How to start an LLC in Delaware

Delaware charges $110 to file the Certificate of Formation, the document that creates an LLC there, with the Delaware Division of Corporations. Keeping it costs $400 a year in state fees after that.

File with the Delaware Division of Corporations

Before you file in Delaware

Many Delaware LLCs belong to owners who run the business from another state, which then also requires a foreign registration and a registered agent there. Delaware's free entity search shows the file number, formation date and agent but not the status, which is a paid lookup.

Forming the LLC, step by step

1. Check that the name is free

   Start from our Delaware business lookup or go straight to the official Delaware search. Use the Division of Corporations' online name availability check, which also lets you reserve a free name for 120 days. The free entity search finds existing entities by name or file number but does not show their status, which costs $10 per entity online.

   Add an ending such as "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company". What counts as too close to an existing name is in the name availability guide.

2. Reserve the name, if you want to hold it

   Optional. If you are not ready to file, a reservation costs $75 and holds the name for 120 days. Source, checked 2026-10-26

3. Appoint a registered agent

   Pick someone with a street address in Delaware to receive legal papers for the LLC: yourself, a person you trust, or a commercial agent. Whoever it is appears on the public record (more on registered agents).

4. File the Certificate of Formation

   File the Certificate of Formation with the Delaware Division of Corporations. The state fee is $110. Source, checked 2026-10-26

5. Get an EIN from the IRS, free

   Once Delaware approves the LLC, apply for an Employer Identification Number on the IRS EIN page. It is free and issued online as soon as the application is approved; a site that charges for it is selling a service, not the number.

6. Write an operating agreement

   Delaware law requires every LLC to have a limited liability company agreement, entered into before, at or after the filing of the certificate of formation (6 Del. C. section 18-201(d)). It is not filed with the state. Source, checked 2026-10-26

7. Keep it in good standing

   Delaware LLCs file no annual report; they pay the annual tax instead. Source, checked 2026-10-26

   LLC annual tax: Every Delaware LLC pays a flat $400 annual tax by June 1, with no report to file. A late payment costs a $200 penalty plus 1.5% interest a month. The tax is owed for any year the LLC is active on the records, and it is not prorated. Source, checked 2026-10-26

   Keep the registered agent and the addresses on file up to date too: a state can dissolve an LLC that misses its filings or loses its agent.

Look up any Delaware company, yours included once it is filed, in our Delaware business lookup. For a bank account, licenses and permits, see how to start an LLC.