What Does an LLC Cost in Kansas?
Kansas: $85 to form online, $90 by paper, then a $90 biennial information report in the due year and nothing in the off year. Kansas has had no LLC franchise tax since 2011, charges nothing for a DBA because it registers none, and cut its formation and report fees in 2026, which is why the higher figures in older guides are wrong.
Year one: what you pay to exist
| Year-one cost in Kansas | Amount |
|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (Form DL), filed online | $85 |
| EIN from the IRS | $0 |
| Operating agreement (you write it, not filed) | $0 |
| Resident agent (you, an eligible individual, or the LLC itself serves) | $0 |
| Total state cost, year one | $85 online, $90 by paper |
That is the complete required state charge to form. Filing on paper instead of online costs $90 for the same document. No report fee is due at formation: the first biennial information report falls due April 15 of the next year with the same parity as the formation year, so an LLC formed in 2026 first pays it in 2028. Kansas charges no DBA fee because it registers no DBAs, and naming yourself, an eligible individual, or the LLC itself as resident agent costs nothing. Hiring a commercial resident agent service is a market purchase, not a state fee. Budget from the current Form DL: guides quoting $160 online or $165 by paper are pricing the form's superseded September 2025 revision.
Every year after: the cost of staying alive
| Recurring cost in Kansas | Amount |
|---|---|
| Biennial Information Report (Form ILC), due April 15 of the parity year | $90 online, $110 by paper, per report |
| Franchise tax | $0. Kansas has had no LLC franchise tax since 2011 |
| State income tax on the LLC itself | $0 for a default pass-through LLC |
| Typical recurring total | $90 every 2 years online |
Spread over time, the online report averages $45 a year, and the paper report averages $55 a year, but budget for the lumpy version: $90 or $110 in the due year and $0 in the off year. The report itself asks for the LLC's name, a list of the members owning at least 5% of the capital with the postal address of each, for domestic Kansas LLCs and series, and the location of the principal office, a physical address and not a post office box, and it is executed under penalty of perjury. The risk in Kansas is the two year gap plus a fixed date: due April 15, a three month delinquency period to mid July, then forfeiture of the articles. Reinstatement on Form RL is priced in parts: a $35 filing fee, an $85 penalty, and $110 for each missed report, which is $230 to come back after one missed report. The build-up is capped at five missed reports, so $670 is the most the form prices. A business forfeited only for failure to maintain an active resident agent may ignore the $85 penalty fee.
What drives the Kansas total, year one vs. later
Kansas year one is a single filing fee, and the only choice inside it is the channel: $85 online, $90 by paper. Later years are a single filing fee on a two year cycle, the $90 online information report, with nothing due in the off year. Both numbers moved in the founder's favor recently: reports went biennial on January 1, 2024, and the Secretary of State's 2026 fee update cut the formation and report fees from the figures older guides still quote. So the Kansas total is driven by the calendar and by discipline, not by revenue. File the report by paper and it costs $110 instead of $90. Miss it past the three month delinquency window and the LLC is forfeited, at which point the year costs the Form RL reinstatement package instead. Nothing in Kansas scales with the size of the business, and since 2011 there has been no franchise tax waiting behind the report.
The Kansas fees around the formation
The current Secretary of State forms, revised in the first half of 2026, price the LLC life cycle. These are the lines a Kansas LLC is most likely to meet:
| Kansas filing | Fee |
|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (Form DL), by paper | $90 |
| Biennial Information Report (Form ILC) | $90 online, $110 by paper |
| Change of resident agent or registered office (Form ROA) | $30 online, $35 by paper |
| Foreign LLC registration (paper only, no home state certificate required) | $115 |
| Certificate of Cancellation | $30 / $35, plus $20 per series (paper) |
| Certificate of Reinstatement (Form RL) | $35 filing fee, plus $85 penalty, plus $110 per missed report (capped at five reports, $670 at most) |
| DBA or trade name registration | No filing exists. Kansas does not register DBAs |
Two Kansas details that change the paperwork
Series have a channel limit: a series of an LLC must file its information report on the paper form, because a series report cannot be filed online, per the Form ILC instructions. And the foreign registration rule runs the other way from most states: at $115 and paper only, Kansas is slower to file than the $85 online domestic formation, but it asks for less, because no home state certificate of existence or good standing is required and the application carries a perjury statement of good standing instead.
On taxes, the flat total above really is the whole state maintenance picture for a default LLC. Kansas has had no LLC franchise tax since 2011, and a default pass-through LLC pays no state income tax at the entity level; the members report the income. What a Kansas LLC owes the state to stay alive is the biennial report, on time, in its parity year.
Sources, checked Nov 8, 2026
Kansas Secretary of State: Form DL, Articles of Organization (revised February 27, 2026, $85 online and $90 by paper), Form ILC, Business Entity Information Report (revised January 23, 2026, $90 online and $110 by paper), Form ROA, Certificate of Amendment for a change of resident agent and or registered office (revised January 23, 2026, $30 online and $35 by paper), Form RL, Certificate of Reinstatement (revised June 12, 2026), the Information Reports and Reinstate a Business pages, and the May 26, 2026 fee update press release, at sos.ks.gov. Kansas Statutes sections 17-7673, 17-76,139, 17-76,146, 17-7924, 17-7925, 17-7926, and 17-7934, Office of the Revisor of Statutes and the Kansas Legislature, at kslegislature.gov. Kansas Department of Revenue, on the absence of a tax clearance requirement for cancellation, at ksrevenue.gov.
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.