How to start an LLC in Georgia comes down to one filing as of 2026. You submit your Articles of Organization to the Secretary of State Corporations Division on eCorp for $110. The fee is modest and the yearly upkeep is light. That’s why many Georgia owners skip the formation services and file the paperwork themselves.
Where to file your Georgia LLC and what the $110 really covers
Everything you need, in plain terms:
- Where you file: Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State Corporations Division, online on eCorp.
- Filing fee: $110 total ($100 fee plus $10 service charge), as of 2026.
- Processing: about seven business days online, longer by mail.
- What recurs: a $60 Annual Registration each year, due January 1 to April 1.
- Who needs one: anyone running a business in Georgia who wants personal-asset protection.
- Contacts: the Corporations Division at ecorp.sos.ga.gov, or 2 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SE, Suite 313 West Tower, Atlanta, GA 30334. Phone: (404) 656-2817.
What forming your LLC in Georgia actually gets you
A Georgia LLC gives you the structure’s core upside: personal-asset protection, with profits passing to your own return by default.
Georgia keeps two things in your favor: cost and privacy. It’s cheap to file and light to maintain, with no separate LLC franchise or privilege tax as of 2026. The Corporations Division also keeps members and managers off the public record.
The honest limit: Georgia isn’t a tax shelter. Work in another state and forming here usually means foreign-qualifying back home: two filings, two agents, not a shortcut.
Most people who ask me whether to form in Georgia already live or work here, and that is usually when Georgia makes the most sense. I have watched out-of-state owners chase a “better” state, only to still owe Georgia a $235 Certificate of Authority and pay for a registered agent in two places.
How to start an LLC in Georgia: filing on eCorp, step by step
The official route to how to form an LLC in Georgia is short, and you can do every step yourself online. Have your name, registered agent, Georgia principal office, organizer details, and the filing fee ready first.
Step 1: Name your Georgia LLC and check it the right way
Your name has to include a designator like LLC or limited liability company, stay under 80 characters, and skip the word DBA. Georgia’s eCorp business search shows what’s on record, but the state says plainly it isn’t a name-availability check. Run your idea there, search Georgia LLC names carefully, then reserve it for $35 to hold it 30 days.
The Georgia mistake I see most starts at the name screen. Owners run the eCorp search, see nothing identical, and assume the name is theirs. Then the filing bounces, because that search was never an availability check.
Step 2: Appoint a Georgia registered agent
Every Georgia LLC has to keep a registered agent with a physical Georgia street address as its registered office, not a P.O. box. You can name yourself or another Georgia resident; the LLC just can’t act as its own agent, so compare registered agent services built for Georgia if you lack an address.
Step 3: File your Articles of Organization with the Corporations Division
This is the actual Georgia LLC registration: you file your Articles of Organization with the Corporations Division online, paper-online, or by mail. Online runs $110 and clears in about seven business days; mail uses the Articles (CD 030) plus Transmittal Form 231 and takes around 15.
The Secretary of State’s domestic entity filing guide lists the full checklist, and expedited service costs extra. Once approved, Georgia issues your Certificate of Organization; how long Georgia takes to approve a filing breaks down each speed tier.
Step 4: Put an operating agreement in place
An operating agreement sets out who owns what and how the company runs; Georgia recommends one without requiring it. Worth flagging: the Secretary of State won’t accept it for filing, so you keep it internally. A free Georgia operating agreement template and guide covers the clauses single-member and multi-member LLCs use.
Step 5: Get your EIN from the IRS
Once the LLC exists, grab your federal EIN; the name on it has to match the approved company name. Our walkthrough on applying for your EIN in Georgia covers the single-member and multi-member paths.
Step 6: Open a business bank account and register for state taxes
With your Certificate of Organization and EIN, open a dedicated business bank account so personal and company money never mix. If you’ll have employees or collect sales tax, register with the Georgia Department of Revenue through the Georgia Tax Center.
Use Bizee if you want help getting from filing to a cleaner first-year setup.
After the name check, Articles, EIN, bank account, and tax registration steps, the main value of a service is keeping the formation organized. Bizee can help form the Georgia LLC and include registered agent support, so you are not juggling the state filing and agent details separately.
What a Georgia LLC costs: $110 to file, $60 a year after
The plain answer to how much a Georgia LLC costs is $110 to file in 2026, then $60 a year for the Annual Registration. Expedited service ($120, $275, or $1,200) only matters if you’re rushing a deadline; for reservations and reinstatement, see the full Georgia LLC cost breakdown.
Bottom line on the “free” question: the $110 state fee is unavoidable, but you’ll never owe a formation company on top of it. You can start an LLC in Georgia for free of any service markup by filing directly with the Corporations Division. Boost Suite recommends filing direct; to weigh the help, see our review of Georgia LLC services.
