Learn the steps to form an LLC in New York – from choosing your name to filing your Articles of Organization. $1 + $200 state fee. Start today.
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Filing fee: $200 (Articles of Organization) — plus the newspaper publication requirement, which adds roughly $300-$600 upstate or $1,000-$1,600+ in New York City, and a $50 Certificate of Publication
Processing time: Minutes online; 2-3 weeks by mail
State agency: New York Department of State, Division of Corporations
Biennial statement due: Every two years in your anniversary month — just $9. Separately, an annual LLC filing fee of $25-$4,500 (based on New York income) is due with the tax return.
State tax rate: Graduated 3.9-10.9% income tax on pass-through income (NYC residents add ~3-3.9% city tax) and 4% state sales tax — 8.875% combined in New York City
Start your U.S. business journey today. Form your company with confidence and let Brio handle the paperwork.
Forming an LLC in New York takes 5 steps plus the state’s famous extra one: choose and check your business name, file Articles of Organization (the Secretary of State automatically serves as your agent for service of process), publish notice of formation in two newspapers for six weeks and file the Certificate of Publication, adopt the written operating agreement New York law requires, and get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The state filing fee is $200. A separate Registered Agent is optional here.
If your business operates in New York, forming there is usually unavoidable and still worthwhile: an LLC gives you personal liability protection and pass-through taxation without the corporate formalities of a corporation, and the ongoing Department of State obligation is a token $9 biennial statement. New York is also unusual in a convenient way — the Secretary of State automatically acts as your agent for service of process, so hiring a registered agent is optional rather than mandatory.
The costs worth planning for are the famous publication requirement — six weeks of notices in two county-clerk-designated newspapers, roughly $300-$600 upstate but $1,000-$1,600 or more in New York City — and the annual LLC filing fee the Tax Department collects ($25 minimum, scaling to $4,500 with New York gross income). Many filers legally cut the publication bill by designating an Albany County office address in their Articles and publishing there instead of in Manhattan.
Unlike some states, New York 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 optionally reserve a name for $20, which holds it for 60 days (extendable twice, to 180 days maximum).
Your LLC name must be distinguishable from every entity on file with the Division of Corporations and must include “Limited Liability Company,” “LLC,” or “L.L.C.” New York keeps a long list of restricted words — “bank,” “insurance,” “finance,” “university,” “attorney,” “doctor,” and others — that need prior written consent from the relevant agency before the state will accept the filing. Check the name search and the restricted words list before you file.
New York handles this differently from every other state: by law, the Secretary of State is automatically your LLC’s agent for service of process — you just designate an address in the Articles where the state forwards any legal papers it receives. Appointing a separate registered agent is optional, not required.
Many owners still appoint a registered agent anyway. A professional agent keeps your street address off the public forwarding record, receives service reliably if you move or work from home — and if you use the Albany County strategy to cut publication costs, an agent with an Albany office supplies the address and the mail forwarding that make it work.
The Articles of Organization (Form DOS-1336) legally creates your New York LLC. File online through the Department of State for $200 and approval arrives within minutes during business hours, receipt emailed as a PDF; mail filings take 2-3 weeks (paper filings can be expedited for $25-$150, but online needs no expediting). The county you list as your LLC’s office location matters more than you’d think — it determines where, and how expensively, you must publish.
Then the publication clock starts: within 120 days you must publish a notice of formation once a week for six successive weeks in two newspapers — one daily, one weekly — designated by the county clerk of your LLC’s county (you can’t pick your own papers), then file a $50 Certificate of Publication with both affidavits. Costs range from roughly $300-$600 in most upstate counties to $1,000-$1,600+ in Manhattan. Miss the deadline and the LLC’s authority to do business is suspended — though publishing late cures it retroactively.
New York is one of the few states where the operating agreement isn’t just advisable — LLC law requires members to adopt a written one, before, at, or within 90 days after filing the Articles. It stays internal (never filed with the state), and there’s no direct monetary penalty, but skipping it violates the statute and leaves you governed by default rules. It defines who owns what, how profits are distributed, and how decisions get made.
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 — and in New York, it’s also what the statute demands.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a 9-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS. Your New York 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.
The Department of State asks for almost nothing ongoing: a $9 biennial statement, filed online every two years during your LLC’s anniversary month (the system won’t accept it early). The Tax Department asks for more: every LLC treated as a partnership or disregarded entity with New York income owes the annual filing fee with Form IT-204-LL by March 15 — $25 for income up to $100,000, scaling through $500 and $1,500 to a $4,500 maximum above $25 million. No extensions are granted.
There’s no general state business license, and sales tax registration with the Tax Department is free — collect 4% state plus local rates, 8.875% combined in New York City. Income tax is the steep part: graduated state rates run 3.9% to 10.9%, and New York City residents add roughly 3-3.9% city income tax on top. Licensed professionals should note they need a PLLC rather than a standard LLC, with education-department consent.
Budget three layers: the $200 Articles of Organization fee, the publication requirement — roughly $300-$600 in most upstate counties, $1,000-$1,600+ in New York City — plus the $50 Certificate of Publication, and then the recurring items: a $9 biennial statement and the annual LLC filing fee of $25 to $4,500 based on New York gross income. All-in, an NYC LLC typically costs $1,250-$1,850+ to launch; an upstate or Albany-published one, $550-$850. The IRS issues EINs for free.
Yes. New York allows a single person to form and own an LLC – this is called a single-member LLC. You can file the Articles of Organization online yourself with approval in minutes, then arrange publication by contacting your county clerk for the two designated newspapers. No attorney is required — and no registered agent either, since the Secretary of State automatically fills that role. Just don’t skip the required written operating agreement.
No – and New York is the opposite of a budget state: the $200 filing fee is unavoidable, and the publication requirement adds hundreds to over a thousand dollars more depending on county. What you can avoid is paying extra for formation help. We handle your New York LLC filing for $1; you only pay the required state fees and publication costs.
New York splits it in two. The Department of State requires only a $9 biennial statement, filed every two years in your anniversary month. The Tax Department separately collects an annual LLC filing fee from every LLC with New York-source income, via Form IT-204-LL due March 15 with no extensions: $25 up to $100,000 of New York gross income, then $50, $175, $500, $1,500, $3,000, and $4,500 above $25 million. Both are easy to miss because the state sends few reminders.
No – New York is unusual here: the Secretary of State is automatically your LLC’s agent for service of process, so a separate registered agent is optional. You simply list an address where the state forwards legal papers. Many owners appoint a professional agent anyway — for reliable service of process, to keep a home address off the record, or to supply an Albany County address that makes publication dramatically cheaper.
The classic New York mistake is missing the 120-day publication deadline — out-of-state founders simply don’t expect it — or publishing in newspapers the county clerk didn’t designate, which doesn’t count. Manhattan filers routinely overpay by $1,000+ when an Albany County office address would publish the same notice for a few hundred dollars. Beyond publication: forgetting the IT-204-LL annual fee and the $9 biennial statement (New York barely sends reminders), skipping the operating agreement that state law explicitly requires, and using a restricted word in the name without agency consent.
The state filing itself is the fast part: online Articles are approved within minutes during business hours, with the receipt emailed as a PDF. Mail takes 2-3 weeks, and paper expedite tiers ($25 to $150) exist if you must file that way. The full launch runs longer because of publication — six consecutive weeks in the newspapers — though your LLC legally exists and can operate from the day the Articles are filed.
Thinking about another state? Compare Wyoming, Delaware, Texas and Florida — or browse all 50 state guides.
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