Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in New Jersey costs $100 (certificate of formation) – reduced from $125 by 2026 legislation to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($75 annually). Five-year total: At least $475 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 | $100 (certificate of formation) – reduced from $125 by 2026 legislation |
| Annual/biennial report | $75 annually |
| Franchise / minimum tax | not verified |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: At least $475 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 per filing expedited (over-the-counter only); $50 same-day (fax filing only); $500 2-hour; $1,000 1-hour
The trap worth knowing before you file
AGENCY SCHEDULE AND THE PRE-2026 FEE STATUTE DISAGREE, and the agency is right: DORES charges $100 for an LLC certificate of formation while the codified text of N.J.S.A. 42:2C-93(a)(4) as last amended by P.L.2019, c.149 reads $125. The gap is the 2026 amendment. Bill text (which reproduces the codified section verbatim with the old amount bracketed): https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2026/A5500/5325_I1.PDF; committee statement: https://pub.njleg.state.nj.us/Bills/2026/A5500/5325_S1.PDF. ACCESS NOTES: the njleg.state.nj.us bill-detail page carries no bill text without a browser session, and its data routes return 404.
Once the LLC exists, an operating agreement is what actually runs it
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Source
N.J.S.A. 42:2C-93(a)(4), (a)(6), (b) (as amended 2026); N.J.S.A. 42:2C-26; New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services fee schedule. Read 2026-08-06 from official. Formation-service sites were not used as a source for this figure.
If the LLC already exists somewhere else
Everything above prices forming a new New Jersey LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: New Jersey takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions domestication, N.J.S.A. 42:2C-82.a, and the entity-law filing fee for it is $75 — a separate filing from the formation costs above. Going the other way, a New Jersey LLC may leave for another US state under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-82.b. 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 being listed inactive costs. Reinstatement is $75 plus the annual reports you owe — and past the two-year mark you also need a tax clearance certificate from the Division of Taxation before it completes. See reinstating a New Jersey LLC.
Moving an LLC you already own is a different question from what it costs to form a new one here: New Jersey’s statute calls the mechanism domestication, at N.J.S.A. 42:2C-82.a. See how to move an LLC to New Jersey.
Electing S-corp status for this LLC changes the tax picture too. New Jersey dropped the extra election step in 2022, but still charges S-corps a $375 to $1,500 minimum tax outside the LLC fee schedule. See what New Jersey charges at the entity level.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See New Jersey LLC annual report.
Related: New Jersey’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: New Jersey’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.