Entrepreneurship is exciting—the thrill of developing a winning product or service, bringing that idea to life, and making life better for your clients—it’s fun. But unfortunately, it’s not free. Long story short: starting a business has a price tag. LLCs are no exception.
If you’re hoping to start an LLC in Kentucky, you’ll quickly learn that you’ll have a pretty long list of fees for forms, licenses, and applications that you’ll need to get started. Some of those are optional fees, and some are unavoidable. In this guide, we’ll walk you through all the costs you can expect when starting a Kentucky LLC. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of how your new business will impact your wallet.
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What’s the least amount I have to pay to form an LLC in Kentucky?
If you’re crunching the numbers before diving right in, good on you! Planning ahead is a surefire way to start your business off on the right foot. But let’s make one thing clear: the phrase “cost to start an LLC” is a bit deceptive. That’s because you don’t want to get stuck focusing on the “day one” expenses of business.
That’s right—when budgeting for start-up costs, you need to account for the costs you’ll pay today and the costs you’ll pay a year or two down the road.
So let’s talk start-up costs and ongoing costs for your Kentucky LLC. But to keep things simple, here we’ll cover the non-negotiable costs. Later on, we’ll talk about services that are nice to have (but you can live without if you have to).
KY LLC Start-up costs
There are two primary start-up costs in Kentucky. The most important one (but thankfully, not the priciest one) is the Articles of Organization. The fee is $40. That should be a manageable price tag, but regardless of whether it’s an affordable fee or something you’ll have to budget for, it’s an unavoidable cost. After all, the Articles of Organization is what officially forms your business in the state. Without it, you’re not a recognized business.
Unlike some states, Kentucky doesn’t require a general business license that applies to every entity in the state. Instead, there are a wide variety of professional licenses, such as those listed at the Kentucky OneStop Business Portal. There’s a good chance that one or more of these licenses will apply to you.
Unfortunately, since there’s such a big variety of licenses, we couldn’t possibly list all of the different fees to apply. But if a license applies to you, then you can reasonably expect to pay an application fee when you obtain it.
Ongoing costs for an LLC in KY
If your business lasts (and we’re confident it will), then you’ll have several ongoing costs. These include license renewals, annual reports, and taxes. Let’s dig into those prices and fees.
License renewals
Thankfully, you won’t have to worry about renewing a general business license, but you might have to renew your professional or occupational permits. Each Kentucky licensing board has its own policies for renewals, though, so we can’t really list them here. This guide would be tedious if we did. When you obtain your licenses, we recommend taking note of the renewal requirements for your industry so none of the fees surprise you.
Annual taxes
In Kentucky (or pretty much any state, for that matter), one of the biggest annual costs you’ll have will be taxes. Thankfully, Kentucky keeps their taxes relatively simple—at least as simple as taxes can get! The income tax is a flat rate no matter how you pay taxes: the corporate rate is 6%, and the individual rate is 5%.
Then there’s the sales tax to consider. Long story short, you’ll need to collect and pay the 6% rate if you’re involved in the sale of qualifying goods or services. You can learn more about the tax here. Last but not least, there’s also a wide variety of miscellaneous business that might apply to your LLC: tires, motor fuel, and vapor and tobacco products, to name a few. To learn more about these taxes, check out the Kentucky Department of Revenue.
Annual report
Most states require LLCs to file some version of an “annual report,” or a document that informs the state about the current standing of your business. This document is usually required in addition to annual tax reports, since it usually includes information about your business address, members, your registered agent, and so on.
In Kentucky, you have a pretty wide open time frame to file your annual report: anytime between January 1 and June 30. While you can file by mail, we recommend keeping it simple and filing online. Regardless of how you file, there’s a $15 filing fee.
What are the discretionary costs to form a Kentucky LLC?
When you’re starting your business, your budget is usually pretty tight. Prioritizing costs can get tricky. The costs we listed above are unavoidable. Well, technically, you can avoid them, but you’ll be heavily penalized if you do. And there’s not much point to spending all that money on starting a business only to knowingly let it be dissolved because you didn’t pay your ongoing costs.
But if you can help it, doing the “bare minimum” is probably not the best way to start your business. There are plenty of discretionary costs you can pay for certain services that make life easier. Here, we’ll dig into those costs—and why you might consider paying them.
1. Name reservation application
Naming things can be a bit tricky; after all, sometimes inspiration is a little lacking! And since Kentucky doesn’t allow you to use a name that someone else has already claimed, you have to work even harder to pick one that’s unique, memorable, and just right for your business.
It’s a multi-step process, really: you have to brainstorm name ideas, choose just the right words, meet state name requirements, and of course, ensure that the name isn’t already in use (you can check using a Name Availability Search).
