Most people researching how to start an LLC in Florida expect a maze and find a single online form. You file the Articles of Organization with the state on Sunbiz, and the total runs $125 as of 2026. No paid service is required. Florida also charges no personal income tax, which is a big reason founders pick it.
Florida LLC: the office, the fee, the deadline
- File with: the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, on Sunbiz.
- Document: the Articles of Organization.
- Cost: $125 total, a $100 filing fee plus a $25 registered agent fee, as of 2026.
- Timeline: processed in the order received; about four days online as of June 2026.
- Each year: a $138.75 annual report, due by May 1.
- Who this is for: Florida-based businesses, plus out-of-state owners who can keep a Florida registered agent.
- Contacts: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, online at sunbiz.org.
How to start an LLC in Florida, step by step
The whole process runs through the Florida Department of State, and the online form is short once your details are ready. These six steps walk through how to form an LLC in Florida and cover the full Florida LLC requirements, in the order you’ll do them.
Step 1: Name your Florida LLC
Your name has to include limited liability company, L.L.C., or LLC, and be distinguishable from every entity already registered. Check it on the state’s business entity search before you get attached.
A few changes don’t make a name distinguishable: a suffix, an article, “and” versus “&”, singular versus plural, or punctuation alone. The Florida LLC name rules also reject anything implying a government link or a license you don’t hold. Not ready to file? You can reserve a name for a nonrenewable 120 days for $25, as of 2026.
Licensed professionals form a professional LLC (PLLC) under Chapter 621 instead. Think doctors, lawyers, and CPAs, with a name ending in PLLC.
Step 2: Appoint a Florida registered agent
Every Florida LLC must keep a Florida registered agent and a registered office in the state at all times. The agent needs a physical Florida street address; a P.O. box gets rejected, and the LLC can’t be its own agent.
You can take the role yourself, name someone in the business, or hire a registered agent service. Whoever it is signs a statement accepting the job. If you don’t have a Florida address, this is the part of formation most worth paying for.
Step 3: File your Articles of Organization on Sunbiz
This filing is what legally creates the LLC. On Sunbiz, open the option to file Florida LLC Articles of Organization, then list your name, principal and mailing address, and the agent’s details and acceptance.
Pay the $125 and the LLC is formed; the annual report keeps it active after that. Florida offers no expedited service, so every filing clears in the order received. If timing matters, here’s how long Florida LLC filings take right now.
The question I hear most in Florida is whether you can do this for free. You can’t escape the $125 state fee, but you don’t need to pay a service $300 to click the same Sunbiz buttons I do. I’ve filed Florida LLCs directly more times than I can count; the form takes about fifteen minutes. Pay for a registered agent only if you need a Florida address.
Step 4: Add an operating agreement
Florida won’t ask for an operating agreement, and it isn’t part of the Sunbiz filing. State law still treats it as the rulebook for how members vote, share profits, and exit.
Draft a Florida operating agreement before the bank account, even as a single-member LLC, since it backs your liability protection on paper. A ready-made operating agreement template gives you a vetted start.
Step 5: Get your EIN from the IRS
With the LLC approved, apply for your EIN; it’s free and issues in minutes online. Form the company first, because the EIN attaches to the exact registered name. You’ll need it to open a bank account, hire, and file federal taxes, even as the only member.
Step 6: Open a business bank account
Open a dedicated business bank account the moment the EIN arrives, then run every dollar through it. Mixing personal and company money is how owners quietly undo their own liability shield.
Most Florida banks want the stamped Articles, the EIN letter, and the operating agreement at sign-up. Selling taxable goods? You’ll also register for sales and use tax with the Florida Department of Revenue.
Use Northwest when the Florida registered agent piece is the real need.
Florida’s Sunbiz filing is short, but every LLC still needs a registered agent with a physical Florida address. Northwest can handle the formation and agent role together if you do not want to list yourself or manage the state mail personally.
Florida LLC cost: $125 to file, $138.75 every year
The state filing fee is $125 as of 2026: the $100 filing fee plus the $25 registered agent designation, paid together. Optional add-ons stay small, a $30 certified copy or a $5 certificate of status.
Your only built-in recurring cost is the $138.75 annual report, so the yearly math stays small once the $125 setup is behind you.
For the deeper math, see our Florida cost breakdown; if you’re torn between filing yourself and hiring out, our review of Florida LLC services shows when paying earns its keep. None of it shifts the how much does an LLC cost in Florida answer.
