Colorado LLC filing: $50 online, a periodic report on your anniversary month, and one of the cheapest states to keep a company alive

Every figure on this page comes from the Colorado Secretary of State and the Colorado Limited Liability Company Act. Not from an aggregator. Colorado is one of the cheapest and simplest states to form and maintain an LLC, with two things to know up front: the state accepts only online filings, so there is no paper option, and the annual filing is called a periodic report, due in a window tied to your own formation anniversary month rather than a single statewide date.

Forming the company

Formation is a single online filing at one of the lowest fees in the country.

Colorado forms an LLC on Articles of Organization filed online with the Secretary of State for $50, with no paper option.

You create a Colorado LLC by filing the Articles of Organization with the Colorado Secretary of State through its online portal, under C.R.S. § 7-80-204. The fee is $50, and Colorado has discontinued paper filing, so online is the only route. The articles name the LLC, its principal office, a registered agent, the person forming the company, and whether it is member-managed or manager-managed, and as the structure and cost page explains, they do not require a full list of members. Filers can choose an immediate effective date or delay it up to 90 days, and processing typically takes a few business days.

The periodic report, on your own schedule

Colorado’s version of the annual report runs on each company’s own clock.

Colorado’s periodic report is due in a window around your formation anniversary month, not on a single statewide date.

Every Colorado LLC files a periodic report with the Secretary of State each year to keep its information current and stay in good standing. It is due in a window tied to the anniversary month of formation, so an LLC formed in May files in a window centered on May, and an LLC formed in December files around December. Because the deadline is personal to each entity, an owner with several LLCs tracks several windows. The report itself confirms the registered agent, principal office, and management, and it takes only a few minutes online if nothing has changed.

The fee is where the sourcing discipline shows up.

The periodic report fee is $25, and older guides that still say $10 are quoting a superseded number.

The current periodic report fee is $25. A number of guides still publish $10, which was the fee before Colorado raised it, so confirm against the Secretary of State’s own schedule rather than trusting a figure several sites repeat. Missing the filing window adds a $50 late fee, bringing the total to $75 if filed within 60 days, and after that the state marks the LLC delinquent, which shows on the public record and can affect banking and contracts.

What you pay the state over time

The recurring cost of a Colorado LLC is among the lowest anywhere.

The recurring state cost of a Colorado LLC is the $25 periodic report, because there is no franchise tax.

After formation, Colorado charges an LLC no franchise tax, so the periodic report is the recurring state obligation. Income passes through to the members at Colorado’s flat state rate, covered on the structure and cost page, and there is no separate entity-level income tax on a standard pass-through. A foreign LLC registering to do business in Colorado files the same periodic report as a domestic one. Between the $50 formation fee and the $25 report, Colorado is one of the least expensive states in the country to keep a company alive, provided the report is filed on time.

Why the sourcing matters

One discipline runs under this page, and it is a large part of what this site is for.

A filing figure several sites agree on can be several copies of one outdated number, which is why every figure here traces to the state.

Colorado’s own recent history makes the point twice: the periodic report fee that many guides still list is stale, and the state’s homestead exemption, which most older pages put at $75,000, was tripled in 2022. Fees and thresholds drift, and agreement among aggregators is often just shared copying. Every figure on this page is dated, comes from the Colorado Secretary of State or the LLC Act, and carries the verification date below. When a fee or rule changes, the fix is to read the state’s own schedule again.

The bottom line

A Colorado LLC forms on Articles of Organization filed online with the Secretary of State for $50, with no paper option.

The periodic report is $25, due in a window around the formation anniversary month, a personal deadline for each entity.

Older sources that list a $10 periodic report fee are quoting a superseded number, so confirm against the Secretary of State.

There is no franchise tax, so the $25 report is the recurring state cost, making Colorado one of the cheapest states to maintain a company.

A foreign LLC operating in Colorado files the same periodic report as a domestic LLC.

What this page does not cover

This page is about fees, forms, and deadlines. How creditors reach a member’s interest, the foreclosable charging order, and the Albright single-member problem are on the protection page. The default governance rules, including the distribution default that follows contributions, are on the governance page. Colorado’s series LLC, its absent transfer tax, and the ski-town exceptions are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified August 2026.