Ohio LLC Filing Fees and Requirements

Legal business registration — and keeping your business in good standing — involves some necessary expenses. Some of these costs are payable to the OH Secretary of State, while others are due to the federal or other state government entity. We’ve summarized the most common requirements and fees here.

Note that Ohio business license and permit fees might need to be paid when you first form your business, on an ongoing schedule or on an ad hoc basis. Find more details below.

When you first form your business, you’ll need to file as an LLC with the OH Secretary of State and pay a filing fee. Here are the current Ohio LLC fees and filing times:

When you form through Bizee, we charge you this fee and forward it to the OH Secretary of State when we file your formation paperwork.

Every LLC should have a unique Employer Identification Number (EIN). This is provided by the Internal Revenue Service, and you use it when filing taxes, opening a business bank account and paying employees. You can get one yourself at no cost from the IRS or have Bizee obtain one on your behalf.

When you want to do business in a state other than the one where your business is based, you must create a foreign LLC.

Before you can bring an arm of your business from another state into Ohio, you must request Ohio Foreign Qualification. This means the state gives you permission to conduct business there.

To request registration of an Ohio Foreign LLC, you must complete a Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company form and pay a filing fee of $99. The state may have additional requirements so contact the OH Secretary of State for more information.

If you plan to expand your Ohio LLC into another state, you’ll first need Foreign Qualification or a Certificate of Authority from that state. This is necessary if you'll have a physical presence, employees or banking in that state.

This process will likely entail completing one or more applications and paying filing fees, but each state has its own requirements. Before you move forward, compare state filing times and state filing fees to be prepared. Contact the state government entity that administers business (usually the Secretary of State) to confirm their requirements and for specific instructions.

If you need assistance, Bizee provides complete Foreign Qualification service for all states.

Ohio does not require LLCs to file annual reports.

You must ensure you have the appropriate state, federal or local business licenses to operate your LLC. Some of the associated fees only need to be paid once, while others are ongoing charges.

The state does not require you to have an Ohio LLC Operating Agreement in place.

An Operating Agreement is a document that covers how the business will be run, how managers and members are chosen, rights and duties of members and several other key areas.

This document can be extremely helpful in making sure you’re organized and prepared for any future events that may affect your business.

There are several other fees or requirements that you may need to meet during the life of your LLC. These ad hoc fees will only be payable in specific circumstances, which we’ve listed below.

If you want to establish an Ohio DBA (fictitious name or trade name), you must file a form with the Secretary of State and pay a filing fee of $39.

Your LLC needs an Ohio Statutory Agent (Registered Agent), which must be appointed when you first form your LLC. You can also switch to a new Registered Agent later by filing a form and paying a $25 filing fee.

If you don’t want to form your OH business right away, you can reserve a name for 180 days with the Ohio Secretary of State for a fee of $39. First, perform an Ohio business search and learn about rules pertaining to business names to ensure the name you choose meets all state requirements.

Your business formation documents state certain facts about your Ohio business when it was originally formed. Over time, these facts might change. If they do, you need to file a Domestic Limited Liability Company Certificate of Amendment form with the OH Secretary of State and pay a $50 filing fee. You can do this yourself or have Bizee complete the filing on your behalf.

Some organizations will request that you prove your LLC’s compliance with laws and tax requirements. If you need to prove that you've met your commitments, you'll need a Certificate of Good Standing from the OH Secretary of State.

The fees listed above detail many of the charges a standard LLC will be required to pay. In some unusual circumstances, there may be other one-off, periodic or ad hoc fees not listed above.

Of course, your LLC will likely need to pay self-employment, payroll, federal, state and sales taxes. More information about taxes can be found on the Ohio Business Tax page.

We charge you this fee at cost and then pay the fee to the Secretary of State on your behalf when forming your Ohio business.