How to Form an LLC in Louisiana
Louisiana charges $125 to form an LLC, and that single fee covers a package, not one document: the Articles of Organization cannot be accepted unless the mandatory Initial Report is filed with them. Staying active costs $35 a year for an annual report due on the anniversary of organization. The traps are a DBA that is filed at the parish, not with the state, and a cheap-looking dissolution affidavit that can only be undone by a court.
Louisiana at a glance
Filing fee: $125 for the Articles of Organization plus Initial Report, filed with the Louisiana Secretary of State. Recurring: An annual report for $35, due on or before the anniversary date of organization, every year. There is no LLC franchise tax and no flat entity tax on a default pass-through LLC. Registered agent: required, with a physical address in Louisiana. Every figure on this page was checked against the Louisiana Secretary of State's and Department of Revenue's official sites on November 8, 2026.
The Louisiana filing steps
Check your name on the state's own search
Check the name for availability with the Secretary of State before you file; the Secretary of State's filing checklist directs a preliminary name availability check before filing articles of organization. A Louisiana LLC name must contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "L.C.", and it must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from existing corporations, partnerships, and LLCs, from reserved names, and from trade names registered with the Secretary of State, under Louisiana Revised Statutes section 12:1306. The name must not contain a word or phrase indicating or implying the LLC is organized for a purpose that is not lawful for an LLC. A check does not reserve the name. To hold one, file a name reservation for $25; it lasts 120 days and is nonrenewable.
Choose your registered agent
Louisiana requires both a registered office and at least one registered agent, continuously maintained. The Initial Report states the registered office in Louisiana and the full name of each registered agent, each with a municipal (street) address, not a post office box only. The agent accepts the appointment by signing the Agent's Affidavit and Acknowledgement of Acceptance that is part of the Initial Report, before a notary. Under the Secretary of State's application instructions, an agent may be an individual resident in Louisiana, an individual attorney or a partnership authorized to practice law in Louisiana, or a domestic or foreign corporation authorized to act as registered agent for other organizations. To change the registered office or agent later, file the change form with the Secretary of State for $30. A change of members or managers is a separate filing, also $30.
File the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State
File the Articles of Organization, Form 365, together with the Limited Liability Company Initial Report, Form 973, online through geauxBIZ or on paper with the Commercial Division of the Secretary of State, P.O. Box 94125, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9125. The fee is $125 combined: one fee covers both documents, and there is no separate Initial Report fee. The articles cannot be accepted for filing unless the Initial Report is also filed, under section 12:1304. The articles state the LLC's name, its purposes or a statement that its purpose is to engage in any lawful activity for which LLCs may be formed, and whether the company is a low-profit limited liability company. The Initial Report states the registered office and agent and the names and municipal addresses of the first managers, or of the members if management is reserved to the members. If no first managers or members have been selected at filing, a Supplemental Initial Report naming them must be filed later, for $30. When the Secretary of State records the filings and the fees are paid, the Secretary of State issues a certificate of organization, and the LLC's separate existence begins as of the time of filing.
Get an EIN from the IRS
Free, online, and takes minutes once your Louisiana filing is approved. Never pay a service for this. See EIN for an LLC for the walkthrough and the one IRS rule (a real person as responsible party) that surprises people.
Write your operating agreement
Louisiana does not require an operating agreement to form an LLC, and the agreement is not filed with the Secretary of State and carries no state fee. It still matters, because the LLC chapter is written as a set of defaults that a written operating agreement repeatedly displaces. Under section 12:1311, the business of the LLC is managed by the members by default, subject to any provision in a written operating agreement restricting or enlarging management rights and duties. Section 12:1319 requires the LLC to keep a copy of any operating agreement that is in writing at its registered office, and the winding up rule in section 12:1336 also keys off the articles and a written operating agreement. An oral understanding leaves the chapter's defaults in control of those points, so write the agreement at formation.
Open the business bank account and handle licenses
Bring your approved formation document and EIN letter. Then check your city and county for a general business license and your industry for state permits. Louisiana issues no single statewide general business license through the Secretary of State. Licensing is industry specific, through state agencies and boards, or local, through your parish or city. The near universal state level step is tax registration with the Louisiana Department of Revenue, through LaTAP or geauxBIZ, for the tax accounts your activity triggers. Check your industry and your parish before you budget, because those offices, not the Secretary of State, set those charges.
