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How to Form an LLC in Nevada

Nevada advertises a $75 filing fee and means it, but the Articles cannot stand alone. An Initial List at $150 and a State Business License at $200 are due at formation, so the honest year-one total is $425, and $350 comes back every year after.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The Nevada filing steps

1. Check your name on the state's own search

   Search business records inside ORION, the Secretary of State's business portal, before you file. The name must be distinguishable in the Secretary of State's records from the names of all other artificial persons on file or reserved. It must contain "Limited-Liability Company," "Limited Liability Company," "Limited Company," or "Limited," or an abbreviation such as "Ltd.," "L.L.C.," "L.C.," "LLC" or "LC", and "Co." may stand for "Company." The statute restricts words implying regulated activities, including banking and trust terms and professional terms such as engineer, architect and accountant, which require the relevant board's approval or licensure. If you are not ready to file, a name reservation costs $25.

2. Choose your registered agent

   Every Nevada LLC must have a registered agent with a street address for the service of process in Nevada, and that street address is the company's registered office in the state. The appointment filing must name either a commercial registered agent, a professional agent registered with the Secretary of State, a noncommercial registered agent, an individual or an entity serving for fewer than 10 entities, or the title of an office or position within the entity itself, with that officeholder's business address. Anyone serving as agent for 10 or more entities must register as a commercial agent. The appointment must be accompanied by a certificate of acceptance of the appointment by the registered agent. Two Nevada quirks matter. If the company has no place of business in Nevada, the registered agent's address serves as the company's place of business for State Business License purposes. And the LLC must continuously keep its member and manager list, its filed articles, and any operating agreement at its principal office in Nevada, or with a custodian of records whose name and street address are available at the registered office.

3. File the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State

   File the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State through ORION and pay the $75 fee, the same for online and paper filing. ORION is the current portal; it succeeded SilverFlume, and existing SilverFlume login credentials carry over, so a guide that treats SilverFlume as the live system is describing the predecessor. The Articles state the company name, the registered agent information required by NRS 77.310, the organizers' names and addresses, and the initial managers or managing members, and formation is effective on filing. Then budget for the two filings that are not optional extras: the Initial List of Managers or Managing Members, $150, filed at the time the Articles are filed, and the State Business License, $200, which an LLC must hold before it conducts business. An amended list filed within 60 days after the initial list is free.

4. Get an EIN from the IRS

   Free, online, and takes minutes once your Nevada 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.

5. Write your operating agreement

   Nevada LLCs may, but are not required to, adopt an operating agreement. Under NRS 86.286 the members may enter into one, and adopting or amending one generally requires a unanimous vote or the written consent of all members. If the company has none, NRS Chapter 86's default rules govern the company. Because Nevada's defaults then become your partnership terms by accident, and because changing the agreement later takes unanimity, writing it at formation is the practical move even though the state does not demand it.

6. 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. Nevada is the one state in this guide with a genuine statewide general business license: the State Business License issued by the Secretary of State under NRS Chapter 76. An LLC may not conduct business in Nevada until it holds one. For an LLC the application fee is $200 and the renewal is $200 per year, submitted with the annual list; the higher $500 rate you may see quoted applies only to corporations. This license is in addition to any city or county business license, which are separate and local. Regulated professions and trades are licensed by their own state boards, and employers pick up Department of Taxation accounts for the taxes described on the cost page.

Filing details that trip people up

• The real Nevada year-one total is $425, not $75. The Articles are $75, but the Initial List ($150) and the State Business License ($200) are mandatory at formation. Any guide or service quoting $75 as the cost of a Nevada LLC is quoting only the first of three mandatory charges.
• Foreign LLCs pay the same $425 stack. Registering an out-of-state LLC costs $75 for the registration plus the $150 initial list and the $200 State Business License, then the same $350 a year. A foreign LLC that willfully fails or neglects to register faces a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $10,000, and it may not commence or maintain any action, suit or proceeding in a Nevada court until it registers, though its contracts stay valid and it can still defend an action.
• No publication step. NRS Chapter 86 contains no publication requirement for LLC formation, amendment, or dissolution, and no other Nevada statute we found imposes one on LLCs. Nevada LLCs do not publish a notice of formation in a newspaper.
• Your list and your license are legally tied together. Every Initial and Annual List carries a declaration under penalty of perjury that the company has complied with NRS Chapter 76, the State Business License chapter. A company that lets its business license lapse is, by the list statute's own terms, deemed not to have complied with the annual list requirement, and is exposed to default and revocation on both fronts at once.
• Trading under a different name is a county filing in Nevada. A fictitious firm name certificate is filed with the county clerk of each county where the business is conducted, not with the Secretary of State, and the LLC must already be on file and in good standing with the Secretary of State first. Fees are set by each county, commonly $25 (Clark County charges $25; Eureka County charges $20), and where the county has adopted the ordinance the certificate expires 5 years after filing. Our DBA guide covers the mechanics.

After your Nevada LLC is approved

Get the EIN, open the bank account, and put one date in the calendar in bold: the last day of your anniversary month, when the Annual List and the license renewal come due together every year at $350. The Secretary of State mails a notice 90 days before the due date, but the statute is explicit that failure to receive it does not excuse a late penalty, so your own reminder is the real system. Keep the registered agent's acceptance and address current, keep the member list and articles where NRS 86.241 requires them, and handle city or county business licenses locally, because the state license does not replace them.

The full recurring picture for Nevada, with fees and due dates, is on the Nevada annual report and compliance page, and the money view is on the Nevada LLC cost page.

Nevada LLC questions