Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in Rhode Island costs $150 to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($50). Five-year total: $2,400 over five years, every component verified.
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $150 |
| Annual/biennial report | $50 |
| Franchise / minimum tax | $400 annual charge |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: $2,400 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
Other statute sections read for this page: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE7/7-16/7-16-66.HTM, https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE7/7-16/7-16-67.HTM, https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-11/44-11-2.HTM, plus the chapter index at https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE7/7-16/INDEX.HTM which is where the annual charge turns out to live in § 7-16-67 rather than in the fee section. Agency page read for corroboration of the annual report window and late fee: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/ri-business/file-your-annual-report (official
Source
R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-65 (filing, service and copying fees); § 7-16-66 (annual report); § 7-16-67 (annual charge); § 44-11-2(e) (minimum tax). 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
This is free to browse and there is no obligation to buy anything — LawDepot builds a state-specific LLC operating agreement through a question-and-answer form.
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If the LLC already exists somewhere else
Everything above prices forming a new Rhode Island LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: Rhode Island takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions conversion, R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-5.1, and the entity-law filing fee for it is $50 — a separate filing from the formation costs above. Going the other way, a Rhode Island LLC may leave for another US state under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-5.2. 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 Rhode Island. The catch-up bill is only half the story — in Rhode Island a twenty-year window, paid for with an uncapped $50-per-year penalty and a tax certificate from a second agency. The figures, and the statute they come from, are on reinstating a Rhode Island LLC.
Rhode Island LLC Annual Report: February-to-May Window and $25 After 30 Days
Use these official filing checkpoints when reconciling the recurring-cost estimate on this page.
- Rhode Island's filing window runs between February 1 and May 1 in the year after formation or registration and each year thereafter.
- A nonconforming report returned by the state avoids the prescribed penalty when corrected and returned within 30 days.
- A report more than 30 days late is subject to a $25 penalty per year.
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.
Closing an LLC in Rhode Island and forming a new one elsewhere is not the only route out, and it is rarely the cheapest: moving an LLC out of Rhode Island covers whether Rhode Island’s statute permits the move and what the Rhode Island-side filing costs.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See Rhode Island LLC annual report.
Related: Rhode Island’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: Rhode Island’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.