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How to Form an LLC in Ohio

Ohio charges $99 to form an LLC and then charges nothing to keep it filed with the Secretary of State: no annual report, no biennial report, no recurring state filing fee. The traps are different here. Ohio renumbered its LLC forms in 2025, so stale guides cite forms that no longer exist, and the one duty that can cancel your LLC is keeping a statutory agent in place.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The Ohio filing steps

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

   Search the Secretary of State's Business Search at businesssearch.ohiosos.gov before you file. An Ohio LLC name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other business entities and must contain one of these designators: "limited liability company," "limited," "LLC," "L.L.C.," "ltd.," or "ltd." A search does not reserve the name. If you want to hold a name while you prepare, Ohio offers an optional name reservation on Form 534B for $39, but most founders who are ready to file skip it and file the Articles directly.

2. Choose your registered agent

   Ohio calls this role the statutory agent, and every domestic and registered foreign LLC must maintain one continuously in Ohio. The agent is either a natural person who is a resident of Ohio, or an entity of a type listed in R.C. 1706.09 that has a business address in Ohio, such as a corporation, LLC, partnership, or business trust. The Secretary of State will not accept your Articles unless they come with both a written appointment signed by an authorized representative and a written acceptance signed by the agent. Form 610 carries an Acceptance of Appointment block for exactly that signature. The agent address must be an Ohio address, a primary residence or usual place of business. P.O. boxes are not allowed, with one narrow exception for a P.O. box combined with a rural route number, and Commercial Mail Receiving Agency addresses are not allowed either.

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

   File Form 610, Articles of Organization for a Domestic Limited Liability Company, through Ohio Business Central at OhioBusinessCentral.gov, or on paper. The fee is $99 either way. That form number matters: Form 610 was revised in September 2025 and replaced Form 533A, so any guide still telling you to file Form 533A is working from an old fee schedule. Regular processing takes 3 to 7 business days with no expedite fee. Optional expedited service costs extra on top of the $99: Expedite Service 1 adds $100 for 2 business days, Service 2 adds $200 for 1 business day, and Service 3 adds $300 and requires in-person delivery, with a 4 hour turnaround when received by 1:00 p.m. An optional preclearance review of a form you plan to file later costs $50. Under R.C. 1706.16, the LLC is formed when the Articles are filed by the Secretary of State, or at a later effective date you specify, up to 90 days out.

4. Get an EIN from the IRS

   Free, online, and takes minutes once your Ohio 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

   Under R.C. 1706.08, an Ohio operating agreement governs relations among the members and between the members and the LLC, and it is not filed with the Secretary of State. Whatever the agreement does not provide for, Chapter 1706 of the Revised Code governs by default. That default rule is the reason to write the agreement at formation: the parts you leave blank are not left open, they are filled in by statute.

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. Ohio issues no single statewide general business license through the Secretary of State; licensing is industry specific, through state boards and agencies, or local. The near universal state level item is tax registration. If you will make retail sales subject to sales tax, you need a vendor's license before you start. The regular license is issued through the county auditor for each fixed place of business, and it is also obtainable through the Tax Commissioner's registration system. A transient vendor's license is issued by the Ohio Department of Taxation. The fee is $50 for each fixed place of business and $50 for a transient vendor's license, under R.C. 5739.17 as in effect since April 9, 2025.

Filing details that trip people up

• Ohio renumbered its LLC forms in 2025, and old guides get every number wrong. Articles of Organization are now Form 610 (replacing Form 533A), foreign registration is Form 617 (replacing Form 533B), and dissolution is Form 616. Form 611 is now the Certificate of Amendment or Restatement, not a dissolution form. Fees did not change with the numbers, but filing on a retired form invites a rejection.
• Foreign LLCs pay the same $99 in Ohio. Registering an out-of-state LLC on Form 617 costs $99, the same as forming a domestic one. An unregistered foreign LLC transacting business in Ohio may not maintain a court proceeding in Ohio to collect its debts until it registers, is liable to the state for an amount equal to the registration fee, and can face a civil penalty or an injunction through the Attorney General under R.C. 1706.515.
• No publication requirement. Nothing in Form 610 or R.C. 1706.16 imposes a newspaper publication or advertising step. Formation is complete when the Articles, with the statutory agent appointment and signed acceptance, are filed.
• Trading under a different name is a state filing in Ohio, and it lasts five years. A trade name or a fictitious name is registered with the Secretary of State on Form 534A for $39, not at the county. A trade name claims an exclusive right to the name and must be distinguishable on state records; a fictitious name is a report and confers no exclusivity. Registration is effective for five years and renews on Form 523A for $25. Our DBA guide covers when you need one and when you do not.
• The agent update deadline is 30 days. When your statutory agent or the agent's address changes, the Secretary of State's roadmap says the update is due within 30 days, filed on Form 521 for $25. This small filing is the closest thing Ohio has to an annual report, and skipping it is what puts an LLC on the path to cancellation described on the report page.

After your Ohio LLC is approved

Get the EIN, open the business bank account, and register with the Department of Taxation for the taxes your activity triggers, including a vendor's license if you will make taxable retail sales. Then understand what Ohio does not ask for: there is no annual report to calendar. What you calendar instead is agent upkeep. Keep the statutory agent appointment and address current, file Form 521 within 30 days of any change for $25, and treat any notice from the Secretary of State about your agent as urgent, because an uncured agent default cancels the Articles. If your Ohio gross receipts ever approach $6 million, that is the point where Commercial Activity Tax registration enters the picture, within 30 days of exceeding the exclusion.

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

Ohio LLC questions