Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in Arkansas costs $50 to file, and an ongoing report requirement (no separate report fee — the annual filing IS the franchise tax report). Five-year total: $800 over five years, every component verified.
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $50 |
| Annual/biennial report | no separate report fee — the annual filing IS the franchise tax report |
| Franchise / minimum tax | $150 annual, flat |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: $800 over five years, every component verified. Publication cost is excluded from this figure — it’s county-driven where it applies, not state-driven, so a single number would be wrong for most filers.
The trap worth knowing before you file
Fee schedule PDF downloaded and its text extracted. Franchise tax figure from the SOS’s own franchise-tax-report-forms fee table; May 1 due date from the SOS franchise filing system at sos-franchise.ark.org. The fee STATUTE (Ark. Code 26-54-104 and the LLC act’s fee section) was not reached — arkleg.state.ar.us document paths returned a 42-byte GIF rather than the act text, so no statute-vs-schedule comparison was possible for Arkansas.
Source
Arkansas SOS LLC fee schedule under Act 1041 of 2021; franchise tax administered by the SOS (Ark. Code tit. 26 ch. 54 not fetched). Read 2026-08-06 from official. Formation-service sites were not used as a source for this figure.
Once the LLC exists, an operating agreement is what actually runs it
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If the LLC already exists somewhere else
Everything above prices forming a new Arkansas LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: Arkansas takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions domestication, Ark. Code Ann. § 4-38-1051, and the entity-law filing fee for it is $300 — a separate filing from the formation costs above. Going the other way, an Arkansas LLC may leave for another US state under Ark. Code Ann. § 4-38-1051; § 4-38-1053. Either way the move needs both ends to allow it — the state being left as well as the state being joined — which is where most published advice goes wrong.
How to Move an LLC to Another State · LLC Domestication by State: All 51 Jurisdictions, With the Statute
What letting it lapse costs in Arkansas. The catch-up bill is only half the story — in Arkansas two delinquency systems run through one office, and the franchise-tax side can freeze filings even after the LLC-Act side is cured. The figures, and the statute they come from, are on reinstating an Arkansas LLC.
Arkansas LLC Annual Franchise Tax: $150 and Filing Lockout Risk
Use these official filing checkpoints when reconciling the recurring-cost estimate on this page.
- Arkansas requires registered LLCs to pay an annual franchise tax.
- The listed LLC or PLLC amount is $150 online or on paper.
- Nonpayment can add fees, penalties, and interest, revoke authority to do business, and block additional Business and Commercial Services filings.
Match the entity’s formation or registration record, filing mode, and current status to the controlling rule before submitting; use the official filing authority for the current interface.
Compare LLC reporting systems across all jurisdictions, then verify this state’s rule in the official source.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See Arkansas LLC annual report.
Electing S-corp status for this LLC changes the tax picture too. Arkansas requires no separate S-corp election, but its franchise tax scales with capital stock in a way an LLC’s flat $150 never does. See what Arkansas charges at the entity level.
Related: Arkansas’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: Arkansas’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.