Formation services answer these questions with a checkout page. Here they are answered straight, from state filing offices and IRS pages, with links to the deeper guides where one exists.
General information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Figures reflect the sources on each linked page and change over time; the linked pages carry the details and citations.
The state filing fee runs from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts, with most states between $50 and $150. Recurring costs vary more: several states charge nothing per year, while California collects an $800 annual franchise tax regardless of income. Formation services charge their fee on top, and their $0 tiers cover only the filing labor, never the state fee.
Every state's fees, from the official schedules →It depends almost entirely on the state, not the service. Online filings are approved in minutes to a few days in many states, while paper filings can take weeks; Maryland quotes 4 to 6 weeks for non-expedited paper review. Most states sell expedited processing for an extra fee. A formation service cannot make the state move faster than the state's own expedite options.
→Yes. Every state allows single-member LLCs. The IRS treats a single-member LLC as a disregarded entity by default, meaning the business income lands directly on your personal return on Schedule C, exactly as a sole proprietorship would.
→Not for a routine formation. The articles of organization are a short state form designed for self-filing, and every step is doable online in most states. A lawyer earns their fee in non-routine situations: multiple owners negotiating an operating agreement, outside investors, licensing-restricted professions, or complex asset structures.
→By default, no. A single-member LLC is disregarded and a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership; either way, profit flows to the owners' personal returns and self-employment tax applies. What an LLC adds is the option to elect S corporation or C corporation treatment later, which can change the math at higher profits but brings payroll and filing obligations.
LLC vs S corp, honestly →It protects against business creditors and lawsuits aimed at the business, when maintained properly: separate bank account, no commingling, real capitalization, and signing contracts as the company. It does not protect against your own professional negligence, debts you personally guarantee, or payroll taxes. Courts can pierce the veil when owners treat the LLC as a personal wallet.
→No. Deductions follow from having a business, not from the entity. A sole proprietor deducts the same ordinary and necessary expenses on Schedule C that a single-member LLC owner does. The write-off pitch is the most common false reason people are sold a formation.
LLC vs sole proprietorship →They are different things, and the EIN is free. The LLC is a state-created entity; the EIN is a federal tax ID number the IRS issues at no charge on irs.gov in minutes. Formation services charge up to $99 to fill in the same form. Single-member LLCs without employees can often use the owner's SSN instead, though banks usually want an EIN for a business account.
→Yes, but it rarely saves money for an operating business. An LLC generally must register as a foreign LLC in every state where it actually does business, at that state's fees, with a registered agent there too. A Wyoming LLC running a business in Illinois pays both states. The low-fee-state pitch mainly benefits holding companies and the services selling the registrations.
→No, and you cannot skip having one either. Every LLC must continuously maintain a registered agent with a street address in the state. You can serve yourself for free in most states if you are reliably at an in-state address during business hours; the paid services ($125 to $249 per year) earn their fee mainly on privacy, since the agent's name and address are public record.
The registered agent rules →The obligations run anyway. Annual reports and franchise taxes accrue until you formally dissolve, late fees stack, and the state eventually administratively dissolves the company, which can leave lingering tax accounts open. If a business idea dies, file the dissolution paperwork; it usually costs less than one year of the fees you would otherwise owe.
→Yes to both. A name change is an amendment filing, typically cheap. Moving states is called domestication where both states allow it; otherwise you form in the new state and merge or dissolve the old one. Neither requires starting the business over, but bank accounts, licenses, and the IRS record all need updating.
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