Illinois LLC fees (2026)
Every mandatory and optional fee Illinois charges an LLC, verified against the official fee schedule — not a blog's memory of it. Statutes and source links are at the bottom of each section.
Formation filing
$150
Articles of Organization (Form LLC-5.5) — filing fee $150, printed on the official form. Filed online at ilsos.gov (Business Services). 24-hour expedited service is an extra $100.
Annual report
$75
annual · due before the first day of the LLC's anniversary month
FilingDesk all-in
$99 + state fee
Accepted as a queued order; a specialist confirms price before anything is charged.
$75 annual report, due each year before the first day of the month in which the LLC was organized. $100 penalty if not filed within 60 days of the due date; continued non-filing leads to administrative dissolution. Illinois LLCs also pay the state Personal Property Replacement Tax (1.5% of net income) — an income tax, not a flat franchise fee.
The full fee schedule
The filings and certificates an LLC actually ends up paying for, at the official rate.
| Filing / service | Fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certified copy of a filed document | $25 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "For furnishing a copy or certified copy of any document, instrument, or paper relating to a limited liability company or foreign limited liability company, or for a certificate, $25." The same $25 line covers a plain copy and a certified copy. |
| Certificate of good standing (certificate of existence) | $25 | Illinois does not give the good-standing certificate its own line item. It is priced under the generic "or for a certificate, $25" clause of 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b). Two constraints: 50-15(b)(2)-(3) means a delinquent LLC cannot obtain one at any price until the delinquency is cured, and 805 ILCS 180/50-50 forbids expedited service for requests for certificates of good standing — so there is no way to buy speed on this one. |
| Articles of amendment (domestic or foreign) | $50 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "Filing amendments (domestic or foreign), $50." Restated articles of organization are not $50 — they are billed at the $150 articles-of-organization rate. |
| Restated articles of organization | $150 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b) groups restated articles with articles of organization and the foreign application for admission at $150 (the same subsection charges $400 where the LLC has a series). |
| Application to reserve a name | $25 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "Filing an application to reserve a name, $25." Was $300 before the December 2017 fee cut. |
| Name registration (foreign LLC name protection) | $50 | Distinct from the $25 name reservation. 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b) prices name registration at $50. |
| Statement of change of registered agent or registered office (or statement of correction) | $25 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "Filing a statement of change of address of registered office or change of registered agent, or both, or filing a statement of correction, $25." One $25 fee covers changing the agent and the office together. This fee was not touched by the 2017 fee cut. |
| Application for reinstatement after administrative dissolution | $200 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "Filing an application for reinstatement of a limited liability company or foreign limited liability company, $200." This is the reinstatement filing fee only — 805 ILCS 180/35-40 also requires every overdue annual report plus all accrued fees and penalties to be paid. |
| Merger | $100 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): $100 base, plus $50 for each party to the merger beyond the first two. |
| Assumed name (DBA) adoption | None | Sliding scale under 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b), because every assumed name runs to the next year ending in 0 or 5: "$150 for each year or part thereof ending in 0 or 5, $120 for each year or part thereof ending in 1 or 6, $90 for each year or part thereof ending in 2 or 7, $60 for each year or part thereof ending in 3 or 8, $30 for each year or part thereof ending in 4 or 9." A DBA adopted in 2026 (year ending in 6) therefore costs $120. |
| Assumed name renewal | $150 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): "a renewal for each assumed name, $150" — flat, no sliding scale, since a renewal covers a full 5-year cycle. |
| Change of assumed name | $25 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b), subsection (9.5). This line did not exist before Public Act 101-578 added it in 2019; changing an assumed name is a flat $25 and does not re-trigger the sliding-scale adoption fee. |
| Cancellation of assumed name | $5 | |
| Expedite — articles of organization | $100 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. Surcharge on top of the $150 filing fee, so an expedited Illinois LLC formation is $250 all-in at the state. |
| Expedite — articles of amendment | $100 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. Note the expedite fee ($100) is twice the amendment filing fee itself ($50). |
