Ohio LLC fees (2026)

Every mandatory and optional fee Ohio 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

$99

Articles of Organization for a Domestic LLC (Form 610, last revised 09/2025) — $99. Filed online through Ohio Business Central (bsportal.ohiosos.gov).

No recurring state fee

None

none · due none

FilingDesk all-in

$99 + state fee

Accepted as a queued order; a specialist confirms price before anything is charged.

Ohio LLCs have NO annual/biennial report and NO franchise or privilege tax to the Secretary of State — one of the lowest-maintenance states. (Ohio's Commercial Activity Tax applies only to businesses with taxable gross receipts over $6M — for tax years 2025 and later; the exclusion was $3M for 2024. It is a Dept. of Taxation matter, not an SoS filing, and exempts virtually all small LLCs.)

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	Up to $1 per page, plus $5 for the Secretary of State seal	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(K)(1): "For making copies of any certificate or other paper filed in the office of the secretary of state, a fee not to exceed one dollar per page ... and for creating and affixing the seal of the office of the secretary of state to any good standing or other certificate, five dollars." The $1/page figure is a statutory ceiling, not a fixed price. No charge for copies required by state officers for official purposes.
Certificate of Good Standing (for an Ohio LLC this is the Certificate of Full Force and Effect)	$5	Ohio SoS Form 500, Certificate Request (rev. 11/2023), instructions: "$5.00 fee for Good Standing, Full Force and Effect, Certificate of Registration, No Record, and Qualification Certificates." Ask for the right one — Form 500 states the Good Standing Certificate "applies to Domestic and Foreign corporations," a domestic LLC gets the Full Force and Effect Certificate, and a foreign LLC gets the Certificate of Registration. All three cost $5. Matches the seal fee in Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(K)(1). Substance is set by § 1706.175(A): LLC name, date of formation, and that the LLC is in full force and effect. Watch the shelf life — under § 1706.175(C) the certificate is conclusive evidence for only 30 days after its date, so a lender sitting on a file will often need it re-pulled. https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.175
Certificate of Amendment or Restatement of the articles of organization	$50	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(P) — "For filing a restatement under section 1705.08, 1706.161, or 1782.09 ... an amendment under section 1705.08, 1706.161, or 1782.09 ... fifty dollars."
Certificate of Correction	$50	Ohio SoS Form 612, "Certificate of Correction," states Filing Fee: $50. Same amount set by Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(P) for a correction under § 1706.173. Use this rather than an amendment when fixing an error in a previously filed record.
Name reservation (exclusive right to use a name / reserve a name for future use)	$39	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(S)(1), applying to reservations under § 1706.07. Renewal of a reservation is $25 under § 111.16(S)(3); assignment of rights, cancellation of the reservation, or a change of the registrant's address is $25 under § 111.16(S)(4).
Trade name or fictitious name registration or report	$39	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(S)(2). Renewal $25 under § 111.16(S)(3).
Expedite Service 1 — 2 business days	$100	Ohio SoS Form 610 (Articles of Organization, last revised 09/2025), page 1: "Fee: $100 / Processing Time: 2 business days after receipt." Expedite fees are IN ADDITION to the filing fee. Failure to include the expedite fee or to check a service-type box results in regular service. Regular service is quoted at 3-7 business days with no expedite fee.
Expedite Service 2 — 1 business day	$200	Ohio SoS Form 610, page 1: "Fee: $200 / Processing Time: 1 business day after receipt." In addition to the $99 filing fee.
Expedite Service 3 — 4 hours (in-person delivery required)	$300	Ohio SoS Form 610, page 1: "Expedite Service 3 (in-person delivery is required) — Fee: $300 / Processing Time: 4 hours if received by 1:00 p.m. If received after 1:00 p.m., documents will be processed by noon the following business day." This tier cannot be bought online or by mail.
Preclearance filing (pre-submission review of a proposed document)	$50	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(M): "For examining documents to be filed at a later date for the purpose of advising as to the acceptability of the proposed filing, fifty dollars." Form 610 lists it as a service-type option with a 1-2 business day turnaround. https://www.ohiosos.gov/assets/610.pdf
Reinstatement after cancellation	$25	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(Q): "For filing for reinstatement of an entity cancelled by operation of law, by the secretary of state, by order of the department of taxation, or by order of a court, twenty-five dollars." Under § 1706.09(L) the application must be filed within two years of cancellation and must be accompanied by the required appointment of agent.
Statutory agent change, resignation, or change of agent address	$25	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(R)(1), covering filings under § 1706.09. Ohio's term of art is "statutory agent," not "registered agent."
Multiple change of agent name or address (bulk agent update)	$125 plus $3 per entity record changed	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(R)(2). Relevant when a commercial registered-agent provider moves offices across a portfolio; cheaper per entity than $25 each above five entities.
Certificate of Dissolution (voluntary wind-up of a domestic LLC)	$50	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(N)(1), covering a certificate of dissolution or certificate of cancellation under § 1706.471.
Foreign LLC registration (out-of-state LLC registering in Ohio)	$99	Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(F) prices a foreign-LLC registration application identically to a domestic formation. Cancellation of a foreign registration under § 1706.514 is $50 per § 111.16(N)(3).
Service of process on the Secretary of State as substitute agent	$5 per delivery (four copies required)	Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.09(H)(2). Applies when an LLC's agent cannot be found or the LLC failed to maintain an agent — a cost your counterparties can impose on you, and a signal that cancellation is imminent.