Florida LLC ongoing obligations: the annual report and Florida taxes
Formation is one-and-done, but the Florida LLC annual report comes back every year. It’s due between January 1 and May 1, costs $138.75 on time, and confirms your entity details rather than your finances. The mechanics of filing your Florida annual report are worth a read before deadline one.
Blow past May 1 and the fee leaps to $538.75. Ignore it long enough and the state administratively dissolves the LLC on the fourth Friday in September.
Florida’s annual report is the first deadline I put in front of every client here. On time it’s $138.75; one day late, on May 2, it’s $538.75, a $400 jump for the identical form. I’ve watched owners lose a company to administrative dissolution in September over a notice they never opened. Set the reminder for early April, not May.
On taxes, Florida’s no-income-tax reputation holds up, with one caveat. A standard pass-through LLC pays no Florida personal income tax, which is most of the appeal.
The catch: an LLC that elects corporate taxation owes the Florida corporate income/franchise tax at 5.5% as of 2026. What lands with the Florida Department of Revenue depends on your federal classification.
What trips up Florida LLC owners
Most refilings and lost good standing on Sunbiz trace back to the same few misses. Clear them before you submit.
- A name too close to another: the system rejects anything not distinguishable, and a plural or an “&” won’t rescue it.
- A P.O. box for the agent: the registered agent needs a physical Florida address, full stop.
- Letting May 1 slide: the $538.75 late fee and September dissolution start here.
- Reading “no income tax” as “no filings”: the annual report still arrives every year.
- Expecting anonymity: your manager details and filings sit on the public record.
Out-of-state owners stumble on the registered agent rule most. Florida lets you form from anywhere, but the agent has to sit at a real Florida street address, so your house in Ohio won’t work. You can be your own agent only with that address; otherwise hire one. And whatever you list is public, so a paid agent quietly buys you privacy too.
Florida LLC FAQ
Answers to the questions Florida founders ask most, including a few other guides skip.
How much does it cost to start an LLC in Florida?
$125 as of 2026, and it’s really two charges in one payment: a $100 filing fee and a $25 registered agent designation. After that, $138.75 a year for the annual report. No service files it cheaper, since the state fee is fixed.
Can I start an LLC in Florida for free?
Not truly, no. The $125 state fee is mandatory, and a “$0 LLC” ad just shifts the charge to a registered agent or upsell. The honest version of starting an LLC in Florida for free is filing the Articles yourself on Sunbiz and serving as your own agent. It’s the same form a paid service would submit.
How long does it take to get an LLC in Florida?
Florida sells no expedited option, so everyone waits in one queue. As of the June 2026 snapshot, online filings cleared in about four days and mailed ones in about a week, processed in the order received. Read that as a current reading, not a promise.
Can I be my own registered agent in Florida?
Yes, if you have a physical Florida street address and you’re reachable in business hours; a P.O. box won’t qualify. The tradeoff is that the address becomes public, which is why home-based and out-of-state owners often hire one.
Does a Florida LLC need an operating agreement?
Florida doesn’t require one or accept it as a filing, but get one anyway. It’s what banks, courts, and partners rely on in a dispute, and for a single-member LLC it reinforces the line between you and the business.
Does a Florida LLC pay state income tax?
For most owners, no. A standard pass-through LLC owes no Florida personal income tax. The exception is an LLC that elects corporate taxation, which owes the Florida corporate income/franchise tax at 5.5% as of 2026 on Form F-1120.
Can a non-resident form a Florida LLC?
Yes, with no residency rule for members or managers. The catch is the registered agent: you still need one at a physical Florida address, so non-residents usually hire a service. You may also have to register as a foreign LLC in the state where you actually operate.
Is a Florida LLC anonymous?
No. Every annual report must name at least one person who manages the company, and Sunbiz filings are public record. A registered agent and a separate mailing address hide your home address, but not the LLC itself.
Can you form a series LLC in Florida?
Not yet. Florida enacted protected-series provisions, but they take effect July 1, 2026, so the regime isn’t fully live as of this writing. Confirm the effective date before building a plan around it.
- Register your business, U.S. Small Business Administration
- Florida Limited Liability Company filing page, Division of Corporations
- Instructions for Articles of Organization, Florida LLC
- Florida LLC fees schedule, Division of Corporations
- Chapter 605, Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act
- Florida corporate income tax, Department of Revenue
- Search Sunbiz for business names
Looking for an overview? See Florida LLC Services
Start your Florida LLC on Sunbiz with Bizee
Bizee helps you form your Florida LLC through Sunbiz by filing your Articles of Organization, setting up your required Florida registered agent, and guiding you through the key 2026 steps so you can launch smoothly and stay compliant from day one
