How to Form an LLC in New York
New York charges $200 to form, and then adds the step no other state in this guide has: you must publish notice of your LLC in two newspapers for six weeks and file a Certificate of Publication within 120 days, or your authority to do business is suspended. The state fee for that certificate is $50. What the newspapers charge is set by each newspaper and varies widely by county.
New York at a glance
Filing fee: $200 for the Articles of Organization (Form DOS-1336-f), filed with the New York Department of State, Division of Corporations. Recurring: A Biennial Statement every two years, $9, due in your formation month. Most LLCs with New York source income also pay an annual filing fee on Form IT-204-LL, $25 to $4,500 based on New York source gross income. Registered agent: the Secretary of State is the statutory agent every New York LLC must designate; naming your own registered agent is optional. Every figure on this page was checked against the New York Department of State's and Department of Taxation and Finance's official sites on November 8, 2026.
The New York filing steps
Check your name on the state's own search
Your name must be distinguishable from the names of other LLCs, corporations, and limited partnerships on file with the Department of State, and it must include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." Some words are prohibited or restricted under Section 204 of the LLC Law, and certain words need consent from another state agency first. You can search the Department's Corporation and Business Entity Database, but the Department cautions that the database is for status inquiries on entities already on file, and a search there is not an indication that a name is or is not available. The definitive route is a written name availability inquiry to the Division of Corporations, $5 per name submitted, and requests cannot be handled by telephone. A finding of availability is not an approval of the name. You can also reserve a name by filing an Application for Reservation of Name, $20.
Meet the agent rule: the Secretary of State is your statutory agent
New York does not work like most states, and this is the part most guides get wrong. By law, the Secretary of State is the agent of every New York LLC for service of process. Your Articles of Organization must designate the Secretary of State as that agent, and you supply a post office address to which the Secretary of State will mail a copy of any process served. No LLC can be formed without that designation. A registered agent is optional and additional: under Section 302, you may also designate a registered agent at a street address you choose. That agent can be a natural person who is a resident of New York or has a business address in New York, a domestic or authorized foreign LLC, or a domestic or authorized foreign corporation. Because the Secretary of State is always the statutory agent, you do not need to hire a commercial registered agent to form a New York LLC. The address that matters day to day is the forwarding address on file, which is the address your Biennial Statement keeps current.
File the Articles of Organization with the Department of State
File the Articles of Organization (form DOS-1336-f) with the Department of State, Division of Corporations, and pay the $200 filing fee. The fee is the same online and on paper; the Department publishes a single fee. Online filers receive an email filing acknowledgement with the filing receipt attached as a PDF within minutes. Optional expedited handling costs extra per document: $25 for processing within 24 hours, $75 for same-day processing, and $150 for processing within 2 hours. Expedited handling is not available for Biennial Statements. Formation is a single Department of State filing; tax matters sit with the Department of Taxation and Finance, not with the filing office.
Get an EIN from the IRS
Free, online, and takes minutes once your New York 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
New York is one of the few states that requires an operating agreement by law, in writing, on a deadline. Section 417 of the LLC Law says the members shall adopt a written operating agreement, and it may be entered into before, at the time of, or within 90 days after the filing of the Articles of Organization. The agreement is an internal document and is not filed with the Department of State. The Department notes that the law is silent on the consequences of not adopting one, which is not a reason to skip it: put the agreement in writing inside the 90 days.
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. New York has no general state business license for LLCs as such. Some business activities require licenses or permits from state or local governments, or both. The Department of State directs founders to New York Business Express to identify whether the business requires any New York State licenses or permits, and to the county clerk and the clerk of the city, town, or village where the business will operate for local licenses and permits. The Department's Division of Licensing Services administers many occupational licenses.
Filing details that trip people up
- Publication is not optional, and the clock is 120 days. Under Section 206 of the LLC Law, a copy of your Articles of Organization or a notice related to the formation must be published in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks. The newspapers are designated by the county clerk of the county named in your Articles. When publication is complete, you file a Certificate of Publication with the newspapers' affidavits annexed, plus a $50 state filing fee, within 120 days after the Articles take effect. Miss the 120 days and the LLC's authority to carry on, conduct, or transact business is suspended. The suspension is annulled once the Certificate of Publication with affidavits is filed.
- Nobody can honestly quote you a statewide publication price. The Department of State states only that the newspapers charge a fee for publication. Each designated newspaper sets its own charge, the state does not set, cap, or publish the price, and the notice runs once a week for six successive weeks in each of two papers, so the charge is a per-insertion rate multiplied across 12 insertions. The county named in your Articles controls which papers you must use, so costs vary widely by county. Any guide printing a fixed New York publication price or a tidy statewide range is inventing it.
- The Secretary of State is your agent whether you hire one or not. Service of process on an LLC through the Department of State costs the server $40, and the Department mails a copy to the post office address you put in your Articles. If that address goes stale, legal papers go to the wrong place. Keep it current, and use a Certificate of Change ($30) when the record needs fixing. Related fees on the Department's schedule: resignation of a registered agent is $20, and resignation for receipt of process is $10.
- Foreign LLCs pay $250, and they publish too. Registering an out-of-state LLC in New York (Application for Authority under Section 802) costs $250, and you must attach a Certificate of Existence from your home jurisdiction dated within one year. The same publication duty then applies within 120 days, with the same $50 Certificate of Publication fee, and failing it suspends your authority to do business in New York. The Department publishes no late registration fee figure, so be wary of any guide that quotes one.
- Trading under a different name takes a state filing. A New York LLC must conduct business under its true legal name. To use another name, file a Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of State for $25. Our DBA guide covers when you need one and when you do not.
After your New York LLC is approved
Start publication immediately; the 120-day clock is already running, and the six weeks of newspaper insertions take real time. Get the EIN, open the bank account, and adopt your written operating agreement within 90 days of filing. Then mark two calendars. Your first Biennial Statement is due in the calendar month of your formation, two years after filing, and it costs $9. If your LLC has New York source income, the annual filing fee on Form IT-204-LL is due by the 15th day of the third month after your tax year closes, March 15 for calendar-year filers, and no extension is allowed for it. Keep the Secretary of State forwarding address current the whole time, because that address is how legal process reaches you.
The full recurring picture for New York, with fees and due dates, is on the New York annual report and compliance page, and the money view is on the New York LLC cost page.
New York LLC questions
Does New York have an annual report for LLCs?
Not an annual one, and not a report in the usual sense. New York LLCs file a Biennial Statement with the Department of State every two years, in the calendar month of formation, for $9. It sets the address to which the Secretary of State mails copies of legal process. Separately, most LLCs with New York source income pay an annual filing fee to the Department of Taxation and Finance on Form IT-204-LL. See the New York report page.
How much will newspaper publication cost my New York LLC?
The state cannot tell you, and neither can we. The $50 Certificate of Publication fee is the state's charge. The newspapers themselves charge for running the notice, each paper sets its own price, the state publishes no rates, and the cost varies widely by county because the county clerk designates which two newspapers you must use. The only honest quote comes from the designated newspapers in your county.
Do I need to hire a registered agent in New York?
No. The Secretary of State is your LLC's statutory agent by law, designated in your Articles of Organization, and process served on the Secretary of State is mailed to your address on file. You may add your own registered agent under Section 302 if you want a second, direct target for service at a street address, but it is optional, not a formation requirement.
Does a New York 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.