Iowa LLC at a glance
Setting up an LLC in Iowa is one of the cheaper options in the US: $50 to form and $30 every two years to keep the record current. The table below sets out the official figures from the Secretary of State’s forms and fees page.
| Item | Iowa rule |
|---|---|
| Formation document | Certificate of Organization (Iowa Code 489.201) |
| State filing fee | $50 |
| Where to file | Iowa Secretary of State, Business Services, online through Fast Track Filing |
| Recurring report | Biennial report, $30 online or $45 on paper |
| Report due | 1 January to 1 April of each odd-numbered year |
| Registered agent | Required, with a place of business in Iowa |
| Change of agent or office | Statement of Change, no fee |
| Publication | Not required |
| Expedite | No separate expedite fee is published on the fee page |
If you are comparing Iowa with other states on running cost alone, our LLC state fee comparison tool puts the numbers side by side.
How to start an LLC in Iowa
You start an Iowa LLC by choosing a name that meets the naming rules, appointing a registered agent, and filing the Certificate of Organization online. The steps below are the order most founders follow, from name check to the first biennial report.
- Choose and check the name. Iowa Code 489.112 says the name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company", or the abbreviation "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C." or "LC" ("Limited" can be shortened to "Ltd." and "Company" to "Co."). The name must be distinguishable from names already on the Secretary of State’s records, and words that only show the type of entity, such as LLC or Inc., are ignored when names are compared. You can reserve a name for $10 before filing.
- Appoint a registered agent. Under Iowa Code 489.115 the agent must have a place of business in Iowa and must have agreed to serve. Our registered agent service covers this if you have no one in Iowa.
- File the Certificate of Organization. File online through Fast Track Filing and pay the $50 fee. Our articles of organization guide explains the fields, which in Iowa sit on a Certificate of Organization rather than articles.
- Sign an operating agreement. Iowa does not collect it, but a signed agreement sets out ownership, voting and what happens if a member leaves. Banks often ask for it.
- Get an EIN. The EIN is free from the IRS. With an SSN or ITIN you can apply online; without one you apply by fax, mail or the international phone line, as the IRS EIN page explains. Our EIN application service handles the no-SSN route.
- Register for Iowa taxes you need. If you sell taxable goods or services in Iowa, or pass the remote seller threshold below, register with the Iowa Department of Revenue for a sales tax permit before you collect tax. Hiring staff in Iowa adds withholding and unemployment registrations.
- Put the biennial report in your calendar. An LLC formed in 2026 files its first report between 1 January and 1 April 2027. Our compliance deadline calendar works out the next dates for you.
Want our filing team to do it? We check the name against Iowa’s rules, prepare and submit the Certificate of Organization, arrange the registered agent and track progress in your portal. The general process for any state is in our how to start an LLC guide.
Iowa LLC cost
An Iowa LLC costs $50 in state fees to form, and $30 every two years after that if you file the biennial report online. The Secretary of State’s fee page lists no annual tax or minimum payment for LLCs on top of the report fee.
| Fee | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization | $50 | At formation |
| Biennial report (online) | $30 | Odd-numbered years, 1 January to 1 April |
| Biennial report (paper) | $45 | Same window |
| Name reservation (optional) | $10 | Before filing |
| Amendment to Certificate of Organization | $50 | If you change the certificate |
| Statement of Change (agent or office) | No fee | When the agent or office changes |
| Certificate of existence | $5 | Any time |
| Statement of Dissolution | $5 | When closing |
| Statement of Termination | $5 | When closing |
The arithmetic for a small LLC formed in 2026 that files online: $50 in 2026, $30 in 2027 for the first biennial report, nothing to the Secretary of State in 2028, then $30 in 2029. Over the first four years that is $50 + $30 + $30 = $110 in state fees. The Secretary of State’s FAQs put a certificate of existence at $5 if a bank asks for proof of good standing.
These are state fees only. Registered agent, address and filing service costs are separate, and the IRS charges nothing for an EIN.
Iowa LLC annual report: the biennial report
Iowa does not have an annual report for LLCs. It has a biennial report, filed every two years between 1 January and 1 April of each odd-numbered year, for $30 online or $45 on paper.
- First report: Iowa Code 489.212 says the first biennial report is due between 1 January and 1 April of the first odd-numbered year after the calendar year in which the LLC was formed. An LLC formed in 2026 files in 2027; an LLC formed in 2027 files first in 2029.
