North Carolina LLC filing: $125 to start, $800 in reports by year five

North Carolina charges $125 to form an LLC, which is unremarkable, and $200 every year to keep it, which is the most expensive annual report among its neighbors. It is four times what Virginia charges, eight times South Carolina, and more than double Georgia.

Run that forward and the usual cost story inverts. The first annual report is due the year after formation, so an LLC formed early in its first year files roughly four annual reports in its first five years. That is about $800 in reports against a $125 filing fee. In North Carolina the entry price is the small number.

North Carolina’s $200 annual report passes the $125 formation fee before the company is two years old.

Naming the company

A North Carolina LLC’s name must include an LLC designator and be distinguishable from other names on the Secretary of State’s record. A name reservation costs $10 under G.S. § 57D-1-22(a)(2) and is worth using if the entity name matters strategically and your formation documents are still being drafted.

Forming the LLC

Formation is the Articles of Organization, Form L-01, filed with the Secretary of State.

Articles of Organization cost $125, and online filings typically clear in a few business days.

The $125 fee is set by G.S. § 57D-1-22(a)(1). Online filing through the Secretary of State’s portal is the fastest route and usually clears in about three business days; paper runs considerably longer. Expedited service is available under G.S. § 55D-11 at $100 for 24-hour and $200 for same-day if the documents arrive by noon Eastern, added on top of the $125 rather than instead of it.

The form asks for a company official, at least one member, manager, or organizer, and that name becomes part of the public record. North Carolina has no publication requirement and no operating agreement filing, so once the Articles clear, formation is done.

The registered agent

Every North Carolina LLC must maintain a registered agent with a physical North Carolina street address under G.S. § 55D-30.

North Carolina rejects a post office box for the registered agent, and the agent must be available during business hours.

You can act as your own agent if you are in North Carolina, which puts your street address on the public record and requires availability during business hours, or hire a commercial agent for roughly $50 to $125 a year.

The annual report

This is the number that defines the cost of a North Carolina LLC.

The annual report costs $200 and is due April 15 each year, starting the year after your Articles are approved.

The fee is set by G.S. § 57D-1-22(a)(28) and the deadline by § 57D-2-24(b). Paper filings are the flat $200; filing online adds a small processing charge. The obligation does not scale with revenue, so a dormant North Carolina LLC and a profitable one pay the same.

For anyone holding several entities, the arithmetic compounds directly: five North Carolina LLCs cost $1,000 a year in reports alone, before registered agent fees. That is the real cost of the one-entity-per-asset structure in this state, and it is worth pricing before building it, as the structure and cost page discusses.

Falling behind, and getting back

North Carolina does not charge a late fee, which sounds forgiving and is not.

There is no late fee. There is a 60-day cure period and then administrative dissolution.

Under G.S. § 57D-6-06, the Secretary of State sends written notice of the grounds for dissolution, and the LLC has 60 days to cure by filing the overdue report and paying what it owes. If the company does not cure within that window, the Secretary of State may administratively dissolve it, at which point it is no longer recognized as a legal entity.

Reinstatement costs a minimum of $300, being a $100 reinstatement fee plus $200 for one delinquent annual report, with an additional $200 for each further year of delinquency. And there is a risk no fee schedule captures: the company’s name may no longer be available when it comes back.

The bottom line

Forming a North Carolina LLC costs $125, with online filings typically clearing in about three business days.

Expedited processing costs an additional $100 for 24-hour or $200 for same-day, on top of the base fee.

The annual report costs $200 and is due April 15 each year beginning the year after formation, regardless of revenue.

North Carolina’s annual report is four times Virginia’s, eight times South Carolina’s, and more than double Georgia’s.

There is no late fee, but a missed report brings a 60-day cure period and then administrative dissolution.

Reinstatement costs at least $300, rising $200 for each additional delinquent year, and the company’s name may be gone.

What this page does not cover

This page is the mechanics: fees, forms, and deadlines. How creditors reach you in North Carolina is on the protection page. What the statute decides when your operating agreement is silent is on the governance page. Series, taxes, and the excise tax on conveyances are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified July 2026.