manhattan, Kings, and Bronx.

After notice has been in these papers for six weeks in a row, you’ll need to submit a Certificate of Publication to the Department of State along with a $50 filing fee and affidavits from the printers or publishers of the newspapers.

New York Registered Agent ($0-$130+)

Unlike the majority of other states, you won’t be required to appoint a registered agent as part of the process of completing the Articles of Organization. This is because the New York Secretary of State already acts in this capacity for all New York LLCs by default — receiving their tax, legal, and governmental correspondence on their behalf.

However, most New York LLCs still opt to appoint a registered agent service as it can actually help to lower initial formation costs. This is because you can use the registered agent’s address as your LLC’s principal business address, significantly reducing your costs if you elect a service based in a county with lower average costs of publication.

While you can act as your own registered agent at no extra cost, it’s often recommended to hire a professional service so you avoid any potential penalties or legal issues caused by non-compliance with state regulations.

Although the New York registered agent fee of these professional services is unique to each provider, they typically charge around $130+ per year. Most premium LLC formation services also allow new customers to access their services for free throughout the first year.

Alternatively, you can find some of the top recommendations for professional RA services in our Best Registered Agent Services of 2024 article.

Naming Your New York LLC ($0-$45+)

When forming your New York LLC, you’ll be required to pick a suitable name that’s available to use.

While registering a name in itself has no cost, there are two potential costs to be aware of when naming your LLC.

Reserving Name

If you’ve found an available name for your business but aren’t looking to form an LLC right away, you’ll need to submit an Application for Reservation of Name with the Department of State to keep it safe for later use.

This application costs $20 to submit and will reserve your name for up to 60 days. At the end of this period, you’ll need to decide whether to renew this reservation form (and pay another $20 filing fee) or proceed to create your LLC.

Note: It’s recommended to check if your desired business name is available beforehand by performing a search on the New York Secretary of State’s Business Entity Database.

When choosing a name for your LLC, it’s important to select one that corresponds to an available domain. This is because a matching domain ensures consistency between your LLC’s name and its online presence, which helps to strengthen its brand recognition and credibility.

Doing Business As (DBA) Name

If you want to operate your New York business under a name other than the one it’s legally registered as, you’ll need to obtain a Doing Business As (DBA) name — which is also known as an Assumed Name in New York.

To obtain a DBA name for your business, you’ll need to submit a Certificate of Assumed Name to the New York Department of State and pay a $25 filing fee.

Note: It costs the same to submit this request for both domestic and foreign entities.

New York LLC Operating Agreement ($0+)

All LLCs in New York are required to obtain an operating agreement (or “limited liability company agreement” as it’s sometimes called) under Chapter 34, Article 4, Section 147 of The Laws of New York.

This document defines the roles and responsibilities of the members or managers in your LLC and will help prevent and solve any business disputes that may arise later on.

While you can opt to hire an online service or business attorney to draft this document for you (which typically costs at least a few hundred dollars), it’s actually quite straightforward to do it yourself at no extra cost.

It’s also important to note that this doesn’t actually need to be filed with the New York Secretary of State — it’s purely an internal document.

Additional New York LLC Formation Costs

On top of the more common fees outlined above, there are a number of additional formation costs that LLCs in New York may encounter depending on their circumstances.

We’ve summarized some of these additional costs below:

Expedited New York LLC Filing

The New York Department of State’s Division of Corporations typically processes documents immediately if filed online or within three to five business days if filed by mail.

If you want your LLC’s Articles of Organization to be processed more quickly than this, you can pay extra for the following expedited handling services:

• 24 hours: $25 (if received between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.)
• Same day: $75 (if received by 12 p.m.)
• Two hours: $150 (if delivered by hand or fax before 2:30 p.m.)

These additional fees are the same regardless of whether you’re filing for a domestic or foreign LLC.

Local Business Licenses

Depending on the exact location and industry of your LLC, there are a number of local-level licenses and permits it may be required to obtain in order to operate legally.

For example, in New York City a general vendor license costs between $50 and $200, whereas a license to be able to offer car washing services costs between $137.50 and $550 — both of these vary depending on the length of the license’s term.

Since these licenses can vary greatly in their cost, you’ll need to get in contact with your local county for a more specific figure.

Note: To find the website and contact details of your county, refer to this directory on the New York State website.

Certificate of Status

A New York Certificate of Status, (or “Certificate of Good Standing” as it’s also called) is a document that demonstrates the existence of your LLC. It’s often required to open a business bank account, or by lenders in order to check that your LLC is properly registered and legally authorized to conduct business with the state.

You can obtain a Certificate of Status for your New York LLC by paying a $25 filing fee and submitting a written request by mail to the State Department’s Division of Corporations.

Certified Copies of Business Documents

If you require any certified copies of your business’s documents, you can request them from the New York Department of State at a cost of $10 each.

Requests may be submitted by mail or electronically through the Business Express online portal.

Cost to Maintain an LLC in New York

In addition to the cost of forming an LLC in New York, there are also several ongoing costs you’ll be responsible for paying each year.

We’ve outlined these recurring costs associated with maintaining a New York LLC below.

Biennial Statement

Under Section 301(e) of Limited Liability Company Law, your New York LLC will be required to file a Biennial Statement every two years during the month marking the anniversary of its formation.

This costs $9 to submit and must set forth the primary business address to which you would like the New York Secretary of State to mail a copy of any processes meant for your LLC.

Note: If your LLC misses this April 1 deadline, it will be charged a $25 late fee — failure to pay this may lead to your business suffering a civil lawsuit or administrative dissolution by the New York Secretary of State.

Registered Agent Maintenance

If you decide to take advantage of a professional registered agent in order to handle your legal documents, you’ll be required to pay an annual fee in return for their services. This fee commonly ranges between $35 and $300 depending on the provider and features you select.

While you’re not required to use a professional registered agent service, it’s highly recommended.

Taxes

In addition to the federal taxes your LLC is required to pay regardless of the state it’s based in, there are a variety of state-specific taxes in New York you need to be aware of, including:

• Sales tax
• Employment taxes
• Business privilege taxes
• Property taxes

Additionally, there are various local taxes your LLC may need to pay depending on the municipality or county it’s based in, such as:

• Sales and use taxes
• Property tax

New York vs Other States

In comparison to many other popular options, the initial filing fees associated with setting up an LLC in New York are moderately expensive in the short run, though its long-term fees are practically non-existent.

To put this into context, it would cost you at least $100 to set up your LLC in Georgia (instead of $200 in New York), however, the long-term fees in Georgia would be considerably more expensive. Compared to New York’s $9 biennial fee for LLC, Georgia requires LLCs to pay a much higher annual filing fee of $50.

Ultimately, the best state to form your LLC will be one in which you plan to primarily operate your business from. This makes it far easier to stay legally compliant on a number of levels, including taxation, licensing, and filing requirements, as you’ll only need to deal with one state’s set of rules.