| Expedite — restated articles of organization | $200 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. |
| Expedite — merger | $200 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. |
| Expedite — reinstatement | $100 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. |
| Expedite — application for admission to transact business (foreign LLC) | $100 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. |
| Expedite — all other filings, copies, and certificates | $50 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50 catch-all tier, covering filings and copies that have no expedite line of their own (e.g. a rush certified copy at $25 + $50 = $75). It does NOT extend to every certificate: the same section provides that "[t]he Secretary may not provide expedited services for the online electronic filing of annual reports or requests for certificates of good standing," so a good-standing certificate cannot be rushed through the online channel at any price. |
| Expedite — computer abstract | $20 | 805 ILCS 180/50-50. |
| Series LLC — articles of organization | $400 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b) charges $400 rather than $150 where the articles establish a series. |
| Series LLC — annual report surcharge per series | $50 | 805 ILCS 180/50-10(b): the annual report fee is "$75 plus $50 for each series for which a certificate of designation has been filed." |
Online vs. mail vs. counter
- online vs. mail: No difference in the fee itself. — 805 ILCS 180 Article 50 sets one statutory amount per filing and contains no online/mail differential, no e-filing surcharge, and no credit-card convenience fee. Illinois is unlike neighbours such as Indiana, where the online price and the paper price on the form differ. The $150 articles-of-organization fee and the $75 annual report fee are the same whichever channel is used. (source)
- expedited service availability: Mail-in filings cannot be expedited; expedited handling is limited to in-person and (at the Secretary of State's discretion) electronic submissions — and annual reports and good-standing certificates cannot be expedited online at all. — 805 ILCS 180/50-50 offers same-day or 24-hour handling only where the request is "submitted by the filer, law firm, service company, or messenger physically in person or, at the Secretary of State's discretion, by electronic means." So for a formation the practical choice is: file online and buy the $100 expedite, or walk it into a counter — dropping the paper form in the mail forfeits the option entirely, regardless of willingness to pay. Two filings sit outside the expedite system altogether: the same section states that "[t]he Secretary may not provide expedited services for the online electronic filing of annual reports or requests for certificates of good standing," so a late-running annual report cannot be rushed for money. (source)
- annual report timing window: The annual report can only be delivered within the 60 days immediately before the due date — filing early is not possible. — 805 ILCS 180/50-1: "The annual report, together with all fees and charges prescribed by this Act, shall be delivered to the Secretary of State within 60 days immediately preceding the first day of the anniversary month." A mailed report has to land inside that same window, which is why paper filers effectively lose a week of the 60 days to transit. (source)
- returned payment: A bounced payment is itself a ground for administrative dissolution, not merely a re-billing event. — 805 ILCS 180/35-25 lists as a ground for dissolution that the LLC "has tendered payment to the Secretary of State which is returned due to insufficient funds, a closed account, or for any other reason, and acceptable payment has not been subsequently tendered." (source)
Miss the deadline: what it actually costs
Illinois runs the annual report on an anniversary-month clock with a roughly two-month penalty-free tail, then escalates yearly. The $75 report is due before the first day of the LLC's anniversary month (805 ILCS 180/50-1). Missing that date immediately makes the LLC "delinquent and not in good standing" under 805 ILCS 180/50-15(a)(1), but no money is added yet. The cash penalty attaches under 50-15(b)(1) only on failure to comply "before the first day of the second month after the anniversary month" — a $100 penalty, "plus $100 for each year or fraction thereof beginning with the second year of delinquency until returned to good standing or until reinstatement is effected." Two collateral effects bite before the dollars do: 50-15(b)(2) bars the Secretary of State from filing any other document for the LLC while the delinquency stands (so amendments, mergers, and good-standing certificates are frozen), and 50-15(b)(3) lets the office report the LLC as not in good standing to anyone who asks — which is what a bank or a title company will see. Continued non-filing is a ground for administrative dissolution under 805 ILCS 180/35-25(1); under 35-30 the Secretary of State mails notice and the LLC has 120 days to cure before a certificate of dissolution issues. Reinstatement afterwards costs the $200 application fee (50-10) plus every overdue annual report and all accrued fees and penalties (35-40) — but once granted, existence "shall be deemed to have continued without interruption."
