How to form an LLC in Connecticut (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Connecticut?

Connecticut keeps formation to a short sequence handled by one office, the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division, and most of it can be done online. Each step below shows the form and the state fee that goes with it.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division. You can reserve a name for $60.
2. Name a registered agent in Connecticut: a person or company with a Connecticut address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Certificate of Organization with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division. The state fee is $120. Filing methods: Online (recommended); paper forms by mail or hand delivery.
4. Wait for approval. Faster options: $50 per transaction, online filings only.
5. File the recurring report (Annual Report ($80, filed online January 1 to March 31)): due January 1 to March 31 each year, fee $80.

The agent step and the filing step are really one step in Connecticut. The state lists its $120 formation fee as including appointment of statutory agent, so the agent is named inside the Certificate of Organization itself rather than on a separate form. Have the agent's name and Connecticut address ready before you start the filing.¹

The last step on the list doesn't come due right away. The first report is due the year after formation, so an LLC formed this year files its first report next year. If you would rather hire a formation service than file yourself, the ranked list of LLC services in Connecticut shows what each one totals here.¹

How do you check and reserve an LLC name in Connecticut?

Search the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division business records for your name first. If you need to hold the name before you file, Connecticut sells an Application for Reservation of Name for $60.¹

The state's fee page doesn't say how long a reservation lasts, so check the term with the office before you count on it. For most owners a reservation is optional. It helps if the filing will wait a while, for example while partners agree on terms.

The reservation fee is a separate charge from the $120 filing fee, so holding a name first and filing later costs more than filing straight away. If the name is free and you are ready, the Certificate of Organization claims it on its own.¹

Who can be the statutory agent for a Connecticut LLC?

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243n, the list of who may serve as a Connecticut LLC's agent opens with a Connecticut resident and a Connecticut corporation. The statute words them as "Natural person who is a resident of this state" and "Corporation formed under the laws of this state".⁴

The two terms you will see mean the same role. The state's fee table calls it the statutory agent, and the statute calls it the registered agent. It is the person or company that receives lawsuits and official notices for the LLC.

The statute adds that an agent shall have a place of business in this state. A member who lives in Connecticut and meets that rule can serve. The trade-off is that an agent's address is generally listed on public business records, so a home address used for the agent can become searchable.⁴

A registered agent service lists its own Connecticut address instead. Northwest Registered Agent sells its agent service at $125 per year. Inc Authority lists its agent as Free for the first year with LLC formation, after which it renews at $249/year. Other prices are on Northwest's pricing page, Inc Authority's pricing page and the list of plans that include a registered agent. The registered agent guide explains the role in more depth.^{5, 6, 7}

How do you file the Certificate of Organization, and how fast is it?

Connecticut prefers online filing, and the state says most online filings are accepted automatically. It doesn't publish a standard processing time for formation filings.²

There are three ways to file.

• Online (recommended), through the state's business portal⁸
• by mail
• by hand delivery at the office

On paper, the state's wording is blunt: filing that way is strongly discouraged as it is the slowest option. Paper also requires a check or money order (no credit cards), so a paper filer can't pay by card.⁸

Expedited service in Connecticut

Connecticut offers one expedite option rather than a set of tiers. It costs $50 per transaction, and it is for online filings only. The state also says plainly, "Expedited service is not applicable for filings by mail." A mailed Certificate of Organization therefore can't be sped up for a fee.²

A formation service's stated speed is a separate clock from the state's. A service can prepare and submit your filing quickly, but the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division still handles it on its own schedule. Our guide to how long LLC formation takes separates the two, and the list of providers by stated filing time compares their published times.

What does a Connecticut LLC cost in the first and second year?

A Connecticut LLC costs $120 in state fees in its first year, plus any plan price and the optional $50 per transaction expedite. In the second year the state charges the $80 Annual Report fee.^{1, 2, 3}

The table adds those state fees to the plan we compare for each provider. Rows follow our rating, with ties in the editorial order set out in how we rate.

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.

Connecticut's fixed yearly report fee fills in the second-year column, and no franchise tax sits on top of it: the Department of Revenue Services says the Business Entity Tax ended under Public Act 19-117. Income taxes are a separate matter. LLCs may still be subject to the elective/pass-through entity and income tax regimes, a question for an accountant rather than a state filing cost.⁹

The spread across providers is wide. Inc Authority lists its Free LLC plan, so its first year here totals $120, the state fee alone, and its second year shows $80. Its agent, though, renews at $249/year, and that renewal is not in the column. Tailor Brands Elite totals $369 in the first year and $329 in the second, because the plan renews each year at $249/yr on top of the report fee. That plan lists mandatory report filing among its items, though its page doesn't say whether the $80 state fee is part of it.^{3, 7, 10}

To try your own mix of plan, agent and expedite, use the LLC cost calculator. The providers ranked by first-year total and the national LLC cost guide cover the same question across all states.

What does a Connecticut LLC file after it is formed?

A Connecticut LLC files an Annual Report with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division online, from January 1 to March 31 each year, and the fee is $80. The first one is due in the calendar year after the LLC was formed.^{1, 3}

The statute puts the same window in older wording: the report goes in after January first and before April first. Our Connecticut record has no late fee for the report, so this page doesn't state one; ask the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division if you have missed the window.¹

Connecticut can also end an LLC for a missing agent. The Secretary of the State may dissolve the LLC by forfeiture if it has failed to maintain a registered agent for service, and the owner has a window to fix it (within three months of the sending of such notice).¹¹

Getting back into good standing goes through a Certificate of Reinstatement. The fee is $120, and the combined form includes Annual Report, so the overdue report is part of the same filing. To reinstate online, the Business Agent must be a Connecticut resident.¹²

Services handle the report in different ways. Northwest Registered Agent files it for $100 + state fees, InCorp Services for $89 + state fees, and some plans include the filing. Read the annual report guide and what formation packages include to see which items file the report and which only send a reminder.^{13, 14}

How do you change the agent for a Connecticut LLC?

You change a Connecticut LLC's agent by filing a Change of Agent with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division, online, for $50.¹

Do this before you cancel an old agent service. If the LLC is left without an agent, the forfeiture rule above can apply.

An agent can also step down. The state's fee table lists a resignation of agent at the same $50 fee, marked "no form available". The state doesn't publish how a resigning agent files or how long a resignation takes to become effective.¹

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere that does business in Connecticut files a Foreign Registration Statement with the Secretary of the State of Connecticut, Business Services Division, and the fee is $120. It needs a Connecticut agent under the same statute (Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243n) as a domestic LLC.^{4, 15}

That fee matches the cost of forming a new Connecticut LLC. Which route fits depends on where the business is based and operates, so ask an accountant or lawyer. The state fees table compares formation fees, including neighbors New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The foreign LLC guide lists foreign registration fees by state.