Georgia’s Annual Registration: the April 1 filing that keeps your LLC active
Georgia doesn’t call its yearly LLC filing an annual report; it’s the Georgia Annual Registration, due January 1 to April 1 each year. A new LLC files its first one the year after formation, and the fee is $60 as of 2026. The Secretary of State’s Annual Registration guide walks through the steps.
Miss the window and you’ll owe a $25 late penalty; a long lapse can end in administrative dissolution and a $260 reinstatement. Georgia even lets you prepay up to three years at once with One Click Annual Registration, shown in our guide to filing the Annual Registration.
On taxes, Georgia stays light: there’s no separate LLC entity tax, and the state follows federal Check the Box rules. An LLC owes Georgia net worth tax only if it elects corporate taxation; otherwise profits pass to the owners. The Department of Revenue’s LLC tax FAQ confirms the income-tax duties that still apply.
I put April 1 in the calendar the day a Georgia LLC is approved, not the day a reminder shows up. The Annual Registration is only $60, but I have watched owners forget it two years running and wake up administratively dissolved, facing a $260 reinstatement.
My practical fix: pay three years ahead with One Click so you are not scrambling every spring.
The Georgia missteps that trigger refilings, late fees, and dissolution
A handful of state-specific slip-ups cause most of the trouble. The catch is they’re not obvious until they bite, so watch for these:
- Trusting the eCorp search as approval: treating the business search as a guarantee, then getting rejected over a conflicting name.
- Missing the April 1 deadline: skipping the Annual Registration slides you toward administrative dissolution and a $260 reinstatement.
- Mailing the operating agreement: the Corporations Division won’t file it; it doesn’t accept operating agreements at all.
- Confusing the $110 fee with the $60 renewal: they’re two separate filings in two windows.
- Assuming a Georgia LLC covers you everywhere: operate in another state and you’ll likely need to foreign-qualify there.
Georgia LLC questions we answer most often
These are the Georgia questions owners search most, answered against the 2026 rules at the Secretary of State and Department of Revenue. Several depend on your tax classification or filing timing, so the answers note where the rule bends.
How much does an LLC cost in Georgia?
Plan on $110 to file in 2026, then $60 a year for the Annual Registration; that’s the all-in baseline. Expedited service runs $120 to $1,200 if you need speed, and a registered agent adds a yearly fee only if you hire one. There’s no LLC franchise tax, so the recurring cost is just that $60.
Can you start an LLC in Georgia for free?
Not quite. The state filing fee is mandatory and goes to the Secretary of State, not a middleman. What you skip by filing yourself is the service markup, not the $110 itself.
How long does it take to get an LLC in Georgia?
Online filings clear in about seven business days, the route we’d point almost everyone to. Mail and paper-online run roughly 10 to 15 business days, and workload can stretch that. If a deadline is real, same-day ($275) or one-hour ($1,200) expedite buys certainty.
Does Georgia make LLCs file an annual report?
Yes, but not under that name; Georgia calls it the Annual Registration, due January 1 to April 1 every year. The fee is $60, your first one falls the year after you form, and you can pay up to three years ahead in one click. Miss it long enough and the state can dissolve your LLC, so don’t let April 1 slide.
Is there a Georgia LLC tax or franchise tax?
No tax just for being an LLC, which sets Georgia apart from states like California. The state follows federal Check the Box rules, so profits pass to your personal return by default. The exception: an LLC that elects corporate taxation owes net worth tax, and any LLC with Georgia income still files a state return.
Do I have to publish my LLC in a newspaper in Georgia?
No. Georgia’s formation workflow has no newspaper-publication step, unlike New York or Arizona. You file, get your Certificate of Organization, and you’re done.
Can a non-resident form a Georgia LLC?
Yes; you don’t have to live in Georgia, or even in the U.S., to own one. The one requirement is a registered agent with a physical Georgia address to accept legal mail, which is where a paid agent earns its fee.
Are an LLC’s owners listed publicly in Georgia?
Not the owners. Georgia lists your registered agent publicly, but it doesn’t publish LLC members or managers, which gives you real owner privacy at the state level. That privacy stops at the bank; expect to disclose beneficial owners when you open accounts.
- U.S. Small Business Administration: Register Your Business
- Georgia Secretary of State: How to Register a Domestic Entity
- Georgia Secretary of State: Filing Fees and Expedited Processing
- Georgia Corporations Division eCorp Portal
- Georgia Secretary of State: How to File Annual Registration
- Georgia Department of Revenue: Limited Liability Companies FAQ
- Georgia Administrative Rules 590-7-20: LLC Name
Looking for an overview? See Georgia LLC Services
Start your Georgia LLC with Harbor Compliance
Harbor Compliance helps you form your Georgia LLC step by step, including filing your Articles of Organization, appointing a registered agent, and staying on top of key compliance requirements so your business stays in good standing
