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Illinois makes you choose between waiting and paying. Articles of Organization on form LLC-5.5 cost $150 and are processed in 10 business days. The 24-hour service costs $250 in total when you file online. Both routes go through the Illinois Secretary of State, whose LLC instructions are the page to read before you start. The line-by-line fee breakdown sits on our Illinois LLC cost page, and the search tool is in the Illinois business guide.
How do I choose an Illinois LLC name?
End the name with Limited Liability Company, LLC or L.L.C. Avoid Corporation, Corp., Inc., Ltd., Co. and LP, because the state's guidance bars them from an LLC name.
The name must be distinguishable from names already on file, according to the LLC act guide. Search first. If the search finds no records, the name may be available, though the check is not a guarantee.
Need a few weeks to decide? An Application for Reserved Name, form LLC-1.15, costs $25 and holds the name for 90 days. You can renew it. One more detail: the name of a dissolved LLC is held for three years, so an old name may be blocked even if the company is gone.
Who can be my Illinois registered agent?
An Illinois resident, or an entity that is authorized to do business in Illinois. A member, manager, organizer or employee can do it. The LLC cannot name itself. The agent needs an Illinois street address, and all Secretary of State mail goes there. The full rules are on our Illinois registered agent page.
How do I file the Illinois Articles of Organization?
Complete form LLC-5.5 and pay $150. Online filing is the route to the 24-hour option, which brings the total to $250. The paper route takes the standard 10 business days.
Use the filing instructions as your checklist, because Illinois asks for the registered agent and registered office in the same filing. Choose the agent before you sit down to file, or the form stalls.
If the LLC is formed elsewhere and wants to do business here, it files an Application for Admission to Transact Business instead, also $150. See foreign LLC registration.
What comes after approval?
Write an operating agreement and keep it with your records. Illinois does not ask you to file it. Then apply for a free EIN with our EIN guide and open a business account.
What will the first year cost?
Count $150 for the Articles of Organization and $75 for the first annual report. That is $225 in state charges with standard handling, or $325 if you pay for the 24-hour service. A reserved name adds $25, and a Certificate of Good Standing, if a bank or another state asks, adds $25 for an LLC. Registered agent and legal costs are separate, and the state does not set them.
The report date is tied to the formation month, so mark it as soon as the approval comes back.
What does an Illinois LLC pay each year?
An annual report, at $75. File it before the first day of the anniversary month. About 45 days earlier, the state mails a pre-filled report to the registered agent. If your agent's address is stale, that notice goes nowhere.
The penalty ladder is steep. Late reports make the LLC delinquent. If the report is not filed within 60 days after the due date, a $100 penalty is added. If it is not filed within 120 days of delinquency, the LLC is dissolved. The annual report deadline guide compares this with other states.
The franchise tax that Illinois publishes is for corporations and is based on paid-in capital. The LLC pages we read list the annual report as the yearly filing.
Ready to file? Start with our start-an-LLC form.
After approval, check the rules in our Illinois business license guide.