How to form an LLC in Kentucky (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Kentucky?

Forming a Kentucky LLC takes one filing with the Secretary of State, plus a name and an agent chosen beforehand. The list gives each step with its form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Kentucky Secretary of State. You can reserve a name for $15 for 120 days.
2. Name a registered agent in Kentucky: a person or company with a Kentucky address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (Form KLC, profit LLC) with the Kentucky Secretary of State. The state fee is $40. Filing methods: Online (FastTrack), by mail or in person.
4. Wait for approval: Usually same day as received; may take up to three business days (annual reports excepted).
5. Recurring filing: Annual Report (due January 1 to June 30; $15), fee $15.

The order is worth keeping. Kentucky law requires every LLC to keep a registered agent and registered office (KRS 14A.4-010), so settle who will accept legal papers before you file. The last step, the annual report, comes with a hard deadline (covered below).⁶

The state doesn't publish a paid expedite option in the pages we checked. Because the Kentucky Secretary of State says documents are usually processed the same day they are received, paying a service extra for speed may change little at the state step. If you would rather compare services than file on your own, the Kentucky LLC services ranking lists each provider's first- and second-year totals with Kentucky's fees.³

How do you check and hold a Kentucky LLC name?

Search the Kentucky Secretary of State's business records for your name first, then hold it for 120 days for $15 if you are not ready to file. The reservation is optional and can be renewed.²

A hold is useful when the LLC's start date depends on something outside your control, like a lease or a partner's sign-off. If you plan to file soon, a reservation may not be needed.

Who can be a registered agent for a Kentucky LLC?

Under KRS 14A.4-010, the agent can be a Kentucky resident whose business address is the registered office, or a business entity qualified in Kentucky with that same address match.⁶

A registered agent is the person or company named to receive lawsuits and official state mail for the LLC. Kentucky's wording ties the agent to the address. An individual agent must live in Kentucky, and the registered office has to be that person's business address. The statute also says the LLC must continuously maintain that office, which may be one of its own places of business. So a Kentucky owner who runs the business from a shop or office can list that place and act as the agent.⁶

Whatever address goes in that field is on the public record, and the annual report repeats it each year. An owner who works from home and lists that home as the registered office makes it searchable. A service puts its own address in that field instead, and agent prices vary widely. Inc Authority includes an agent with its free plan and later bills $249/year, and the Northwest Registered Agent plan's included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1. The list of plans that include a registered agent compares the rest, and the registered agent guide covers the role in general.^{7, 8}

How do you file Kentucky's Articles of Organization?

File the Articles of Organization online through FastTrack, by mail, or in person at the Kentucky Secretary of State; online filing needs no extra copies. The fee schedule lists $40 for the Articles.²

The state's form sets a copy rule for each route.

• Online (FastTrack), which skips the copy rule entirely. When filing online with the FastTrack system, no copies are required.¹
• By mail, where one exact or conformed copy of the documents with the filing fee must be submitted.¹
• In person, under the same copy rule as mail.

The form code helps if you look the form up in the state's forms library. Articles of Organization (Form KLC, profit LLC) is the version for an ordinary for-profit LLC; nonprofit and professional service LLCs use different codes.¹

Review time is short. The Kentucky Secretary of State says documents are usually processed the same day they are received, with annual reports the stated exception, and it may take up to three business days. A service's own processing time sits on top of that, and in Kentucky it can be longer than the state's review. The LLC timeline guide separates the two clocks, and the fastest stated filing list compares providers on what they publish.³

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

A Kentucky LLC costs $40 to form in year one, and the $15 annual report fee in year two, before any service plan or tax. The Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET) is separate, with a minimum $175 per year.^{2, 4, 5}

The table shows each provider's first- and second-year totals in Kentucky with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, with ties in editorial order (see 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.

Two limits apply to that second column. It adds the $15 report fee to the plan's renewal, but it does not include the Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET), because the tax depends on the LLC's situation and our record does not cover the statute's exemptions. It also leaves out agent renewals after a free year. Inc Authority shows the effect: its Free LLC plan totals $40 in year one and $15 in year two, the state fees alone, yet its agent then bills $249/year. Northwest Registered Agent totals $79 and then $15, plus the agent renewal noted above.^{4, 5, 7}

Yearly plans carry their price into year two. Tailor Brands Elite comes to $289 and then $264, and ZenBusiness Premium to $339 and $314. Part of what those renewals pay for is annual report filing, which both compared plans list. Try your own mix in the LLC cost calculator, and see the national LLC cost guide for how Kentucky's fees compare.

What does a Kentucky LLC file after formation?

A Kentucky LLC files an annual report with the Kentucky Secretary of State each year, due January 1 to June 30, with a $15 fee. It may also owe the Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET), a separate state tax under KRS 141.0401.^{4, 5}

The annual report

The report must be signed, dated and accompanied by a $15 filing fee. On it, the LLC confirms its principal office and its registered agent and office, and it lists the names and addresses of members/managers. That last part puts the names of the people behind the LLC on a state filing every year, which owners who value privacy may want to know before forming.⁴

The report can't move the agent or the office. Agent and principal office changes cannot be made on the report; that takes the separate statement described in the next section.⁴

A missed deadline

The state lists no late fee for the annual report, but the consequence of missing it is harsher than a fee. A domestic LLC that hasn't filed by the end of June is administratively dissolved, which means the state ends the LLC's active standing.⁴

Getting back costs more than filing on time. Reinstatement carries a $100 reinstatement penalty plus any delinquent filing fees, and letters of good standing from the Department of Revenue (and, for profit companies, the Division of Unemployment Insurance) are required. Our annual report guide covers how reports work across states.²

The limited liability entity tax

The tax statute says an annual Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET) is paid by every corporation and every limited liability pass-through entity, which reaches LLCs taxed as pass-through entities, with a minimum $175 per year regardless of credits. The statute lists exemptions, including some single-member LLCs whose only member is an individual, and whether one fits your LLC is a question for an accountant.⁵

Who files the report for you

Several services file annual reports. Tailor Brands lists report filing in its Essential and Elite plans. Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees per filing, LegalZoom lists $99 + state filing fees, and ZenBusiness sells Annual Report Filing $100 per report. With a state fee this low, those prices are mostly the service's own charge, so compare them with filing the report yourself. None of these providers publishes Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET) filing as part of that service. The package contents guide explains which plan items are filings and which are reminders.^{5, 9, 10, 11, 12}

How do you change a Kentucky registered agent?

You change a Kentucky agent by filing the Statement of Change of Registered Agent and Office (Form RAC) with the Kentucky Secretary of State, for $10. The statement can also be filed online.^{2, 13}

File it before you cancel the old agent service, because Kentucky treats a gap as serious. An LLC without a registered office or registered agent in this state for sixty (60) days or more can be administratively dissolved under KRS 14A.7-010. That statute separately covers failing to tell the state within the same window that an agent resigned or an office changed.¹⁴

An agent can also quit. It files a statement of resignation. Then the SOS mails copies to the registered office and the LLC's principal office, and the resignation is effective on appointment of a successor or the 31st day after filing, whichever is earlier. Because the notice goes to the principal office, mail sent there is how the LLC learns it needs a new agent.¹⁵

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers in Kentucky by filing an Application for Certificate of Authority, for $90. The agent rules for a registered foreign LLC aren't in the record we use, so the Kentucky Secretary of State is the place to confirm them.²

That fee is higher than the $40 to form a new Kentucky LLC, but registering keeps the existing company intact. Which route fits depends on where the business operates, so ask an accountant or lawyer. The foreign LLC guide explains registration, and the state fees table compares Kentucky with neighbors such as Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana.²