Learn the steps to form an LLC in North Dakota – from choosing your name to filing your Articles of Organization. $1 + $135 state fee. Start today.
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Filing fee: $135 (Articles of Organization) — filed online only through the FirstStop portal
Processing time: 3-5 business days, up to 1-2 weeks in busy periods; no expedited option exists
State agency: North Dakota Secretary of State (firststop.sos.nd.gov)
Annual report due: November 15 each year, starting the year after formation — $50, with a $50 late fee after the deadline and involuntary termination if ignored for 6-12 months.
State tax rate: Among the lowest income taxes in the nation — 0% bottom bracket, then 1.95% and a 2.5% top rate — and 5% state sales tax (about 6.9% average combined); no franchise tax
Start your U.S. business journey today. Form your company with confidence and let Brio handle the paperwork.
Forming an LLC in North Dakota takes 5 steps: choose and check your business name, appoint a Registered Agent with a physical North Dakota address, file Articles of Organization through the FirstStop portal (North Dakota is online-only), draft an operating agreement, and get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The state filing fee is $135.
North Dakota’s headline is its income tax — one of the lowest in the country. Most residents pay nothing on their first band of income thanks to the 0% bottom bracket, then just 1.95%, with the top rate capped at 2.5% and reserved for the highest earners. There’s no franchise tax and no entity-level tax on LLCs, so pass-through profits are taxed once, lightly. An LLC gives you personal liability protection and pass-through taxation without the administrative overhead of a corporation.
Compliance is simple and calendar-based: everyone’s annual report is due November 15 (not an anniversary date you have to remember individually), costs $50, and takes minutes in FirstStop. There’s no general state business license, sales tax registration is free, and no publication or notarization requirements exist. One caution the Secretary of State itself publishes: ignore official-looking mailers offering to file your $50 report for inflated fees — they’re a common scam targeting North Dakota businesses.
Unlike some states, North Dakota doesn’t require you to reserve your name before filing — you simply claim it when you file your Articles of Organization. If you’re not ready to file yet, you can reserve a name through FirstStop for just $10, and it holds for a full 12 months, renewable in 12-month increments.
Your LLC name must contain “Limited Liability Company,” “LLC,” or “L.L.C.” and be distinguishable from every name on the Secretary of State’s records — a different suffix alone doesn’t count, so an existing “Acme Inc.” blocks “Acme LLC.” Words like “bank” or “trust” need written approval from the Department of Financial Institutions. Check the FirstStop name search before you file.
Every North Dakota LLC must have a registered agent — a person or entity designated to receive legal notices and government documents on behalf of the business. The agent must be a North Dakota resident or an entity authorized to do business in the state, with a physical street address (no P.O. boxes), available during regular business hours — and must consent to the appointment; naming someone without their consent can jeopardize the entity.
You can serve as your own registered agent if you have a physical North Dakota address and can be there during business hours. Many business owners use a professional registered agent service instead — it keeps your personal address off public records and ensures someone is always available to receive documents.
The Articles of Organization is the document that legally creates your North Dakota LLC. You file it with the Secretary of State exclusively through the FirstStop portal at firststop.sos.nd.gov — paper, mail, and fax are no longer accepted. The fee is $135, and processing takes 3-5 business days, occasionally stretching to a week or two when volume is high. Plan around that queue: North Dakota offers no expedited option at any price.
The Articles must include your LLC’s name, its registered agent and registered office, the principal address, and organizer information. One specialized note: North Dakota’s corporate farming law restricts LLCs engaged in farming or ranching — those operate as a distinct Farm/Ranch LLC category with ownership restrictions and a different reporting date (April 15), so agricultural ventures should check the rules before filing a standard business LLC.
North Dakota doesn’t require you to file an operating agreement with the state, but you should have one. It’s the internal document that defines how your LLC is managed — who owns what, how profits are distributed, and how decisions get made. Without one, North Dakota’s default LLC statutes fill in the gaps, which may not reflect what you actually want.
Your operating agreement should specify whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. In a member-managed LLC, all owners share day-to-day authority. In a manager-managed LLC, a designated manager handles operations while other members retain economic rights. A written agreement is the version that holds up when disputes arise.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a 9-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS. Your North Dakota LLC needs one to open a business bank account, hire employees, and file federal taxes. Applying online at irs.gov is free and issues your EIN immediately after you complete the application.
To use the IRS online application, the responsible party must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and the business must have its principal place of business in the United States. The IRS does not charge a fee for issuing an EIN.
North Dakota LLCs file one report with the Secretary of State: a $50 annual report due November 15 each year, starting the calendar year after formation — an LLC formed in March 2026 files its first on November 15, 2027. File after the deadline and a $50 late fee doubles the bill; keep ignoring it and the LLC drops out of good standing and is involuntarily terminated within roughly 6-12 months.
North Dakota has no general state business license, and if you sell taxable goods or services the sales tax permit from the Tax Commissioner (via the ND TAP portal) is free — collect the 5% state rate plus local additions averaging about 1.9%. If your LLC is ever terminated for missed reports, act within one year: inside that window reinstatement is a simple FirstStop filing ($135 plus back reports and late fees); after it, the only path back is a district court petition.
The required North Dakota state fee is $135 to file the Articles of Organization through FirstStop. The annual report is $50 each year, and reserving your name before filing is optional at $10 for a full 12 months — one of the longest and cheapest reservations anywhere. There’s no additional state fee to get your EIN; the IRS issues EINs for free.
Yes. North Dakota allows a single person to form and own an LLC – this is called a single-member LLC. You can complete the Articles of Organization yourself through the FirstStop portal without an attorney — just note everything is online; the state no longer accepts paper filings. You’ll still need a registered agent with a physical North Dakota address who consents to the role, but that can be yourself if you qualify.
No. North Dakota charges a $135 Articles of Organization fee – that’s a required state fee you can’t avoid. What you can avoid is paying extra for formation help. We handle your North Dakota LLC filing for $1; you only pay the required state fees.
Yes. Every North Dakota LLC files a $50 annual report through FirstStop, due November 15 each year beginning the calendar year after formation. Miss the date and a $50 late fee applies immediately; stay delinquent and the state involuntarily terminates the LLC within about 6-12 months. Reinstatement within one year is straightforward — $135 plus the back reports — but after a year it requires petitioning the district court, so the November deadline is worth a permanent calendar entry.
Yes, every North Dakota LLC is required to have a registered agent. A registered agent is a person or entity that receives legal notices and official government documents on behalf of your LLC. The agent must be a North Dakota resident or authorized entity with a physical street address in the state — not a P.O. box — available during regular business hours, and must consent to the appointment. You can serve as your own agent or use a professional service.
The mistakes that come up most often are missing the November 15 annual report — especially the first one, which is due the calendar year after formation rather than on your anniversary — and letting a terminated LLC sit past the one-year reinstatement window, after which only a court petition can revive it. Others include paying inflated fees to third-party mailers for the $50 report the state lets you file yourself (a scam the Secretary of State warns about by name), assuming a different suffix makes a taken name available, naming a registered agent who never consented, and hunting for paper forms or expedite options that don’t exist.
Online filings through FirstStop take 3-5 business days in normal periods, occasionally stretching to one or two weeks when volume spikes. There’s no paper alternative and no expedited tier at any price — so if your timeline is tight, the only lever is filing early. The annual report, by contrast, takes just minutes once the LLC exists.
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