Online vs. mail vs. counter

Online vs mail — base fee: No difference. The $99 articles-of-organization fee is fixed by statute, not by filing channel: Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16(F) sets it for the filing itself, and Form 610 prints "Filing Fee: $99" on the paper form while directing filers to OhioBusinessCentral.gov to file the same document online. (source)
Mail — two different PO boxes: The regular-service P.O. box is set per form, not statewide, so read the box off the form you are actually filing. Form 610 (Articles of Organization) routes regular service to P.O. Box 670, Columbus, OH 43216, while Form 612 (Certificate of Correction) routes regular service to P.O. Box 1329, Columbus, OH 43216. The expedite box is the same on both: P.O. Box 1390, Columbus, OH 43216. Sending an expedited filing to a regular box is a common self-inflicted delay. (source)
In-person only: The fastest tier, Expedite Service 3 ($300 / 4-hour turnaround if received by 1:00 p.m.), is labeled on Form 610 as "in-person delivery is required," so a mailed filing cannot buy it. On Form 610 the next tier down, Expedite Service 2 ($200 / 1 business day), carries no in-person restriction, so that is the fastest a mailed formation can go. CAUTION — Ohio's own forms disagree on this point: Form 612 (Certificate of Correction, rev. 01/2022) says Expedite Service 2 "is only available to walk-in customers who hand deliver the document to the Client Service Center," the same restriction it puts on Service 3. Form 610 is the newer document (rev. 09/2025) and controls for a formation filing, but if you are mailing an amendment or correction and paying for 1-business-day service, confirm by phone before relying on it. (source)
Paper form mechanics: Paper filings must include a check or money order payable to "Ohio Secretary of State," be typed, and be printed single-sided on 8.5 x 11 paper — Form 610 states double-sided paper will be rejected and illegible forms will be rejected. A rejected filing means re-mailing and restarting the clock, so paper carries a real re-work risk the online portal does not. (source)
Accepted payment methods: Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16 closes with: "Fees specified in this section may be paid by cash, check, or money order, by credit card in accordance with section 113.40 of the Revised Code, or by an alternative payment program in accordance with division (B) of section 111.18 of the Revised Code." (source)
Card convenience surcharge — authority exists, no published rate: Ohio Rev. Code § 113.40(E) permits a state elected official (including the Secretary of State) to "establish a surcharge or convenience fee" on payments made by credit or debit card, and requires that the exact dollar amount or percentage be disclosed to the payer at checkout. No surcharge rate is fixed in the fee statute itself, so the statutory fee is the only amount that can be quoted in advance — verify the total on the Ohio Business Central checkout screen before submitting. (source)

