Georgia is the cheapest state we’ve covered so far when it comes to keeping an LLC in good standing after you form it. There’s no franchise tax, no LLC-level fee tied to your revenue, and the annual filing that keeps your company active costs $60 and takes a few minutes online. Compare that to California’s $800 minimum franchise tax or Texas’s public information report, and Georgia looks almost relaxed.
The catch: Georgia is also the first state in this series with a real state income tax on LLC profits. If your main goal is minimizing what you owe every year, that fact matters more than the low filing fee.
What it costs to form the LLC
You form a Georgia LLC by filing Articles of Organization (Form CD 030) with the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division. Once approved, the state issues a Certificate of Organization as your proof the LLC exists.
File online at ecorp.sos.ga.gov and it’s $105 total: a $100 statutory fee plus a $5 online service charge. Mail or hand-deliver it instead and the service charge rises to $10, for $110 total.
Online filings are typically approved in 5 to 7 business days. Paper filings take about 15 business days. There’s no rush-processing option listed on the state’s fee schedule the way some states offer expedited service for an extra fee, so if you’re in a hurry, file online rather than by mail.
The seven steps
- Check name availability. Search the Secretary of State’s business database to confirm your name isn’t taken, and make sure it ends with "LLC" or "L.L.C.," which Georgia law requires.
- Appoint a registered agent. The agent needs a physical Georgia street address (no P.O. boxes) and has to be available during normal business hours to accept legal documents. This can be you, a friend with a Georgia address, or a commercial registered agent service.
- File the Articles of Organization. Submit Form CD 030 online through ecorp.sos.ga.gov, or by mail, with your LLC name, registered agent details, and principal office address.
- Write an operating agreement. Georgia doesn’t require you to file one with the state, but you should still have one. It spells out who owns what, how profits get split, and what happens if a member leaves. Banks often ask to see it before opening a business account.
- Get an EIN from the IRS. It’s free at irs.gov and takes minutes online if you have a Social Security number. Non-U.S. applicants without an SSN or ITIN have to apply by fax instead, which typically takes about four business days.
- Open a business bank account. Keep LLC money separate from personal money from day one. Mixing the two is one of the easiest ways to lose your liability protection if a court ever decides you never really treated the LLC as its own entity.
- Check local licensing. Georgia doesn’t issue one blanket statewide business license. What you actually need depends on your county, your city, and sometimes your profession. A contractor and an online consultant in the same county can face completely different requirements, so check with your local clerk’s office rather than assuming the state filing covers it.
Staying in good standing: the annual registration
Every Georgia LLC has to file an annual registration between January 1 and April 1 each year. It costs $60 (a $50 statutory fee plus a $10 service charge). You don’t file one in your first calendar year; the first one is due the January through April after you formed the company.
Miss the April 1 deadline and Georgia adds a $25 late fee. Miss it entirely through July 1 and the state can administratively dissolve your LLC, which means losing your legal protections, your ability to sign contracts as the LLC, and often access to your business bank account until you’re reinstated.
There’s no LLC-level franchise tax and no fee that scales with revenue here, unlike California’s graduated fee that climbs as high as $11,790 for larger LLCs. Georgia just wants the $60 form, on time, every year.
The tax you can’t avoid
Texas and Wyoming, the first two states we covered, have no state income tax at all. Georgia does. As of January 1, 2026, Georgia’s personal income tax dropped to a flat 4.99%, down from 5.19% in 2025, under a rate-cut law (HB 463) that’s been moving faster than originally scheduled. Because a default LLC is a pass-through entity, that 4.99% applies to your share of the LLC’s profit on your personal Georgia return, on top of whatever you owe the IRS.
That’s not automatically a dealbreaker. A flat 4.99% is lower than the top bracket in plenty of states, and Georgia’s low, predictable compliance costs can offset the tax for a small operation. But if avoiding income tax entirely is the reason you’re shopping for a state, Georgia isn’t going to get you there the way Wyoming or Texas would.
Should you file it yourself or hire someone?
You can file the Articles of Organization yourself for $105 in about twenty minutes. Services like Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness will do the same filing for you, usually bundled with a year of registered agent service, for a markup on top of the state fee.
We haven’t run our formation-service test on a Georgia filing yet, so we’re not naming a pick here. Our methodology is on the How We Test page if you want to see what we check before we recommend anyone.
FAQ
Do I need a general business license to operate in Georgia?
No single statewide license covers all businesses. Requirements are set at the county and city level, and some professions need a separate state license on top of that. Check with your local clerk’s office.
Does Georgia require me to publish a notice of formation?
No. Unlike some states, Georgia doesn’t require LLCs to publish a formation notice in a newspaper. That requirement applies to certain Georgia corporations, not LLCs.
Can someone outside Georgia, or outside the U.S., form a Georgia LLC?
Yes. Georgia has no residency or citizenship requirement for LLC members or managers. You still need a registered agent with a Georgia street address, which is usually why non-residents hire a commercial registered agent service instead of trying to use their own.
What happens if I forget to file the annual registration?
A $25 late fee kicks in after April 1. If it’s still not filed by July 1, the state can administratively dissolve the LLC. Reinstating a dissolved LLC is possible but adds paperwork and cost you wouldn’t have had otherwise, so it’s worth putting a reminder on your calendar.
