LLC STATES

A state filing ledger · 50 states + DC

record 9 of 51 · /llc/florida/

Florida LLC

oldest record on this page verified 2026-07-17

sources: linked on each field, listed in full below

Florida sells no expedited filing at any price

Sunbiz is where a Florida LLC forms, and the office publishes the queue dates it is working through for online and mailed documents alike. No recurring state tax attaches to an LLC here, an absence verified against the revenue agency rather than left unread. The annual report itself carries a firm calendar deadline, printed as the state writes it.

the rest of this note

Speed is the part a reader gets wrong: no expedited service exists in this state, at any fee, and the sheet records that as a checked fact. The fictitious name registers in one statewide index, but only after the name has been advertised in a newspaper where the business keeps its principal place. Registration then gives public notice and no presumption of rights in the name.

every claim above is a line below

Should you form your LLC in Florida?

If the answer is yes, the home-state rule points to Florida.

Office or storefront in Florida?

Yes, it will

A business with a real footprint in Florida files in Florida. Forming anywhere else adds a foreign registration back home: two filings, two annual bills, two registered agents. The out-of-state discount does not survive that arithmetic.

No, it will not

This one answer cannot choose a state. Use the full four-question wizard with the place where the business will actually operate. Open the full wizard .

Annual report

$138.75

Due May 1, printed as the state writes it.

last verified 2026-09-04

dos.fl.gov

Franchise tax

none

No recurring state-level tax on an LLC here. The absence is verified against the state, not missing data.

verified absent 2026-08-07

floridarevenue.com

Anonymous LLC

no

Member or organizer names reach the public formation record here.

last verified 2026-08-10

flsenate.gov

Processing time

filings from 2026-08-03

The office publishes the date it is working through rather than a duration, and on that reading it was at 2026-08-03. This state sells no expedited service.

as observed on 2026-08-09

dos.fl.gov

Name designators

Must contain "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC".

Statute: Fla. Stat. § 605.0112(1)(a).

last verified 2026-07-17

flsenate.gov

Name reservation

$25

Optional filing that holds the name for 120 days (non-renewable) before you form.

last verified 2026-07-17

dos.fl.gov

DBA

fictitious name

One statewide register; the filing costs $50.

last verified 2026-07-17

dos.fl.gov

An individual as the agent

allowed

Whether a person may hold the seat, so nobody has to be hired. The terms Florida attaches, and the entity question, sit in the registered agent section.

last verified 2026-08-09

flsenate.gov

Late filing penalty

$400

Florida charges this as a flat penalty on a late report. What follows a missed filing is in section 09.

last verified 2026-08-10

dos.fl.gov

field 05 carries the date it was observed, not a promise: of the two halves beside it, only the expedited tiers are prices the state commits to

What are the Florida DBA rules?

Florida calls it the fictitious name, and keeps one statewide register for it. The state filing costs $50.

Where an LLC files

dos.fl.gov

How long it lasts

Through December 31 of the 5th year

Renewable between January 1 and December 31 of the expiration year for another 5-year period.

Newspaper publication

required

The name must be advertised at least once in a newspaper in the county of the registrant's principal place of business before registering, and the application certifies that this has been done. Fla. Stat. § 865.09(3).

What the filing protects

no exclusive right

Registration is for public notice only. Fla. Stat. § 865.09(8) states that it does not give rise to a presumption of the registrant's rights to own or use the name and does not affect trademark or entity-name rights previously acquired by others.

Where to search existing names

dos.fl.gov

Sunbiz has a free statewide fictitious name search. Florida is one of the few states where every registration sits in one public index.

one record, verified 2026-07-17 · Fla. Stat. § 865.09

leg.state.fl.us

What does it take to register a foreign LLC in Florida?

Registering an LLC formed elsewhere is its own filing in Florida. The registration costs $125. That price belongs to a separate filing event, so it enters no cost total on this site.

Registration fee

$125

Total online filing cost of $125.00 for a new Florida or foreign LLC: the $100.00 application fee (F.S. 605.0213(3)) plus the $25.00 registered agent fee required by the Department of State's Sunbiz LLC fee schedule.

dos.fl.gov

The official form

Application for Certificate of Authority

flsenate.gov

Filed with

Florida Department of State

flsenate.gov

After registration

File an annual report between January 1 and May 1 of each calendar year and continuously maintain a registered office and registered agent in this state.

flsenate.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-08

The same fee for every other jurisdiction sits on one page: foreign qualification fees for every jurisdiction.

Who can be the registered agent in Florida?

Who may serve as an LLC's registered agent is its own rule in Florida. Florida lets a natural person serve, so no commercial agent is required. The LLC itself may not hold the seat, which is a separate question.

An individual as the agent

Allowed

in the state's words An individual who resides in this state and whose business address is identical to the address of the registered office

flsenate.gov

The LLC as its own agent

Not allowed

flsenate.gov

A mailbox service as the address

not read at this pin

Address rule

The street address of the registered office in this state.

flsenate.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-09

The same four answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: registered agent rules for every jurisdiction.

What happens if you don't file the Florida annual report?

A missed report has its own record in Florida: the penalty, the dissolution clock, and the way back. The penalty is a single flat figure.

  1. Late filing penalty

    $400

    dos.fl.gov

  2. Administrative dissolution

    not read at this pin

  3. Reinstatement

    $100

    as the record reads Reinstatement costs $100 plus the annual report fee for every year missed, paid with the reinstatement application.

    flsenate.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-10

The same three answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: late fees and reinstatement for every jurisdiction.

Where do these figures come from?

Every figure on this sheet renders from the pinned dataset snapshot, and each card links the page its own figure came from. This list collects those pages in one place, with the duplicates removed and the agency named.

The rule behind every figure here, and what a card does when one cannot be verified, sits on how a figure gets verified.

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