Best LLC Formation Services in Ohio

Ohio has no corporate franchise tax. It runs a Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) instead. That tax is $0 for businesses grossing $6 million or less, a line that has held since 2025. Most small LLCs never owe it.

Neighboring states want something from you every year or two. Pennsylvania charges $7 for an annual report, and from the 2027 reports on it will dissolve companies that skip one. Indiana wants a business entity report every other year, $32 online or $50 on paper. Miss one and the company dissolves. The fees are small. The deadlines are the real cost, and Ohio has neither. Asked directly whether businesses file an annual report, the Secretary of State names only professional associations, LLPs, nonprofits, and trade names. LLCs are not on the list. Want to file it yourself? Our step by step Ohio LLC guide covers the whole process.

Ohio allows anonymous LLCs, and it is one of the few states that means it. R.C. 1706.16 asks the Articles for the company name and the statutory agent. Nothing about who owns the place. Form 610 lets a representative sign, so the signer need not be an owner. In most states the annual report is what gives you away. Ohio has none for LLCs. So no later filing collects the names either.

Ohio also allows Series LLCs under R.C. 1706.76. One catch is worth knowing before you file. The wall between series only stands if your Articles say the company may have series. Put it in at formation, or you are filing an amendment later.

You can hold an LLC name in Ohio for 180 days for $39, a window written into R.C. 1706.07. Ohio is not the bargain here. Michigan charges $25. Its hold runs to the end of the sixth full calendar month after you apply, longer than Ohio's 180 days. Reserving is optional either way, and the name is yours the moment the state accepts your Articles.

1. Get an EIN from the IRS. You need it to open a business bank account, hire people, and file taxes. It is free and takes about 10 minutes online at irs.gov.
2. Appoint and keep a registered agent. Ohio requires an agent who lives in Ohio, or a business entity cleared to operate here, with a real street address. P.O. boxes are out. So are private mailbox services, which the Secretary of State rules out by name. A cheap virtual address will not pass. The first appointment costs nothing, and changing agents later costs $25. We compare the best registered agent services in Ohio separately.
3. Draft an operating agreement. Ohio does not require one. Banks and lenders often ask for it anyway. It protects your limited liability if the LLC is ever challenged in court.
4. Get a vendor's license if you sell taxable goods or services. Ohio's statewide sales tax is 5.75% (R.C. 5739.02) and county surcharges push it higher. The license itself runs $50. You buy it from your county auditor, not the Secretary of State. You pay it once and never renew. Ohio doubled that fee from $25 on 9 April 2025 (R.C. 5739.17), so guides still quoting $25 are a year out of date.
5. Check whether the Commercial Activity Tax applies to you. It starts above $6 million a year in Ohio gross receipts (R.C. 5751.01). Below that, you owe nothing. Most new LLCs never touch it.
6. Skip the federal BOI report. Companies formed in the United States are exempt from beneficial ownership reporting as of March 2025, per FinCEN. A final rule made that permanent on 14 August 2026. If a formation service tries to sell you a BOI filing, you do not need it.

Ohio taxes personal income at a flat 2.75% from 2026 on. The first $26,050 is untaxed. Business income has its own flat 3% rate (R.C. 5747.02). LLC profits pass through to your personal return.

The tax owners ask about most is the Commercial Activity Tax. The CAT starts once Ohio gross receipts pass $6 million a year (R.C. 5751.01). Below that line you owe nothing. Most Ohio LLCs never touch it.

• No Annual Report Costs - Ohio charges nothing to keep an LLC on the books. There is no annual report fee and no biennial report fee. Few states can say that.
• The Agent Renewal Is the Bill That Comes Back - Because Ohio asks for nothing after your filing, the only charge that returns every year is the one your formation service sends for the registered agent. It runs from $119 to $596 a year across the six services here. That spread is the decision. It is rarely the number on the page that got you to click.
• Vendor's License Now Costs $50 - Selling taxable goods or services means buying a vendor's license from your county auditor. It was $25 for years. The fee doubled to $50 on 9 April 2025. You pay it once, per fixed location, and never renew it.
• Expedited Filing Adds $100 - Ohio's own filing form puts regular service at roughly 3 to 7 business days. The form warns that the time moves with volume. $100 buys processing within 2 business days. Faster tiers exist at $200 and $300, but only if you hand the papers over in Columbus yourself. Buy the expedite only if a deadline depends on it.
• Name Reservation Costs $39 - Not ready to file yet? Holding your LLC name for 180 days costs $39. Several neighboring states charge less.

Ohio's no report rule has a consequence worth seeing in full. Five years of owning an LLC here is your provider's renewal fee, five times over, and almost nothing else. Same state, same filing, same $99. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is $2,441.

Here is how Ohio's total state fees compare with every neighboring state. The count includes the reports they require and Ohio does not.