If you’re like a lot of people, you probably want to ensure that your hard work doesn’t go to waste once you’ve created the perfect name. So you have to lay claim to your new business name. You can do so either by filing your Articles of Organization, or by filing a Reservation or Renewal of Reserved Name. You should only file this form if you’re not yet ready to file your Articles. Otherwise, you’d be wasting your hard-earned cash. Kentucky requires a $15 fee for this application, but once it’s complete, it will protect your name for 120 days.
2. Obtaining an Assumed Name
Wait—didn’t we just cover business names? Yes. But there’s a distinction: your business name, which you’ll write in on your Articles of Organization, is the legal name of your business. An assumed name, sometimes called a DBA, fictitious name, or trade name, is like a nickname for your business. For example, your legal name might Joseph Smith, but your friends call you Joe for short. Joe is a perfectly valid name, but you can’t put it on legal paperwork. You’d have to legally change your name to do so.
An Assumed Name acts kind of like a nickname for your business; some LLCs and corporations also use Assumed Names to establish new product lines or new “businesses” under the LLC “parent company.” But regardless of why you use an Assumed Name, if it differs from your legal name, you need to register it before you can use it.
Quick note: if you want to register an Assumed Name in Kentucky, you’ll need to make sure your name is “distinguishable on the record” from other names in the state. Once you have, you’re good to file the Certificate of Assumed Name, which will register your name. There’s a $20 fee for this registration.
After that, you’ll need to maintain your Assumed Name by renewing it every five years. It’s another $20 to renew. For more information on this registration process, check out our guide to Kentucky Assumed Names.
3. LLC formation services
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Paperwork is a massive hassle. And unless you’re starting an LLC to help other Kentucky residents with their paperwork, odds are you don’t want to deal with much paperwork yourself.
The bad news? Paperwork is an unavoidable part of starting a Kentucky LLC: the Articles of Organization, annual reports, professional license applications—the list goes on and on. The good news? You can hire an LLC formation service to do the pesky paperwork for you.
Of course, there’s some cost involved. And while there are a lot of great LLC formation services, they aren’t all created equal. And they all have different price points.
Many LLC formation services offer a wide variety of packages, with basic options starting at low prices like $39 from Zen Business (one company, Incfile, even offers a starter package for $0). But if you’re willing to shell out some serious cash for comprehensive assistance, you’ll find package prices going as high as $799.
These services are completely optional; you can DIY your Kentucky LLC formation. But many entrepreneurs find the time saved is worth the money. If you do opt to hire a service, please make sure you take the time to understand what you’re buying. Some services charge one-time fees, and others tack on “free services” that will cost you next year. If you don’t read the fine print, you can get slapped with unexpected service fees. And surprise bills are never fun.
4. KY Registered agent services
Kentucky law clearly states that every LLC must designate a registered agent to act as a middleman between your business and the state. Long story short, the registered agent accepts service of process (and any other official communication from the state) on your behalf.
Technically, this is another thing you can DIY; Kentucky allows you to serve as your own registered agent. However, in our opinion, it’s worth the expense to hire a registered agent.
Why? For starters, a registered agent’s address becomes part of the public record; anyone in the state can find that address. That leads to spam mail (sometimes worse). Plus, a registered agent must be present at the registered address during all standard business hours. If you serve as your own, you’d be tied down to your location constantly. A registered agent service prevents those annoyances. A service will also help you keep track of annual filing requirements, license renewals, and more.
These services typically charge an annual fee. For example, annual fees for our top 4 Kentucky registered agent services range from $99 to $299 per year depending on the service you choose. That said, some offer the first year free if you use them as an LLC formation service.
Quick Note: If you need to later down the line, you can always change your registered agent.
5. Business attorneys
Starting a business is a complicated process. And it’s a legal one. We do our best to make the process seem less daunting with guides like this one. But at the end of the day, we can’t write a guide that would cover every single question every business will ever face. That’s because your business is unique.
Business attorneys, however, can talk you through all the nuances of forming and running your business. In many cases, the advice of an attorney can save you thousands by helping you avoid expensive legal mistakes.
However, the upfront costs of hiring a business attorney can be pretty pricey. For example, many attorneys charge per hour, with rates ranging between $150-$350. Others offer “LLC formation packages” for flat rates that fall between $500-$2000. And of course, those fees vary based on the attorney’s experience, location, and so on.
If you’d like to hire one, we recommend checking out sites like Avvo.com. Their database is nearly comprehensive, so it’s a great way to search Kentucky business lawyers. You can also narrow results by location, cost, overall satisfaction rating, and more. It’s the best place to look to find the right legal consultation for your business.
Conclusion
Long story short: starting a Kentucky LLC can be a pretty pricey endeavor. If you look at each cost separately, it doesn’t seem too bad (even the Articles of Organization is a pretty affordable $40). But when you add them all up or tack on some additional services, the total price tag grows pretty quickly.
Thankfully, since you’ve read this guide, you know what you’re up against. And sometimes, knowing is half the battle—and now you’re armed with all the information you need to budget the start-up costs so you can start your Kentucky LLC off on the right foot. We wish you and your new business the best!