How to form an LLC in Rhode Island (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in Rhode Island?

Forming the company takes one filing with the Business Services Division, and after that the LLC makes yearly payments to two different offices. The list below gives each step with its form and fee.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division.
2. Name a resident agent in Rhode Island: a person or company with a Rhode Island address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization for a Domestic Limited Liability Company (Form 400); $150 with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division. The state fee is $150. Filing methods: Online, by mail, or in person (Business Services Division, Providence).
4. Wait for approval: 1 to 3 business days.
5. File the recurring report: due February 1 to May 1 each year, fee $50.

The yearly tax is the cost a budget can miss. Rhode Island's Division of Taxation charges every LLC a minimum annual tax of $400, and it is owed even without business activity or profit. That bill sits outside the Secretary of State's process, so the $50 report fee is only part of what the LLC owes each year.^{3, 4}

Rhode Island also uses its own word for the registered agent. State law calls it a "resident agent". If you would rather compare formation services than file on your own, the Rhode Island LLC services ranked with totals page shows each one's first- and second-year cost here.

How do you check a Rhode Island LLC name?

Search the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division business records before you file to confirm no other company uses the name. Our verified Rhode Island record holds no name reservation fee or form, so we can't tell you what holding a name in advance costs.

Run the search close to your filing date. A name that is free when you start drafting can be taken by the time the Articles arrive.

Who can be a resident agent for a Rhode Island LLC?

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 7-16-11, a resident agent can be an individual who lives in Rhode Island, or a corporation, limited partnership or LLC formed in the state or authorized to do business there.⁵

The statute makes the agent the company's contact for service of process, the formal delivery of lawsuit papers.

You can name yourself if you are a Rhode Island resident. An owner who lives in another state can't serve under that rule and needs a resident individual or a qualifying company.

The statute is short on address detail. It doesn't spell out a registered office rule, but it does require filings to state the address of its resident agent. Whatever address you list is on file with the state, so an owner who serves from home puts that home address into the company's record. A service lists its own address instead. Northwest Registered Agent lists its standalone agent at $125 per year, and Inc Authority includes an agent for the first year with formation and then renews it at $249/year. The plans that include a registered agent and Northwest's pricing page compare those prices in more detail, and the registered agent guide covers the role in general.^{5, 6, 7}

How do you file the Articles of Organization, and how long does approval take?

You can file the Articles of Organization for a Domestic Limited Liability Company online, by mail or in person, and one fee is listed for both online and paper filing. The state says a filing may take 1 to 3 business days to process.^{1, 2}

Each method works a little differently.

• Online through the state's File Online option, linked from its business page
• By mail, with a check made payable to RI Department of State¹
• In person at the Business Services Division, 148 W. River Street, Ste. 1, Providence, RI 02904, where you can pay by cash, credit card, or check¹

Our Rhode Island record has no state expedite option or fee, so none appears in the totals on this page. A formation service's stated speed covers its own preparation and submission. After that, the state review time above applies no matter who submits. The LLC timeline guide separates the two clocks, and the list ordered by stated processing compares providers on their published times.

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

In year one, a Rhode Island LLC costs the $150 filing fee plus any plan you buy. Our second-year figure counts the $50 annual report fee, the $400 minimum tax and any plan renewal.^{2, 3, 4}

So on these figures, an LLC with no plan pays more in the second year than in the first. The tax page doesn't say in which year the first minimum tax payment falls, so the totals place it in year two, next to the first report.

The table gives each provider's first- and second-year totals in Rhode Island with the plan we compare. Rows follow our rating, and ties keep the editorial order explained 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. In Rhode Island that includes the $400 yearly LLC tax.

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 second-year figure includes both state charges, the report fee and the yearly tax. That is why a provider with no renewal still shows a second year well above zero. Inc Authority, for example, is $150 in year one, the filing fee alone, and $450 in year two, which is the two state charges and nothing else. Its registered agent then renews at $249/year, and agent renewals aren't in the table, so add that if you keep the agent.⁷

At the other end, a plan billed every year carries its price into year two on top of the state charges. The Tailor Brands Elite plan reaches $699 in the second year, and the ZenBusiness Premium plan reaches $749. The list ordered by cost across both years ranks providers on that basis, and the LLC cost calculator lets you swap in other plans. For the same question outside Rhode Island, see the national guide to LLC costs.

What does a Rhode Island LLC file after it is formed?

A Rhode Island LLC files an annual report (Form 632) with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division, due February 1 to May 1 each year, and also pays the minimum annual tax to the Division of Taxation. The state says LLCs file starting the calendar year after they register their business.³

The annual report

The report fee is $50. Filing online adds an Enhanced Access Online Fee of $2.50. The form asks for the name and address of the principal office, the state where the LLC was formed, a current mailing address, a brief statement of the character of the business, and a six-digit NAICS code.^{3, 8}

Miss the window and the state adds a late penalty of $25 applied June 1.³

The minimum annual tax

The Division of Taxation charges every LLC at least $400 a year. The tax is not pro-rated, so an LLC formed late in the year doesn't get a smaller bill, and it is owed even without business activity or profit. How the tax applies to your own LLC's income is a question for an accountant.⁴

Who handles these filings

Some services file the report for you; others only remind you. Northwest Registered Agent sells an annual report service at $100 + state fees, charged at filing. Tailor Brands lists mandatory report filing in its Elite plan. Neither says it pays or files the Division of Taxation's minimum tax, so plan for that payment yourself unless a provider confirms otherwise. The package contents guide explains which plan items are filings and which are alerts.^{9, 10}

How do you change a Rhode Island resident agent?

To change a Rhode Island resident agent, file the Statement of Change of Agent (Form 642) with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division. The fee is $20. To change only the registered office, the state uses Form 642A.¹¹

File the change before you cancel the old service. Rhode Island can revoke an LLC's certificate if it fails for 30 days to appoint and maintain a resident agent; the statute says the certificate may be revoked by the secretary of state. Rhode Island uses revocation for this, rather than an administrative dissolution.¹²

An agent can also step down on its own. To do that, it files a signed resignation, with a statement that it was delivered to the LLC, and the resignation is effective 30 days after filing unless a later time is specified. That leaves time to name a replacement.⁵

Neighboring states set their own agent rules and fees. Compare forming an LLC in Massachusetts or forming an LLC in Connecticut, or see every state side by side in the state fees table.