How to form an LLC in New Jersey (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in New Jersey?

Each step below goes through one office, the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, and only the Certificate of Formation creates the company.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. You can reserve a name for $50 (renewal $50).
2. Name an agent for service of process in New Jersey: a person or company with a New Jersey address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Certificate of Formation with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services. The state fee is $100.
4. File the recurring report (Annual Report ($75)): due each year by the last day of the month in which the LLC was originally filed, fee $75.

The name reservation in the first step is optional. The agent in the second step is not. New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14) requires an agent for service of process, the person or company that accepts lawsuits and official notices on the LLC's behalf.^{2, 3}

The last step is the one that repeats. New Jersey ties the Annual Report to the month the LLC was first filed, so each company has its own deadline rather than one shared date. The report asks for the company's EIN, which is the federal tax ID, so it helps to have one in hand by the first report. Our EIN guide covers how it's issued. If you'd rather pay a service than file yourself, the ranked list of LLC services in New Jersey gives each one's totals here.⁵

How do you check and hold a New Jersey LLC name?

Check with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services that the name you want is free before you file. To hold a name while you get ready, file a reservation for $50 (renewal $50).¹

The fee schedule lists the renewal at the same price, so a reservation can be extended. Our record doesn't say how many days one reservation lasts, so check that with the Division when you file it.

A reservation suits founders who have picked a name but still need to settle members, money or an agent. If you're ready to file the Certificate of Formation right away, you can skip it and save the $50.¹

Who can be the agent for a New Jersey LLC?

Under N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14, the agent can be a New Jersey resident or a person or business with authority to do business in the state.²

That covers an owner who lives in the state, a friend or relative there, or a company that sells agent service.

The statute names the role an agent for service of process. Formation services sell it as a registered agent service, and New Jersey's fee schedule and Annual Report also use the words registered agent and registered office, so you'll see both terms.³

Your choice shows up again each year. The Annual Report asks for the registered agent name and contact information, along with the names and addresses of business partners (members). An owner who acts as agent puts their own contact details in that field. A paid service puts its own details there instead, though the members' names and addresses are still reported.⁵

Two prices show the range. Northwest Registered Agent sells its agent service at $125 per year, and Inc Authority includes the agent free for the first year with LLC formation, then charges $249/year. See Northwest's prices, Inc Authority's prices and the list of formation plans that include an agent.^{6, 7, 8}

How long does New Jersey take to approve an LLC?

We don't have an official New Jersey processing time or rush fee on record, so this page doesn't state one.

What providers publish is their own processing time. Tailor Brands and ZenBusiness each state 1 business day for the plan we compare, and Inc Authority states 24 hours, which it describes as the time to submit the order. None of these figures is a New Jersey approval time. The LLC timeline guide explains both stages, and the list ordered by stated speed compares providers on what they publish.

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

A New Jersey LLC costs $100 in state fees in year one and $75 in year two, before any service. A formation plan adds its price in the first year and its renewal, if any, in the second.¹

Because New Jersey's yearly charge is a flat report fee, both columns in the table below can be totalled. Rows follow our rating; how we rate explains the order and the tie rule.

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.

The gap between rows comes mostly from whether a plan renews. Tailor Brands Elite totals $349 in the first year and $324 in the second, because the plan bills yearly. Inc Authority Free LLC totals $100, then $75, which is the report fee alone.

That second figure leaves out one charge. Inc Authority's agent renews at $249/year after the free year, and the table doesn't add agent renewals unless a plan includes the agent for good. The Inc Authority profile and Northwest profile list what each plan leaves out.⁸

A name reservation adds $50 if you use one. For other mixes of plan and add-ons, try the LLC cost calculator, or compare the lowest first-year totals by provider and the national guide to LLC costs.¹

What does a New Jersey LLC file each year?

A New Jersey LLC files an Annual Report with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services each year by the last day of the month in which the LLC was originally filed, and the fee is $75. Every business in New Jersey must file an annual report.^{1, 4, 5}

The report asks for the business name, the mailing address, the EIN, the registered agent name and contact information, and the names and addresses of business partners (members). Gather them before the due month, since every member's name and address has to be listed.⁵

Several services sell annual report filing at one national price. Their pages describe the service in general terms rather than naming New Jersey's report, and their published terms differ.

• Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees, and its page tells agent customers, "you'll automatically be enrolled in our renewal service."⁹
• ZenBusiness charges $100 per report for its annual report filing.¹⁰
• LegalZoom lists a one-time filing at $99 + state filing fees.¹¹
• doola includes report filing on its higher plans. Starter does not include ongoing compliance filings.¹²

Northwest and LegalZoom say state fees are charged on top, which here means the $75 report fee; the ZenBusiness figure we have doesn't say either way. The package contents guide separates plans that file the report from plans that only send a reminder, and the annual report guide covers the filing in general.¹

Reinstatement

An LLC that loses its good standing can be reinstated. The reinstatement filing costs $75, plus all delinquent annual reports, so every missed report is brought up to date at that point. If the agent or office also changed, the $25 change filing is added.¹³

How do you change a New Jersey agent later?

You change the agent by filing the Change of Registered Office or Agent or Both with the New Jersey Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, for $25. The same filing includes resignation of agent without successor.¹

File the change before you cancel the old service, so the LLC is never left without an agent on record. Some services ask for that proof; LegalZoom's agent terms, for one, say proof of new RA may be required.¹⁴

An agent can also quit. New Jersey ends the agency on the earlier of the 31st day after the filing office files the resignation or when a new agent designation takes effect, and the filing office sends a copy to the LLC's registered office. That copy is your notice, and the time before the resignation takes effect is the window to name a replacement.¹⁵

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers to do business in New Jersey with a Certificate of Registration, which costs $100. That is the same figure as the $100 fee for forming a new New Jersey LLC.¹

The registered company needs a New Jersey agent under the same statute (N.J.S.A. 42:2C-14). Whether to register an existing company or form a new one depends on where you operate and how you're taxed, so it's a question for an accountant or lawyer. The foreign LLC guide explains the choice, and the state fees table puts New Jersey next to New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.²