An LLC organized on 12 June has June as its anniversary month. Its $75 annual report is due before 1 June each year, and can only be submitted from roughly 2 April onward (the 60-day window in 50-1). Suppose the owner forgets. On 1 June the LLC is already delinquent and not in good standing — but still owes only $75. Nothing further happens through June and July. On 1 August (the first day of the second month after the June anniversary month) the $100 penalty attaches: the LLC now owes $175. If it is still unfiled when the delinquency rolls into its second year, 50-15(b)(1) adds another $100 for that year or any fraction of it — $275 owed, and another $100 for each further year. Throughout, the Secretary of State will refuse to file anything else for the company, so a pending amendment or a lender's request for a certificate of good standing simply cannot be satisfied. Eventually the office mails a notice of grounds for administrative dissolution; from that notice the LLC has 120 days to file and pay before the certificate of dissolution issues. If it lapses, getting back costs the $200 reinstatement fee plus every missed $75 report and every accrued $100 penalty — an LLC two years gone pays $200 + $150 in reports + $200 in penalties = $550 to undo a $75 oversight. (source)
Recent fee changes
- 2022-01-01 — Public Act 102-49 (HB 115), effective 1 January 2022, amended both 805 ILCS 180/50-5 and 180/50-10 to remove the Secretary of State's authority to charge for lists of LLC filings and to require that the information instead be published "as open data" — freely available under an open license with no registration requirement. (The prior "no less often than once per month" publication-frequency language was deleted rather than retained.) No dollar amount in the LLC fee schedule was changed. This remains the most recent amendment to the fee section: the credit line on 805 ILCS 180/50-10 reads "(Source: P.A. 101-81, eff. 7-12-19; 101-578, eff. 8-26-19; 102-49, eff. 1-1-22)." (source)
- 2019-08-26 — Public Act 101-578 amended 805 ILCS 180/50-10 to add a new line item — filing an application for change of an assumed name, $25 — and to clarify the series annual report language as "$75 plus $50 for each series." No pre-existing dollar amount was altered, so the headline figures set in December 2017 carried through unchanged. (source)
- 2017-12-20 — Public Act 100-0571 (SB 867) cut the Illinois LLC fee schedule sharply, effective immediately on signing. In the amendatory text of 805 ILCS 180/50-10 the new figure precedes the struck old figure: articles of organization $500 → $150; series LLC articles of organization $750 → $400; annual report $250 → $75; reinstatement $500 → $200; amendments $150 → $50; name reservation $300 → $25. The $25 certified-copy/certificate fee and the $25 registered-agent change fee were left untouched. This is why Illinois, long one of the most expensive states to form an LLC, now sits mid-pack. (source)
What trips people up
- A series LLC is a different price tier, not a variant: $400 to file the articles instead of $150, and the annual report becomes $75 plus $50 for every series with a certificate of designation on file. A four-series LLC therefore pays $275 a year, not $75 — and the per-series surcharge is permanent, so the series structure that looks cheap at formation compounds annually. (source)
- Illinois has no LLC franchise tax, but it does have the Personal Property Replacement Tax, which most fee comparisons miss. An LLC taxed as a partnership owes 1.5% of net income; one taxed as a C corporation owes 2.5%. It is an income tax rather than a flat fee, so it is invisible at $0 revenue and then scales — a profitable Illinois LLC's real annual cost to the state is nothing like the $75 report fee. (source)
- The assumed name (DBA) fee slides with the calendar year rather than being flat, because every Illinois assumed name runs to the next year ending in 0 or 5: $150 in years ending 0 or 5, $120 in 1 or 6, $90 in 2 or 7, $60 in 3 or 8, and $30 in 4 or 9. Filing a DBA in 2026 costs $120; waiting until 2029 would cost $30 for the stub, but renewal is then a flat $150. (source)
Sources
- Official Illinois fee schedule
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/50-10', 'title': 'Limited Liability Company Act, Art. 50 — Fees', 'note': 'Master fee schedule for every domestic and foreign LLC filing, including the $150 articles of organization fee and the $75 annual report fee.', 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000'}
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/50-1', 'title': 'Annual report — filing window', 'note': '"The annual report, together with all fees and charges prescribed by this Act, shall be delivered to the Secretary of State within 60 days immediately preceding the first day of the anniversary month."', 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000'}
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/50-15', 'title': 'Penalty — delinquency and loss of good standing', 'note': 'Sets the $100 late penalty and the escalating $100-per-year add-on, and bars the Secretary of State from accepting any other filings while the LLC is delinquent.', 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000'}
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/50-50', 'title': 'Expedited services', 'note': "Sets the expedite surcharges, limits expedited handling to filings presented in person or, at the Secretary of State's discretion, by electronic means, and bars expedited service entirely for the online electronic filing of annual reports and for requests for certificates of good standing.", 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000'}
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/35-25 and 180/35-30', 'title': 'Grounds for and procedure of administrative dissolution', 'note': 'Failure to file the annual report before the first day of the anniversary month is a ground for administrative dissolution; after mailed notice the LLC has 120 days to cure.', 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=8400000&SeqEnd=10500000'}
- {'cite': '805 ILCS 180/35-40', 'title': 'Reinstatement following administrative dissolution', 'note': 'Reinstatement requires filing all overdue annual reports and paying all accumulated fees and penalties; once granted, existence is deemed to have continued without interruption.', 'sourceUrl': 'https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?MajorTopic=BUSINESS%20AND%20EMPLOYMENT&Chapter=BUSINESS%20ORGANIZATIONS&ActName=Limited%20Liability%20Company%20Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=8400000&SeqEnd=10500000'}
Compare all 51 jurisdictions in the LLC cost calculator or the cost-by-state guide.
Figures verified against official Illinois sources. Fees change — the official schedule linked above controls. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice; FilingDesk is not a law firm.
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