Miss the deadline: what it actually costs

Ohio has no LLC annual report, no biennial report, and no LLC franchise or privilege tax payable to the Secretary of State, so there is no annual filing to be late on and no monetary late penalty in the fee statute. The real delinquency mechanic is the statutory agent. Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.09(A) requires every domestic and registered foreign LLC to "maintain continuously in this state an agent for service of process." Under § 1706.09(L), if the LLC fails to continuously maintain a statutory agent or fails to file a change of the agent's name or address, the Secretary of State gives notice by ordinary or electronic mail, and "[u]nless the default is cured within thirty days after the mailing by the secretary of state of the notice or within any further period of time that the secretary of state grants ... the articles of the limited liability company ... shall be canceled without further notice or action by the secretary of state." Note that the statute lets the Secretary of State grant additional time beyond the thirty days, so the cure window is a floor, not a hard ceiling — but it is discretionary and should never be planned around. There is no dollar penalty and no grace-period fee — the sanction is loss of the entity's articles. A canceled LLC may be reinstated by filing an application for reinstatement plus the required agent appointment within two years of cancellation, paying the $25 fee in § 111.16(Q). Under § 1706.46(A) the canceled LLC's name is held for only one year after cancellation; reinstate after that and, if someone else has taken a non-distinguishable name, the Secretary of State will require you to change your name as a condition of reinstatement. Note that the Department of Taxation and the courts can also order cancellation, which § 111.16(Q) reinstatement covers.

Your statutory agent resigns and files the notice with the Secretary of State on March 2, 2026. Under § 1706.09(F) the agent's authority terminates 30 days later, on April 1, 2026. You do not appoint a replacement, so the Secretary of State emails the default notice on, say, April 6, 2026. The 30-day cure clock in § 1706.09(L) runs to May 6, 2026. Cure in time: file the statutory agent appointment for $25 (§ 111.16(R)(1)) and nothing else happens. Miss it: on May 7, 2026 your articles are canceled automatically, with no further notice and no invoice — the first sign is usually a bank or a customer pulling a certificate of full force and effect and finding none. Fixing it then costs $25 for reinstatement (§ 111.16(Q)) filed together with the agent appointment, and it must be done by May 2028 (two years). Between May 2027 and May 2028 you are still inside the reinstatement window but past the one-year name hold in § 1706.46(A), so if another business has claimed a non-distinguishable name you must rename the LLC to get reinstated. Net: the cash penalty is only $25, but the exposure is a period of canceled existence and a possible forced rebrand. (source)

Recent fee changes

2025-09 — Ohio Secretary of State reissued Form 610, Articles of Organization for a Domestic Limited Liability Company ("Last Revised: 09/2025"). The filing fee stayed at $99 and the four service tiers stayed at regular (3-7 business days, no fee), $100 / 2 business days, $200 / 1 business day, $300 / 4 hours in person, plus $50 preclearance. (source)
2025-04-03 — Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16 was amended by H.B. 315 (135th General Assembly), effective April 3, 2025. Comparing the current text against the April 7, 2023 version, every LLC-relevant amount was left unchanged: articles of organization $99 (F), copies $1/page and seal $5 (K)(1), preclearance $50 (M), dissolution/cancellation $50 (N), amendment/restatement/correction $50 (P), reinstatement $25 (Q), agent change $25 (R)(1), name reservation $39 (S)(1). (source)
2025-01-01 — The Commercial Activity Tax exclusion amount rose from $3,000,000 to $6,000,000. Ohio Rev. Code § 5751.01(R) now reads: "'Exclusion amount' means three million dollars beginning in 2024 and six million dollars beginning in 2025." This is the change that takes essentially every small Ohio LLC out of CAT registration and filing entirely, and it is why Ohio's true annual cost of maintaining an LLC is $0 to the state. (source)
2024-10-24 — Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.09 was amended by S.B. 98 (135th General Assembly) to add, in division (C)(2), a definition of a statutory agent's "usual place of business" — "a place in this state that is customarily open during normal business hours and where an individual is generally present who is authorized to perform the services of a registered agent" — and to state expressly that it "does not include a post office box, regardless of whether that post office box has an associated street address." No filing fee changed. The definition is scoped "[a]s used in division (C)(1)" and therefore bites only on the entity-agent branch of that division, where a non-natural-person agent must give a usual place of business; a natural-person agent still gives a primary residence address. So the amendment narrowed what address a commercial agent service can use, not who may serve as agent. (source)
2021-04-12 — S.B. 276 (133rd General Assembly) amended § 111.16 to point the LLC fee provisions at the new Ohio Revised Limited Liability Company Act (Chapter 1706) alongside the old Chapter 1705 — agent changes under § 1706.09 in (R)(1), name reservations under § 1706.07 in (S)(1), restatements and amendments under § 1706.161 in (P), and cancellations under §§ 1706.471 and 1706.514 in (N). The dollar amounts were not changed by this amendment. Chapter 1706 became applicable to all Ohio LLCs on February 11, 2022 (§ 1706.83). (source)

