Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in Hawaii costs $50 filing fee + $1 State Archives fee ($51 out of pocket) to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($15 (paper/fee-schedule rate); $12.50 filed online). Five-year total: At least $126 over five years — one or more components (commonly the franchise/minimum tax) is unverified, so treat this as a floor, not a total.
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $50 filing fee + $1 State Archives fee ($51 out of pocket) |
| Annual/biennial report | $15 (paper/fee-schedule rate); $12.50 filed online |
| Franchise / minimum tax | none found in the sources searched |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: At least $126 over five years — one or more components (commonly the franchise/minimum tax) is unverified, so treat this as a floor, not a total. 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.
Expedited filing: $25 expedited review (per document)
The trap worth knowing before you file
cca.hawaii.gov blocks some outside readers but served normally for us; the fee schedule PDF was read directly. Formation/expedite text also confirmed at https://cca.hawaii.gov/breg/registration/dllc/ . Quarterly due-date basis, $12.50 online report fee and $10/year late fee come from DCCA’s own release at https://cca.hawaii.gov/breg/release-first-quarter-hawai%CA%BBi-annual-business-reports-due-3/ . The statutory fee text (HRS 428-1301) could not be read: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol09_Ch0431-0435H/HRS0428/HRS_0428-1301.htm returned HTTP 403
Source
HRS ch. 428 (Uniform Limited Liability Company Act); DCCA BREG Form Fee Schedule Rev. 12/2022. 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 Hawaii LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: Hawaii takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions conversion, Haw. Rev. Stat. § 428-902.5(b), and the entity-law filing fee for it is $100 as the agency last published it (that fee page carries no date) — a separate filing from the formation costs above. Going the other way, a Hawaii LLC may leave for another US state under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 428-902.5(a). 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 Hawaii. The catch-up bill is only half the story — in Hawaii two full years must lapse before the state can even start, and for that entire window the name has no protection whatsoever. The figures, and the statute they come from, are on reinstating a Hawaii LLC.
Hawaii LLC Annual Report: Quarter Deadline, $12.50 Online, and Two-Year Termination Risk
Use these official filing checkpoints when reconciling the recurring-cost estimate on this page.
- Hawaii assigns the annual-report deadline by the quarter in which the LLC was organized or registered.
- The report is $15, or $12.50 through online filing.
- The official instructions list a $10 late fee per delinquent year and permit administrative termination after two years without reports.
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 Hawaii LLC annual report.
Related: Hawaii’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: Hawaii’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.