Connecticut LLC: How to Start One in 2026

Connecticut LLC at a glance

A Connecticut LLC costs $120 to form and $80 a year to keep in good standing with the Secretary of the State. Filings are made online through Business.CT.gov, and most are accepted automatically.

The fees come from the state’s domestic LLC forms and fees page and match the fee statute, Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243u, which sets the annual report at $80 for years from 1 July 2020.

How to start an LLC in Connecticut

You start an LLC in Connecticut by checking the name, appointing a registered agent and filing a Certificate of Organization online. Everything with the Secretary of the State runs through your Business.CT.gov account.

1. Run a Connecticut business entity search. Check your name in the Connecticut business records search. Under § 34-243k the name must contain "limited liability company", "L.L.C." or "LLC" ("Limited" may be shortened to "Ltd." and "company" to "Co."). A name reservation costs $60.
2. Appoint a registered agent. The agent must have a place of business in Connecticut. A Connecticut resident can act personally; owners elsewhere use a registered agent service.
3. File the Certificate of Organization. File online through Business.CT.gov and pay $120, or $170 with the $50 expedite. Our articles of organization guide explains the usual fields.
4. Sign an operating agreement. Connecticut does not collect it, but it records ownership and signing authority, and banks often ask for it.
5. Get an EIN. The EIN is free from the IRS. Without an SSN you apply by fax, mail or phone under the IRS EIN rules. Our EIN application service handles that route.
6. Register with the Department of Revenue Services. If you will sell taxable goods or services or hire staff in Connecticut, register through myconneCT. Sales tax registration costs $100.
7. Diary the annual report. The first one is due between 1 January and 31 March of the year after formation. Our compliance deadline calendar can remind you.

If you would rather hand it over, our filing team checks the name and agent, prepares and files the Certificate, and stores the approved documents in your portal. For the general process in any state, see how to start an LLC.

Connecticut LLC cost

A Connecticut LLC costs $120 to form and $80 a year from the year after formation. Other fees apply only if you change something or want faster service.

The arithmetic: $120 in the year you form, then $80 in each later year. An LLC formed in 2026 pays $120 in 2026 and $80 between 1 January and 31 March 2027, so $200 over the first two years and $80 a year after that. With the expedite, the first year is $170. Add a commercial registered agent if you do not act as your own, and the $100 sales tax registration if you sell taxable items. Our LLC state fee comparison puts these next to other states.

Connecticut LLC annual report

Every Connecticut LLC files an annual report with the Secretary of the State between 1 January and 31 March each year, starting the year after it was formed, and the fee is $80. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-247k says the first report is filed after 1 January and before 1 April of the year following formation, and each later report in the same window.

• Reminder: the state says it emails the address on record about one month before the report is due, or mails a postcard if it has no email. Your Business.CT.gov account shows when the next report is due.
• How to file: online through the file annual report page.
• If it is overdue: the state’s overdue annual report page says you cannot get a Certificate of Legal Existence, and the Secretary of the State may dissolve the business under § 34-267g.
• Dissolution timeline: the state’s administrative dissolution timeline says that after a Notice of Intent to Dissolve is issued, the business has 90 days to file all past-due reports.
• Reinstatement: a dissolved LLC can file a certificate of reinstatement for $120 under § 34-243u.

Our LLC annual report service files the report and reminds you before 31 March.

Connecticut registered agent

Every Connecticut LLC must have a registered agent with a place of business in the state. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 34-243n lists who can serve and requires a street address.

• a natural person who is a resident of Connecticut;
• a Connecticut corporation, or a foreign corporation with a certificate of authority to do business in Connecticut;
• a Connecticut LLC, or a foreign LLC registered in Connecticut;
• certain registered limited liability partnerships and statutory trusts authorized in the state.

Changing the agent, or the agent’s address, costs $50 online. Keep the agent current: service of legal papers and state notices go there. Owners who live outside Connecticut, or who do not want a home address on the public record, use a commercial agent such as our registered agent service.

Connecticut LLC registration processing time

The state says most filings made on Business.CT.gov are accepted automatically, so expedited service is often unnecessary. Its expedited services page sets the expedite at $50 per transaction and says it is only available online; paper filings sent by mail do not qualify. The state does not publish a standard turnaround on that page. We start once your order and documents are complete.