What trips people up

Ohio never sends an LLC a bill, which is exactly the trap: with no annual report and no franchise tax, the only thing that can kill your LLC is a lapsed statutory agent, and § 1706.09(L) cancels your articles 30 days after a mailed or emailed notice with no dollar penalty and no second reminder. (source)
Ohio's statutory agent address rule splits on what the agent is. Under § 1706.09(C)(1) the appointment must give "the street and number of the agent's primary residence in this state or, if the agent is not a natural person, the agent's usual place of business in this state" — so an individual agent may use a home address, while an entity agent must use a usual place of business. Since October 24, 2024 (S.B. 98), § 1706.09(C)(2) defines that term for the entity case as "a place in this state that is customarily open during normal business hours and where an individual is generally present who is authorized to perform the services of a registered agent," and excludes post office boxes "regardless of whether that post office box has an associated street address." Form 610 adds that CMRAs (commercial mail receiving agencies) are not allowed either, but carves out one exception to the P.O. box ban: "If a Post Office Box and Rural Route Number are both provided, the address is allowed." Net effect: mail-drop agent addresses are out. (source)
Ohio sells a $50 "preclearance" review under § 111.16(M) — the Secretary of State will examine a document before you file it and advise whether it will be accepted, with a 1-2 business day turnaround per Form 610. For an unusual amendment, merger, or series-LLC statement it is cheaper than a rejected filing plus a re-file, and most states offer no equivalent. (source)

Sources

Official Ohio fee schedule
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 111.16', 'covers': 'Master fee schedule for all Ohio Secretary of State filings. § 111.16(F) sets the LLC articles of organization and foreign-LLC registration fee at $99; (K)(1) copies and seal; (M) preclearance; (N) dissolution/cancellation; (P) amendment/restatement/correction; (Q) reinstatement; (R) statutory agent changes; (S) name reservation and trade names.', 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-111.16', 'note': 'Current version effective April 3, 2025 (H.B. 315, 135th General Assembly).'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.09', 'covers': 'Statutory agent requirement for LLCs, agent address standards, and the cancellation-for-agent-default mechanic in division (L) plus the two-year reinstatement window.', 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.09', 'note': 'Current version effective October 24, 2024 (S.B. 98, 135th General Assembly).'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.46', 'covers': "Effect of reinstatement after cancellation; the canceled LLC's name is reserved for one year after cancellation.", 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.46'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.175', 'covers': "Certificate of full force and effect (Ohio's good-standing certificate) and its 30-day conclusive-evidence window.", 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-1706.175'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 111.23', 'covers': 'Authority for the Secretary of State to establish, by rule, the expedited filing service and its fees. The tier amounts are published on the prescribed forms rather than in the fee statute.', 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-111.23'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 1706.16 / § 1706.161', 'covers': 'Articles of organization and amendments to articles of organization — the filings priced by § 111.16(F) and § 111.16(P).', 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/chapter-1706'}
{'cite': 'Ohio Rev. Code § 5751.01(R)', 'covers': 'Commercial Activity Tax exclusion amount — $3,000,000 beginning in 2024 and $6,000,000 beginning in 2025. This is the only recurring state-level money obligation that touches most Ohio LLCs, and it is a Department of Taxation matter, not a Secretary of State filing.', 'url': 'https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5751.01'}

Compare all 51 jurisdictions in the LLC cost calculator or the cost-by-state guide. For formation steps and gotchas, see the Ohio LLC guide.

Figures verified against official Ohio 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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