Many states charge an LLC annual fee just for staying on the books. A handful don’t. For a side hustle that runs on evenings and weekends, that one line in the budget can decide whether an LLC is worth forming at all.

This guide covers the states that skip the LLC annual fee and what each one charges up front. A cheap start isn’t the same thing. Kentucky charges $40 to form an LLC, one of the lowest filing fees in the country, according to the Kentucky Secretary of State, but it also charges $15 for an annual report every year. That yearly charge is what keeps it off the list below, and it’s what this guide is about.

The yearly bill matters more than the startup fee

A one-time filing fee is a speed bump. A yearly fee is a subscription, and the only way to cancel it is to close the business.

Comparing states by the formation number alone means comparing the wrong number. A side hustle clearing a few hundred dollars a month can absorb a one-time charge. The harder part is a bill that comes back every year, good year or bad. Mississippi shows how much the yearly line matters. According to the Mississippi Secretary of State, an LLC formed in Mississippi files its annual report for free, but an LLC formed in another state and registered there pays $250 for the same report. Over five years, that’s $1,250, five times the $250 it cost to register in the first place.

The states below fall into two groups. Some don’t require an annual report from a standard LLC at all. The others require one and charge nothing for it. As of 2026, a standard LLC formed in one of these states gets no yearly invoice from the state filing office.

Five states with no annual report to file

These five let a standard LLC exist without a recurring report to the state. Formation fees still apply, and as of 2026 they run from $50 up to $110 in this group.

Arizona is the cleanest example. It handles business filings through the Arizona Corporation Commission instead of a Secretary of State, and the commission says in its own FAQ that only corporations file annual reports. LLCs don’t. Articles of Organization cost $50 with regular processing ($85 expedited), per the commission’s fee schedule as of 2026.

There is one wrinkle, and it’s publication. Arizona law requires a notice of the filing to run in a newspaper three consecutive times within 60 days after the articles are filed. The exception is an LLC whose statutory agent has a street address in a county of more than 800,000 people, which as of 2026 means Maricopa or Pima. Everyone else needs to budget for the newspaper.

Missouri charges $50 to file online and $105 on paper, per the Secretary of State’s schedule of fees as of 2026, so filing online saves $55. If you’d rather have someone else handle the filing, compare Missouri LLC services first. After formation, the fee schedule lists no annual report for LLCs at all.

New Mexico also charges $50 as of 2026. State statute sets the fee for Articles of Organization, which are filed online through the Secretary of State. There’s no annual report afterward. That’s the floor for this group: Arizona, Missouri and New Mexico all charge $50, and nothing in this section costs less.

Ohio costs more at the door. Form 610, the Articles of Organization, is $99 per the Secretary of State as of 2026, and a standard Ohio LLC currently has no annual report to file after that. Over enough years, $99 paid once can come out cheaper than $50 now plus something every year.

South Carolina is the most expensive state on this list, with a $110 filing fee set by state statute as of 2026. A standard LLC files no annual report with the Secretary of State. That changes if the LLC is taxed as a corporation: it then owes an annual report and a license fee through the South Carolina Department of Revenue. If you’re considering a corporate tax election, run the yearly cost past a tax professional first.

Three states that ask for a yearly report and charge $0 for it

Montana belongs here with a condition. Forming an LLC costs $35, the lowest filing fee in this guide. Its annual report fee is normally $20, but the Secretary of State has waived it for on-time filers every year since 2024 and has announced the waiver will continue in 2027. File by April 15 and the report is free. After 2027, check whether the waiver has been renewed before you count on it.

Idaho charges $100 to file a Certificate of Organization online, according to the Secretary of State as of 2026. The annual report is due every year, and filing it online costs nothing. Skip it anyway and the state can administratively dissolve the company.

Mississippi charges $50 for a Certificate of Formation. Its official fee schedule lists the LLC annual report at $0 as of 2026, so after that first $50, keeping a Mississippi LLC on the books costs nothing. Only Montana costs less to start.

A free report is easy to forget, and a $0 filing that never makes it onto a calendar can still cost you the company.

The cheapest state on paper might not be yours to use

A fee list like the one above leaves out one thing: where the LLC has to register. An LLC formed in one state has to register in any other state where it does business, and for a one-person side hustle, that’s almost always the state where you live.

Arizona shows how quickly that adds up. It charges an LLC formed in another state $150 to register, according to the Arizona Corporation Commission, three times the $50 an Arizona-formed LLC pays to start. And registering doesn’t make the yearly fees go away, as Mississippi’s $250 report for out-of-state LLCs showed earlier. Form in a no-fee state while living in one that charges every year, and you pay both states.

So start with your own state. LLCBuddy‘s annual report guides, from business formation expert Steve Goldstein, lay out what each state expects from an LLC every year. If your state is one of the eight above, good news. If it isn’t, forming somewhere else won’t make your home state’s fee go away.

What the state takes in year one

Leave out the newspaper notice and the optional extras, and the state’s cut in these eight states comes down to one number each.

As of 2026, Missouri (filed online) and New Mexico each take $50, and it’s still $50 by year five because no annual report fee comes back. Arizona is $50, plus a newspaper notice outside Maricopa and Pima. Mississippi is $50 too. Montana is the cheapest to start at $35, and its annual report stays free through 2027 as long as you file by April 15. Ohio is $99 and Idaho is $100 online. South Carolina tops out at $110. In each of these states, the formation fee is the only required state filing fee for a standard LLC filed on time, apart from fees for later changes like a new agent or a new address.

If your state charges a yearly report fee, one way to compare is to multiply that fee by five and add the formation fee. That total tells you more than the day-one price does.

Then there are the costs no state fee list shows. Each of these states requires an LLC to keep a registered agent (Arizona calls it a statutory agent) with a physical address in the state. Many states let owners act as their own agent. A paid service adds a yearly bill. Your city or county may require a business license, and selling physical products can mean a sales tax permit.

A no-annual-fee state doesn’t change the tax picture. Income from the LLC is still taxable at the federal level, and usually at the state level too. An EIN costs nothing, though. Applying for an employer identification number directly with the IRS is free, and the IRS warns about websites that charge for it.

The small filings that still come up

Skipping the annual report doesn’t make an LLC maintenance-free.

Registered agent information has to stay current. Move, or switch agents, and there’s a change to file with the state, usually for a small fee. In Arizona, a statement changing the principal address or statutory agent costs $5 at regular processing, as of 2026. Letting the agent lapse can put an LLC out of good standing even in states that never ask for a yearly report.

Every figure in this guide comes from the state’s own filing office or statute as of 2026, and fee schedules get revised, so check the number on the state’s site before you pay. For how any of it applies to your taxes or your liability, ask a tax professional or attorney who knows your facts.

Pay once, then get back to work

In Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and South Carolina, you can form a standard LLC for a single state fee and never get a yearly report bill from the filing office for simply existing. Idaho, Mississippi and, through 2027, Montana trade that fee for one short form a year. In every other state, put the annual fee in the budget on day one. It’s a lot less fun to find in year two.

A side hustle already costs you your weekends. It shouldn’t also send you a yearly invoice for the right to keep having them.

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