2026 State Business Fee Changes: LLC Filing & Annual Costs

Checked October 12, 2026 · State laws and official fee notices · By StartBusinessByState

Louisiana raised its LLC fees, New Jersey cut its formation fee, and Delaware increased its yearly LLC tax. This tracker shows the old charge, the new charge, and when the change reaches your business. Montana’s continued annual-report waiver is listed separately below.

Coverage: six verified LLC charge changes across three states, plus one continued waiver. This is a growing record of confirmed changes, not a claim that every state has changed its fees or that all 50 states have been audited. For the current nationwide price comparison, use our LLC cost-by-state table.

2026 LLC fee changes by state

State names open the matching LLC filing guide. Dollar changes are per filing or per tax year, as labeled—not a combined startup bill.

Enacted LLC changes verified October 12, 2026. USD; base state charges.

State	Charge	Before	Now	Change	Applies from / source
Louisiana	Domestic LLC formationone-time filing	$100	$125	+$25+25.0%	Filings from October 1, 2026Act 921, HB 908
Louisiana	LLC annual reporteach annual report	$30	$35	+$5+16.7%	Reports from October 1, 2026Act 921, HB 908
Louisiana	Out-of-state LLC registrationone-time filing	$150	$185	+$35+23.3%	Filings from October 1, 2026Act 921, HB 908
New Jersey	Domestic LLC formationone-time filing	$125	$100	−$25−20.0%	Filings from July 1, 2026P.L. 2026, c.24, section 5
New Jersey	Out-of-state LLC registrationone-time filing	$125	$100	−$25−20.0%	Filings from July 1, 2026P.L. 2026, c.24, section 5
Delaware	LLC annual taxper tax year	$300	$400	+$100+33.3%	2026 tax year; regular payment due June 1, 202785 Del. Laws, c.273, sections 23 and 45

Download the fee-change data (CSV)Download the summary graphic

Louisiana: allow $125 to form and $35 for the annual report

From October 1, 2026, Louisiana’s base Articles of Organization charge is $125, up $25 (25%). An LLC annual report is $35, up $5 (16.7%). If an existing LLC formed elsewhere is registering to operate in Louisiana, the application for authority is $185, up $35 (23.3%).

That means a new domestic LLC paying for formation and one annual report at the new rates budgets $160 for those two charges instead of $130. They are separate payments, not both a bill due when you form. Optional service charges are additional. The changes come from Louisiana Act 921 (HB 908), the legislature’s enacted-act digest.

Ready to file? Our Louisiana LLC formation guide covers the paperwork, filing choices, and annual-report step.

New Jersey: the formation fee fell to $100

New Jersey cut the LLC Certificate of Formation fee from $125 to $100 on July 1, 2026—a $25 saving, or 20%. The same law sets the application for authority for an out-of-state LLC at $100. It leaves the LLC annual report at $75.

For a domestic LLC, formation plus one annual report therefore totals $175 rather than $200, paid at their respective filing times. A quote based on the older $125 formation charge needs updating. The enacted text is P.L. 2026, chapter 24; LLC fees are in section 5 and the effective date is in section 6.

Use our New Jersey LLC filing guide to compare filing directly with having your formation paperwork prepared for you.

Delaware: the tax year and payment year are different

Delaware’s annual LLC tax rose from $300 to $400, an increase of $100 or 33.3%. Sections 23 and 45 of HB 400’s enacted law apply the change from January 1, 2026. For an LLC that stays registered through the year, the regular payment for the 2026 tax year is due June 1, 2027.

The payment timing comes from Delaware Code §18-1107(c): the annual tax is due in June after the calendar year closes; cancellation can make it payable earlier. This is a recurring state tax, not the price to create the LLC and not an annual-report filing fee.

Already decided on Delaware? See the Delaware LLC filing and annual-tax guide. Still comparing locations? Our Delaware LLC five-year cost comparison shows how recurring charges and registering in your operating state affect the total.

Montana: a continued waiver, not a new 2026 price cut

Montana charges $0 for annual reports filed January 1 through April 15 in 2026 and 2027. The Secretary of State’s filing instructions list a $35 charge after April 15. The report itself still needs to be filed.

This extends the earlier waiver; it is not a fresh year-over-year reduction from a fee businesses paid in 2025. The legislature’s July 2025 rule-review report (page 4) records adoption of the extension, effective June 7, 2025, and the Secretary of State confirms the 2026 and 2027 waiver. The 2026 free window has passed; put the January 1–April 15, 2027 window on your calendar.

For the formation process and filing options, see our Montana LLC guide.

Starting an LLC? Turn the fee into a filing plan

Once you know the state charge, the next step is getting the business filed and keeping its recurring dates organized. The state guides above explain the local steps and compare direct filing with formation services. Our LLC setup guide brings together formation, registered-agent service, an operating agreement, and the tasks that follow.

Compare the service price and state charge separately. A formation provider can prepare and submit your paperwork; the state fee in this tracker is still part of the total.

Sources, scope, and how we calculate changes

We include an amount only after checking an enacted law, an official adoption record, or the responsible agency’s instructions. Each table row has its own source. Proposed bills stay out of the enacted-change count. An unlisted state means no entry in this edition—not “verified unchanged.”

• Dollar change: new charge minus previous charge.
• Percentage change: dollar change divided by the previous charge. Displayed percentages are rounded to one decimal place.
• Scope: selected domestic LLC formation, foreign registration, annual-report charges, and flat annual LLC taxes affecting 2026. “Foreign” means formed in another jurisdiction; it does not necessarily mean outside the United States.
• Excluded: registered-agent subscriptions, formation-service prices, optional rush handling, local permits, newspaper notices, late penalties, and taxes calculated from revenue or income. Other entity types and other charges in the same laws are not exhaustively tabulated.
• Dates: an enactment date, legal effective date, and payment deadline can differ. Delaware’s row shows that distinction explicitly. This page is checked through October 12, 2026, not a real-time feed.

For proposed taxes and occupational licensing legislation, use our separate sales-tax and license-bill tracker. For prices across every state rather than changes, use the nationwide LLC fee comparison.

Cite or reuse this tracker

The original fee compilation is available under CC BY 4.0; the linked state materials retain their own terms. Please credit StartBusinessByState and link to this page so readers can check the dates and sources. Source details and the citation travel with the CSV.

Update log

October 12, 2026: First edition: six enacted LLC charge changes in Delaware, Louisiana, and New Jersey; Montana’s existing annual-report waiver shown separately. Official source checks and dollar calculations completed on that date.