What Does an LLC Cost in Alabama?
Alabama: $200 to file, plus a $25 name reservation you cannot skip, for $225 all in by mail or $228 online. Then $0 a year in flat state charges for a typical small LLC, because there is no annual report and the Business Privilege Tax exempts any LLC whose computed tax is $100 or less. The old totals you see elsewhere double-count a repealed probate fee and a repealed tax floor.
Year one: what you pay to exist
| Year-one cost in Alabama | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certificate of Formation, Secretary of State | $200 |
| Name Reservation Certificate (required before filing, by mail) | $25 |
| EIN from the IRS | $0 |
| Operating agreement (you write it, not filed) | $0 |
| Total state cost, year one | $225 |
Filed by mail, $225 is the complete required state charge to form: the $200 Certificate of Formation plus the $25 name reservation that must be obtained first and attached. Filed online, the name reservation is $28 instead of $25, so the online all-in total is $228. Do not add a probate or county fee on top of the $200. The county's $100 is paid by the Secretary of State out of the $200, to the county treasurer of the registered agent's county, and the statute states that payment is the entire fee due to that county for the formation. Where a paper filing is paid by card, the Secretary of State's payment slip adds a convenience charge of 3% of the total charge plus $2.00, which varies with the filing and is not in the flat total. Hiring a commercial registered agent service is a market purchase, separate from state charges, and naming an individual costs nothing.
Every year after: the cost of staying alive
| Recurring cost in Alabama | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual report | $0. Alabama does not have one for LLCs. |
| Recurring Secretary of State fee | $0 |
| Business Privilege Tax, computed tax of $100 or less | $0, and no return to file |
| Business Privilege Tax, computed tax above $100 | Computed: $0.25 to $1.75 per $1,000 of Alabama net worth, capped at $15,000 |
| Typical recurring total | $0 |
A recurring total of $0 does not mean a recurring duty of nothing, and it does not rest on the tax being small. It rests on the exemption: Act 2022-252 provides that, for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023, a taxpayer whose computed Business Privilege Tax is $100 or less is fully exempt and is not required to file a return. Compute the tax each year, because net worth changes, and if the computation crosses $100 the return and the tax are due, with penalties for missing them: failure to timely file draws 10% of the tax shown due or $50, whichever is greater, and failure to timely pay draws 1% of the tax shown due for each month unpaid, capped at 25%, plus interest. Keep the registered agent and office in place as well. Chapter 5A states the continuous maintenance duty, and the consequences Alabama verifies are the tax penalties above and a blocked Certificate of Compliance, not a Secretary of State dissolution process for LLCs, which the Alabama LLC materials do not describe.
What drives the Alabama total, year one vs. later
Alabama's year one is driven by two filings, not one: the $200 Certificate of Formation and the mandatory name reservation in front of it, $25 by mail or $28 online, for $225 or $228 all in. Nothing else is owed to the state that year for a typical small LLC, and in particular no county or probate charge rides on top of the $200, because the county share is paid out of it. Later years drop to a $0 flat floor, and they stay there for most small LLCs, for two separate reasons. First, Alabama has no LLC annual report at all under the structure in place since January 1, 2024, and no recurring Secretary of State fee. Second, the Business Privilege Tax, the one recurring state tax an LLC faces, is a computed net worth tax with a full exemption at the bottom: when the computed tax is $100 or less, the LLC is exempt and files no return. Above that threshold the tax is real and grows with net worth, at $0.25 to $1.75 per $1,000 up to a $15,000 cap, which is why it is shown as a computed item rather than folded into a flat total. No year after year one costs a small LLC more than year one, and most cost nothing at all.