State taxes that affect a Connecticut LLC

Connecticut has no separate annual LLC tax on the fee schedule; the recurring Secretary of the State cost is the $80 report. Taxes are handled by the Department of Revenue Services (DRS).

• Sales and use tax: the DRS sales tax page gives a general rate of 6.35% and a $100 fee to register to collect it.
• Remote sellers: under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-407, a seller outside Connecticut must collect once it has at least $100,000 of gross receipts and 200 or more retail sales into the state in the 12 months ending on the preceding 30 September. Both tests must be met. Our sales tax registration service can file the application.
• Pass-through entity tax: the DRS pass-through entity tax page says the tax is optional and needs an annual, irrevocable election.
• Income tax on owners: Connecticut-source profit of a pass-through LLC may be taxable for owners who live elsewhere. That is a question for a licensed tax professional.

Forming a Connecticut LLC as a non-resident

You can form a Connecticut LLC without living in Connecticut or the US. The Certificate of Organization needs a name and a registered agent in the state; the statute sets no residency rule for members.

If you have no Connecticut customers, staff or premises, Connecticut offers no special advantage over Wyoming or New Mexico, which many founders outside the US use. See our Wyoming vs Delaware vs New Mexico LLC comparison and best state for an LLC guide. If you form elsewhere and then do business in Connecticut, the LLC registers there as a foreign LLC and files Connecticut annual reports too.

• Form 5472: a single-member LLC wholly owned by a foreign person files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even with no income. The penalty for not filing is $25,000, and it goes by fax or mail. See our Form 5472 guide.
• BOI: US-formed LLCs, including those owned by non-US persons, no longer file beneficial ownership reports with FinCEN under the final rule published 14 August 2026.
• Address: banks and payment providers usually want a business address separate from the agent’s. Our US business address service provides one.

How to dissolve a Connecticut LLC

To close a Connecticut LLC you file a Certificate of Dissolution with the Secretary of the State online, and there is no filing fee. The domestic LLC fee list shows it at $0.

• No catch-up reports: the state’s no final annual report page says that if you file a dissolution you are not required to file annual reports that are due.
• A tax return does not close the LLC: the state’s closing a business page says filing a final tax return will not close your business; the Certificate of Dissolution does.
• Close DRS accounts: close your sales and use tax permit and other DRS registrations, and file final returns.
• Federal: file final federal returns, including a final Form 5472 if the LLC is foreign-owned.

Our LLC dissolution service handles the state filing and the final steps.

Doing it yourself vs using Borderless Filings

You can form a Connecticut LLC yourself on Business.CT.gov for $120 and file the $80 annual report each spring. The portal is simple to use once you have an account.

Our service adds a check of the name, agent and addresses, preparation and filing by our filing team, tracking and document storage in your portal, the EIN without an SSN for founders outside the US, and reminders before 31 March. Prices are on our pricing page with the state fee at cost. You can start your order, see the neighboring Rhode Island LLC and New York LLC pages, or compare states on our US LLC states page.

Sources

• Business.CT.gov: Domestic limited liability companies forms and fees
• Business.CT.gov: File annual report
• Business.CT.gov: Overdue annual report
• Business.CT.gov: Administrative dissolution timeline
• Business.CT.gov: Expedited services
• Business.CT.gov: No final annual report necessary
• Business.CT.gov: Filing a final tax return is not closing a business
• Connecticut General Statutes (via Justia): § 34-243u Fees
• Connecticut General Statutes (via Justia): § 34-247k Annual report
• Connecticut General Statutes (via Justia): § 34-243k Permitted name
• Connecticut General Statutes (via Justia): § 34-243n Registered agent
• Connecticut General Statutes (via Justia): § 12-407 Definitions (sales tax)
• Connecticut Department of Revenue Services: Sales and use tax
• Connecticut Department of Revenue Services: Pass-through entity tax
• IRS: Get an employer identification number
• IRS: Instructions for Form 5472
• FinCEN: Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting

Fees, deadlines and rules on this page were last checked on 27 September 2026.