The short answer, the exact fee, and the steps to file in Delaware.
Forming an LLC in Delaware costs $110 up front for the Certificate of Formation, a fairly ordinary, middle-of-the-road filing fee. Delaware charges a recurring fee substantial enough to budget for every year, and the rest of the process is the same paperwork every state requires: a registered agent, an operating agreement, and a free EIN. Delaware is best known for its Court of Chancery and its popularity with larger companies that plan to raise outside investment. Most small, single-owner Delaware LLCs that actually operate in another state end up registering as a foreign LLC there too, which means paying twice.
The Delaware Secretary of State collects $110 when you file the Certificate of Formation. Budget a registered-agent service on top of that if you want a local address on file without using your own; that typically runs a few hundred dollars a year nationally, separate from anything Delaware itself charges. On the recurring side, Delaware charges a recurring fee substantial enough to budget for every year ($300). Use the LLC cost calculator to estimate what you'll actually pay in year one for a Delaware LLC.
| Filing document | Certificate of Formation |
| State filing fee | $110 |
| Recurring report fee | $300 |
These are the figures Delaware itself publishes for LLC formation; confirm the current amount on the Delaware Secretary of State site before you file, since state fees change.
By default, Delaware taxes an LLC the same way it would tax a sole proprietorship or partnership: profit passes through to your personal return and there is no separate LLC-level tax just for choosing the structure. Some Delaware LLC owners later elect S-corp tax treatment once profit is consistently high enough to make the extra payroll paperwork worth it. Run your Delaware numbers through the LLC tax calculator and the LLC vs sole proprietor calculator before you estimate your LLC tax bill.
Delaware charges $110 to file the Certificate of Formation, which is a fairly ordinary, middle-of-the-road filing fee. After that, Delaware charges a recurring fee substantial enough to budget for every year; use the LLC cost calculator for your full first-year number.
No. Most people file the Certificate of Formation themselves directly with Delaware's Secretary of State. A lawyer can help with a custom operating agreement for a Delaware LLC or a more complex ownership setup, but Delaware does not require one to form the LLC itself.
Delaware charges a recurring fee substantial enough to budget for every year, currently $300 on the recurring schedule the state sets, on top of the original filing fee.
Usually not, unless you have a specific reason like Delaware's legal system or tax treatment. If your business actually operates somewhere other than Delaware, you will likely need to register as a foreign LLC there too, which means paying Delaware and that other state instead of just one.
No. By default, a Delaware LLC is taxed the same way a sole proprietorship or partnership would be. Any tax savings for a Delaware LLC come from electing S-corp status once profit is high enough, which you can check with the LLC tax calculator.
Priya covers tax, regulation, and compliance: the rules that decide what you can and cannot do, usually filed in an obscure subsection that most people skip. She reads federal register notices in her spare time and is at peace with that being unusual.