How to start an LLC in Ohio

Ohio charges $99 to file the Articles of Organization, the document that creates an LLC there, with the Ohio Secretary of State. After that there is no yearly state filing fee, though the Commercial Activity Tax (CAT) can apply.

File with the Ohio Secretary of State

Before you file in Ohio

With no annual report, an Ohio LLC has no yearly state filing fee after the $99 formation.

Step by step

1. Check that the name is free

   Start from our Ohio business lookup or go straight to the official Ohio search. Search the name in the Ohio Business Search. A new name must be distinguishable upon the records from names in active or hold status; names of cancelled or dissolved entities are generally free to use.

   The name must also say that it is an LLC, with words such as "Limited Liability Company" or "LLC". Our name availability guide covers what makes two names too close.

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

   Optional. If you are not ready to file, a reservation costs $39 and holds the name for 180 days. Source, checked 2026-10-26

3. Appoint a statutory agent

   Ohio calls it the Statutory Agent.

   Every Ohio LLC names one in its filing: a person or company with a street address in Ohio who accepts legal papers for it. You can be your own agent, but your address then goes on the public record. More in what a registered agent does.

   Ohio's statutory agent cannot use a P.O. box or a mail drop address. Source, checked 2026-10-26

4. File the Articles of Organization

   File the Articles of Organization (Form 610) with the Ohio Secretary of State. The state fee is $99. Source, checked 2026-10-26

5. Get an EIN from the IRS, free

   With the approval in hand, get the LLC's federal tax number, the EIN, from the IRS online application. It costs nothing and gives the number at once. Banks ask for it before they open a business account.

6. Write an operating agreement

   It can be short: who owns what, how profit is shared, who decides and how a member leaves, signed by every member, or by you alone for a one-person LLC. It stays with the company's records rather than being filed (what to put in it).

7. Keep it in good standing

   Ohio requires no annual report from LLCs. Source, checked 2026-10-26

   Commercial Activity Tax (CAT): Ohio's Commercial Activity Tax is 0.26% of Ohio taxable gross receipts, and for tax years 2025 and later only businesses with more than $6 million a year in those receipts owe it. Source, checked 2026-10-26

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

To check a name, a status or an agent on the state record, use the Ohio business lookup. Banking, licenses and the other steps that work the same everywhere are in how to start an LLC.