Filing details that trip people up
- Formation is a package, and the price changed on October 1, 2026. The Articles of Organization and the Initial Report are filed together for one combined fee of $125. Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session raised Commercial Division fees effective October 1, 2026, and the older $100 formation figure in guides is outdated. Paying online by credit card adds a $5 statutory convenience fee, so a card-paid online formation is $130 in practice, but the state filing fee itself is $125.
- No publication requirement to form. No publication step appears in section 12:1304 or section 12:1305, on the formation forms, or in the Secretary of State's pre-filing checklist. Newspaper publication exists in Louisiana for a different stage, the long-form dissolution and winding up path, and the two are easy to confuse. Forming the LLC itself has no publication step.
- Foreign LLCs pay $185, and the home-state certificate is required and dated. An out-of-state LLC files an Application for Authority to Transact Business in Louisiana for $185. Under section 12:1345, the application must come with a certificate of existence or certificate of good standing from the organizing jurisdiction, dated within 90 days of its submission, and a notarized affidavit of acceptance from each Louisiana registered agent. A certified copy of the articles of organization is not a substitute for that certificate. A foreign LLC also files an annual report for $35 a year, and withdrawing its authority costs $185.
- A Louisiana DBA is a parish filing, and the statute states no fee and no duration. The Secretary of State's FAQ says it plainly: DBAs are not filed with that office; they are filed at the parish level, with the local Clerk of Court (in New Orleans, the register of conveyances). Section 51:281 requires the certificate but states no fee and no term, and no statewide figure is published, so this guide prints neither. Do not confuse the parish DBA with the separate trade name registration the Secretary of State offers under a different statute; that is a different system, not the DBA filing.
- Closing by affidavit costs $125, and undoing it takes a court. An LLC that is no longer doing business, owes no debts, and owns no immovable property may be dissolved by filing an affidavit with the Secretary of State for $125, and the filer receives a Certificate of Dissolution. Under section 12:1335.1, the Secretary of State reinstates an LLC dissolved by affidavit only upon an order from a court of competent jurisdiction. There is no administrative reinstatement for an affidavit dissolution, so treat the filing as final. An LLC with debts, assets, or immovable property uses the long-form dissolution instead.
After your Louisiana LLC is approved
Get the EIN, open the business bank account, and register with the Louisiana Department of Revenue for the tax accounts your activity triggers. Then set one recurring reminder: the annual report, $35, due on or before the anniversary date of organization every year; the report form becomes available up to 4 weeks before the due date and may be filed online, by fax, or by mail. Keep the registered office and agent current as well, and file the $30 change form whenever either changes. If the business will trade under a different name, remember that the DBA certificate is filed with the parish Clerk of Court, not with the Secretary of State.
The full recurring picture for Louisiana, with fees and due dates, is on the Louisiana annual report and compliance page, and the money view is on the Louisiana LLC cost page.
Louisiana LLC questions
How much does it cost to form a Louisiana LLC?
$125, and it is a package price. The Articles of Organization and the mandatory Initial Report are filed together for one combined fee, and the articles cannot be accepted without the Initial Report. Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Session raised the fee from $100 effective October 1, 2026, so guides still quoting $100 are outdated.
What does the Louisiana LLC annual report cost, and when is it due?
$35, due on or before the anniversary date of organization each year, under section 12:1308.1. There is no statutory late fee, but an LLC that misses three consecutive years of reports faces revocation after at least 30 days of mailed notice. See the Louisiana compliance page.
How much does it cost to dissolve a Louisiana LLC?
$125 by affidavit, if the LLC is no longer doing business, owes no debts, and owns no immovable property. An affidavit dissolution can be undone only by court order. An LLC that does not qualify uses the long-form dissolution, also in the $125 dissolution proceedings category, plus the newspaper's own publication charge.
Does a Louisiana LLC file a BOI report?
No. US-formed companies are exempt under the federal final rule of August 14, 2026. See the BOI tracker.
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.