The Alabama charges that are not in the standard total, and why
These are real figures, verified on the Secretary of State's fee schedule and current forms and on the Department of Revenue's pages, and each one applies only in its stated situation:
| Charge | Figure | Who it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign Limited Liability Company Application for Registration, Secretary of State | $150 | An LLC formed in another state registering to do business in Alabama, instead of the $200 domestic filing. A Certificate of Name Reservation is also required first. No home-state certificate of existence is required: the form self-certifies existence by the applicant's signature. Late filing penalty is $150 per year. |
| Articles of Dissolution, Secretary of State (section 10A-5A-7.02(b)) | $100 | A domestic LLC closing with the Secretary of State. The domestic form lists no Department of Revenue tax-clearance attachment. Watch for the tax tail instead: a dissolution cannot be backdated, and Business Privilege Tax remains due for every registered year until the entity is legally dissolved through the Secretary of State. |
| DBA or assumed-name registration | No filing | There is none in the Secretary of State's Business Entities system and no county DBA filing. The only state trade-name product is a trademark-style trade name registration with the Secretary of State, $30 for a five-year term, and rights in a name come from adoption and use, not from that registration. |
| Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity (section 10A-1-5.32) | $100 | Only when the registered agent or office changes. The new agent signs a consent to appointment on the form. An agent resignation carries no fee. |
| Certificate of Reinstatement (sections 10A-5A-7.07 and 10A-5A-7.08) | $100 | An LLC reinstating after a dissolution, filed with the Secretary of State with a certified copy of its Certificate of Formation attached. |
| Foreign LLC Certificate of Withdrawal | $100 | A foreign LLC leaving Alabama, and unlike the domestic dissolution form it must attach a Department of Revenue Certificate of Compliance, which the Department prices at $13.30 online. |
| Amendment or restated Certificate of Formation | $100 | Only when the certificate is amended or restated. |
Two income-based items complete the picture and are kept out of the flat totals for the same reason income taxes are everywhere in this guide. A partnership-taxed LLC files Alabama Form 65, makes composite payments on behalf of nonresident members at 5 percent, and may elect to be taxed at the entity level as an Electing Pass-Through Entity at a 5 percent rate. The county business privilege license under Title 40, Chapter 12 is activity-based and location-based, not a flat LLC charge.
Sources, checked Nov 8, 2026
Alabama Secretary of State: LLCs page ($200 domestic formation, $150 foreign registration, name reservation required prior to filing), Domestic LLC Certificate of Formation (rev. 10/2022, filed with the Secretary of State, $100 of the $200 paid to the county treasurer), Fee Schedule (rev. August 23, 2023) and Business Entities Division Fees (2021) ($200 formation, $150 foreign application, $100 dissolution, $100 agent change, $25 name reservation by mail and $28 online, agent resignation no fee, annual report fee listed only for for-profit corporations, foreign late filing penalty $150 per year), Name Reservation, Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity, Foreign LLC Application for Registration (rev. 10/2022, self-certification of existence), Foreign LLC Certificate of Withdrawal, Domestic LLC Articles of Dissolution (rev. 1/2022), Domestic LLC Certificate of Reinstatement (rev. 1/2022), Business Downloads, and the Trademarks page and trade name application ($30, five-year term, rights from adoption and use), at sos.alabama.gov. Alabama Department of Revenue: Notice, Important Changes to the 2024 Business Privilege Tax Filing Requirements (annual reports only from for-profit corporations from January 1, 2024, reports from other entities not accepted, exemption at $100 or less under Act 2022-252), Form PPT Instructions for Tax Year 2026 (due dates, penalties of 10% or $50 for failure to file and 1% per month to 25% for failure to pay), Summary of Alabama Taxes (rate brackets $0.25 to $1.75 per $1,000, $15,000 cap), Business Privilege Tax FAQs, and pass-through entity guidance (Form 65, 5% composite payments, 5% Electing Pass-Through Entity), at revenue.alabama.gov. Code of Alabama sections 10A-1-4.31, 10A-1-5.06, 10A-1-5.31, 10A-1-5.32, 10A-1-7.21, 10A-5A-1.02, 10A-5A-1.08, 10A-5A-2.01, 10A-5A-7.02, 10A-5A-7.07, 10A-5A-7.08, and 40-14A-22, at alison.legislature.state.al.us.
Run your own version, with an optional registered agent added, in the LLC cost calculator. Every state's year-one and recurring totals sit in one table on the national cost hub, and if a service would act as your agent, the registered agent price tracker follows what that costs at each tracked provider. If you would rather a service handled the filing, the services comparison prices that honestly, renewals included.
General Information Only
LLCForming publishes general information about forming and running an LLC. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and it does not create an attorney or advisor relationship. Rules vary by state and by your situation. For a decision that matters, talk to a licensed attorney or tax professional in your state.