Illinois LLC Costs — What You Actually Pay

Two categories of cost apply to essentially every Illinois LLC: the one-time cost to form it and the recurring cost to keep it alive. The exact dollar figures are shown in the receipt card on this page, pulled directly from current state data, so this section explains what each charge is for rather than restating numbers.

The formation filing fee

To create your LLC, you file Articles of Organization (Form LLC-5.5) with the Secretary of State's Department of Business Services, and the state charges a filing fee to process it. This is a one-time cost. Whether you file online or by mail, the state fee is the same — the online route is simply faster. This fee is non-negotiable and non-refundable; it is what the state charges to review and record your formation.

The annual report fee

Every year, your LLC has to file an annual report to stay in good standing, and the state charges a fee for it. Unlike states that use one calendar deadline, Illinois bases yours on your formation anniversary. Budget for this every year for as long as the LLC exists — it is the ongoing cost of keeping the entity active and your liability protection intact.

Together, the formation fee and the recurring annual report fee are the baseline. Everything else on this page is situational.

Beyond the required charges, several costs apply only if your circumstances call for them. Knowing which ones might hit you helps you plan realistically.

Expedited processing

Illinois offers faster handling of filings for an additional state fee. If you are racing a lease signing, a bank appointment, or a contract deadline, expediting can be worth it. If you have time to spare, standard processing costs nothing extra. The receipt card reflects the expedite option where applicable.

Registered agent service

If you serve as your own registered agent, this costs nothing but exposes your address publicly and puts the responsibility on you. If you hire a commercial registered agent — which most home-based and out-of-state owners do — that is an annual service cost. It buys privacy, guaranteed availability during business hours, and reliable handling of legal documents.

Name reservation

If you want to lock in your name before you are ready to file, Illinois lets you reserve it for a period for a small state fee. Most filers skip this and go straight to the Articles, so treat it as optional.

Assumed name (DBA) registration

If your LLC will operate under a name other than its legal name, you register an assumed name with the Secretary of State for a fee. This applies only if you are running a brand distinct from your registered LLC name.

Certified copies and certificates of good standing

Banks, lenders, and larger customers sometimes ask for a certified copy of your Articles or a certificate of good standing. The state charges for these on request. You do not need them to form or run the LLC, but plan for the cost if a counterparty requires one.

Some of the money you spend around your LLC has nothing to do with the Secretary of State. It is easy to lump everything together, so it is worth separating out.

Federal EIN — free

An Employer Identification Number from the IRS costs nothing. You apply directly at IRS.gov and receive the number immediately. If a service offers to get your EIN for a fee, understand that the underlying government charge is zero — you are paying only for the convenience of having someone else do a ten-minute task.

Taxes

Your LLC's tax bill is a business cost, not a formation cost. Illinois taxes pass-through income at the member level and imposes the personal property replacement tax on LLC net income. If you sell taxable goods or services, you collect and remit sales tax through the Illinois Department of Revenue. These depend entirely on your revenue and activity — they are not a fixed fee you pay to exist.

Licenses and permits

Illinois has no single general business license, but your specific profession or city may require one, each with its own fee and renewal cycle. A restaurant, a contractor, and a consultant will face very different license costs. Research what applies to your line of work; none of it is charged by the entity-filing office.

Professional help

If you hire an attorney to draft a custom operating agreement or a CPA to structure your taxes, those are professional fees, not state charges. They are optional, and many single-member LLCs get by with a solid template agreement and off-the-shelf accounting.

When you use Mainstay Filing, your cost is the state's required fees plus our service fee — and we are transparent about the split. The state fee you see on the receipt card is exactly what Illinois charges; we do not mark it up. Displayed equals charged.

Our fee is a single flat amount charged yearly, and it covers the full cycle: preparing your Articles of Organization correctly, submitting them to the Department of Business Services, and returning your stamped documents, plus registered agent service — included every year rather than renewed as its own charge — so your address stays private and someone is always available to receive legal documents. After formation, we prepare and file your anniversary-based annual report as part of that same yearly amount, so the deadline never slips.

You can absolutely do all of this yourself and pay only the state fees. The value of a service is the time saved, the reduced chance of a rejected filing, and not having to keep the annual deadline in your own head. Whether that tradeoff is worth it depends on how you value your time and how comfortable you are navigating the state's systems. Either way, the state's cut is the same, and there is no benefit to overpaying for the parts the government provides for free — like the EIN.