How to form an LLC in Alabama (2026)

What steps does an Alabama LLC go through?

Alabama splits the work between the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division, which takes the name, formation and agent filings, and the Department of Revenue, which takes the privilege tax returns.

The list below shows each step with its form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division. You can reserve a name for $25 by mail ($28 online for non-subscribers).
2. Name a registered agent in Alabama: a person or company with an Alabama address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Domestic Limited Liability Company (LLC) Certificate of Formation with the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division. The state fee is $200. Filing methods: Online or by mail.
4. File the recurring report (Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report for Pass Through Entities Only (Form PPT), filed with the Department of Revenue): due Business privilege tax return and annual report (Form PPT) due 2.5 months after the start of the tax year (March 15 for calendar-year LLCs).

The order is fixed at the start, because the name certificate has to exist before the formation filing does. The Secretary of State's LLC page states the rule directly: "You must obtain a Certificate of Name Reservation" before the formation documents are filed. So the Certificate of Formation can't go in first.³

The other early step is the first privilege tax return. A new LLC may have to file Form BPT-IN, the initial return, due within 2.5 months after the LLC organizes, and it is not required if the tax is $100 or less. If you would rather compare formation services than file on your own, the Alabama LLC services compared, with first-year totals lays out each provider's cost in this state.⁴

How does the Alabama name reservation work?

You get a Certificate of Name Reservation from the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division before filing the Certificate of Formation. The fee is $25 by mail, or $28 online for non-subscribers paying by card.³

The state's pages that we reviewed don't say how long a reservation lasts, so plan to file the formation document soon after the certificate arrives.

A formation service that prepares your filing also has to deal with this step. Ask whether its plan price covers the reservation fee or only the formation filing, because the totals on this page count the $200 filing fee only.²

Who may act as registered agent for an Alabama LLC?

Under Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31, the agent can be an individual who is a resident of this state, or a domestic entity or a foreign entity that is registered to transact business in this state. So an Alabama resident owner can serve, and so can a company that is formed or registered in Alabama.⁶

A registered agent is the person or business that receives lawsuits and official state notices for the LLC. The agent's office, called the registered office, must be located at a street address in this state where process may be personally served on the agent. A P.O. box alone doesn't meet that rule, because papers have to be handed to the agent there.⁶

An owner who lives in another state can't serve personally under that rule, so the LLC needs an Alabama resident or a registered business in the role. A service is one way to fill it, and it also keeps a home address out of that field. Bizee (formerly Incfile) includes the agent free for the first year with any Bizee formation package, and after that year the agent costs $149/year. Northwest Registered Agent includes the agent with formation, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. Agent prices for every provider are on the registered agent included list, and the Bizee pricing page and Northwest pricing page show what each renews at.^{7, 8, 9}

How do you file the formation document in Alabama?

You can file the Certificate of Formation online or by mail, and the form itself says "You may file the Certificate of Formation online in the time it takes to type this request." Email filings are refused, because the form will not be accepted via email.¹

For a paper filing, the form gives these instructions.

• Mail 2 copies of this completed form along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.¹
• Send it to SOS Business Services, P.O. Box 5616, Montgomery.¹
• Pay the $200 fee by check, money order or credit card.²

The Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division doesn't publish a standard processing time for LLC filings, and the state doesn't publish a paid expedite option. Any speed a formation service quotes is its own preparation time. The state's review is separate. The LLC timeline guide explains the difference, and the fastest stated filing list compares the times services publish.

What does an Alabama LLC cost in its first and second year?

The first year costs the $200 filing fee plus the required name reservation ($25 by mail), before any service plan. The state doesn't publish a flat second-year fee, because the privilege tax is based on net worth.^{2, 3, 4}

The table gives each provider's first-year total in Alabama with the plan we compare. Providers appear in our rating order, with ties settled as how we rate describes.

First year: state filing fee plus the provider's compared plan. Second year: the recurring state fee plus the plan's renewal, if it renews.

Totals are our arithmetic on the published figures. Registered agent renewals are extra unless a plan includes the agent. Try other plans in the calculator.

Every row in the second-year column reads "Can't total". Alabama's recurring cost is the business privilege tax, and the amount depends on the LLC's net worth. Small LLCs may owe nothing, since tax due of $100 or less is fully exempt and no return is required. We don't add a figure Alabama doesn't publish as a flat fee, so the column stays empty rather than guessing.⁴

Also note what the first-year column leaves out. It adds the $200 filing fee to each plan, but not the name reservation, which Alabama requires. Add $25 by mail to any total unless the provider confirms it pays that fee.^{2, 3}

Two rows show the range. Inc Authority has a Free LLC plan, so its Alabama first-year total is $200, the filing fee alone; its agent renews at $249/year after the first year. Tailor Brands ranks first on our rating, and its Elite plan comes to $449 here. The Inc Authority profile and the Tailor Brands profile list what each plan includes. To price your own mix, open the LLC cost calculator; for other states, the guide to LLC costs and the lowest first-year totals cover the same ground.¹⁰

What does an Alabama LLC file each year?

Each year an Alabama LLC files the Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report (Form PPT), a combined tax return and report that the Department of Revenue collects rather than the Secretary of State. It is due 2.5 months after the start of the tax year, which means March 15 for calendar-year LLCs.^{4, 5}

Form PPT is due on the same date as the corresponding federal income return. Because the return goes to the tax agency, an LLC that tracks only Secretary of State deadlines can miss it.⁴

The privilege tax is based on net worth, and the law exempts small amounts. Under the current rule, tax due of $100 or less is fully exempt and no return is required. The same threshold applies to the first return, Form BPT-IN, which is not required if the tax is $100 or less. Whether your LLC falls under that line depends on its net worth, so it is a question for an accountant.⁴

We haven't verified a late penalty or reinstatement fee for Alabama, so this page doesn't state one. The Department of Revenue can answer that before a deadline passes.

Formation services sell "annual report" filing, but Alabama's yearly return is a tax filing with the Department of Revenue. ZenBusiness lists filing of state-required annual reports on its Pro and Premium plans, and LegalZoom lists a one-time annual report filing at $99 + state filing fees. Neither says whether that covers Form PPT, so ask before relying on it. The package contents guide separates filings a service makes from reminders it sends, and the annual report guide covers the topic across states.^{11, 12}

How do you change the registered agent on an Alabama LLC?

You file the Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity form with the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division, and the fee is $100. That form changes the agent, the agent's office address, or both.¹³

Put the new agent on record before cancelling the old service, so no day passes with no one named to receive legal papers.

An agent can also step down, and Alabama sets an order for it. Agent must first give written notice to the entity. The Secretary of State's page then gives the filing window in short form: "Must be received within 11 days of notice to entity." After the state has the notice, the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the SOS receives and files the notice, and the agent pays nothing to file it. The days between notice and the effective date give the LLC time to file the change form naming someone new.¹⁴

What if your LLC was formed outside Alabama?

An LLC formed in another state registers with the Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services Division as a foreign LLC for $150.³

The state's LLC page offers online filing for that registration. Who may serve as its agent is set by the same statute, Ala. Code § 10A-1-5.31, which names a domestic entity or a foreign entity that is registered to transact business in this state as one option.⁶

Registration costs less here than forming a new Alabama LLC at $200. Which route fits depends on where the company actually does its work and pays its taxes, so an accountant or lawyer is the right person to ask. The state fees table compares costs across states, including neighbors Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Florida.²