Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in Illinois costs $150 standard; $400 for a series LLC to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($75 (+$50 per series)). Five-year total: At least $525 over five years — one or more components (commonly the franchise/minimum tax) is unverified, so treat this as a floor, not a total.
The same question in other states: How Much Does an LLC Cost in Mississippi?, How Much Does an LLC Cost in Missouri? and How Much Does an LLC Cost in Nebraska?
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $150 standard; $400 for a series LLC |
| Annual/biennial report | $75 (+$50 per series) |
| Franchise / minimum tax | none found for LLCs in the sources searched |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: At least $525 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: $250 total for 24-hour service on articles of organization ($100 over the $150 standard fee); $500 for a series LLC
The trap worth knowing before you file
Access failure, recorded rather than worked around. The Illinois Secretary of State site is unreachable from this machine: https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/business_services/organization/llc_instructions.html and https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/business_services/publications_and_forms/llc.html both returned no response at all (the connection was closed mid-response — every time); the Wayback CDX index shows ilsos.gov itself returning status 403 on its 2026-07-18 capture. Working route used instead: the fee statute on
Source
805 ILCS 180/50-10 (fees); 805 ILCS 180/50-1 (annual report); 805 ILCS 180/50-15 (penalty). Read 2026-08-06 from statute. 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 Illinois LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: Illinois takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions domestication, 805 ILCS 415/301(b), and the entity-law filing fee for it is $100 — a separate filing from the formation costs above. Going the other way, an Illinois LLC may leave for another US state under 805 ILCS 415/301(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. An Illinois LLC that stops filing is administratively dissolved, and coming back is the $200 reinstatement fee on top of $75 for every annual report you skipped. The arithmetic is on reinstating an Illinois LLC.
Illinois LLC Annual Report: 60-Day Pre-Anniversary Window and Mail-Proof Rule
Use these official filing checkpoints when reconciling the recurring-cost estimate on this page.
- Illinois requires delivery during the 60 days immediately before the first day of the anniversary month.
- Proof that the report and charges were properly mailed before the first day of that month counts as compliance.
- A nonconforming report is returned for correction.
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.
Moving an LLC you already own is a different question from what it costs to form a new one here: Illinois’s statute calls the mechanism domestication, at 805 ILCS 415/301(b). See how to move an LLC to Illinois.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See Illinois LLC annual report.
Related: Illinois’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: Illinois’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.