- What it contains: the LLC’s name, the registered agent’s name and Iowa street address, and the street address of the principal office.
- How to file: online through Fast Track Filing, which is also the cheaper route.
- If you miss it: under Iowa Code 489.708, the Secretary of State can start administrative dissolution once the report has not been delivered within 60 days after it was due. Under Iowa Code 489.709 the LLC then has 60 days after the notice to correct the problem before it is dissolved.
- Getting back: Iowa Code 489.710 allows reinstatement at any time after administrative dissolution, and the reinstatement relates back as if the dissolution never happened. If more than five years have passed, the name must still meet the naming rules.
Our LLC annual report service files the biennial report for you and sends reminders before the window opens.
Iowa registered agent
Every Iowa LLC must keep a registered agent, and the agent must have a place of business in Iowa. The agent receives court papers and official notices and forwards them to the LLC.
A member who has a place of business in Iowa can act as the agent. Founders who live in another state or abroad, or who do not want a home address on the public record, usually appoint a commercial agent. Changing the agent or registered office is done with a Statement of Change, and the fee page lists no fee for it; an agent who wants to stop serving files a Resignation of Registered Agent, also with no fee. Keep the agent current: under Iowa Code 489.708, having no registered agent, or failing to tell the Secretary of State about a change, is itself a ground for administrative dissolution.
Iowa LLC registration timing
The Secretary of State does not publish a standard processing time or an expedite fee for LLC formations on its fee page. Online filings through Fast Track Filing are the quickest route in practice. Our team starts once your order and documents are complete, and we do not promise a turnaround the state has not published.
State taxes that affect an Iowa LLC
Iowa has no LLC fee on the Secretary of State’s schedule beyond the biennial report. The main state taxes are sales tax on taxable sales and income tax on the owners’ share of profit.
- Sales and use tax for remote sellers: Iowa Code 423.14A requires a retailer with Iowa gross revenue of $100,000 or more in the current or previous calendar year to collect Iowa sales tax, even with no physical presence. Our sales tax registration service can file the permit application.
- Income tax: a single-member LLC is a disregarded entity and a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership by default, so profit passes through to the owners. Whether Iowa taxes an owner who lives elsewhere depends on where the income is earned; ask a licensed tax professional about your facts.
- Payroll: employees working in Iowa bring withholding and unemployment insurance registrations.
Forming an Iowa LLC as a non-resident
You do not need to live in Iowa or in the US to form an Iowa LLC. You need an Iowa registered agent, a valid address for the principal office, and the $50 filing fee.
Iowa suits founders who actually do business in Iowa: customers, staff, property or a warehouse there. If you live outside the US and sell online with no Iowa link, Wyoming or New Mexico are the states most non-residents compare first, for privacy and cost reasons. See our Wyoming vs Delaware vs New Mexico LLC comparison and our best state for an LLC guide. If you form elsewhere and later do business in Iowa, you would register the LLC in Iowa as a foreign LLC.
- 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, and it cannot be e-filed. The penalty for not filing is $25,000. 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: the registered agent address is for legal papers. For bank and payment accounts a separate business address with mail forwarding is usually needed, which our US business address service provides.
How to dissolve an LLC in Iowa
To close an Iowa LLC you file a Statement of Dissolution and, once the affairs are wound up, a Statement of Termination; the fee page lists each at $5. Before filing, settle debts, distribute what is left to members and file final tax returns.
- Keep the record current until then: an LLC that simply stops filing is eventually dissolved administratively, but the record then shows a dissolution for failing to file rather than a closure on your terms, so a clean termination is better.
- Federal steps: file a final federal return (and a final Form 5472 if the LLC is foreign-owned) and ask the IRS to close the EIN account.
Our LLC dissolution service handles the state filings and the final federal steps.
Doing it yourself vs using Borderless Filings
You can form an Iowa LLC yourself on Fast Track Filing for $50 and file the biennial report online for $30. The forms are short and the fees are low.
What our service adds is preparation and checking before filing (name rules, agent consent, addresses), submission by our filing team, tracking and secure document storage in your portal, the EIN without an SSN for non-residents, and reminders for the odd-year report window. Prices are on our pricing page with the state fee shown at cost, and you can start your order once you have a name. Neighboring options include our Nebraska LLC, Illinois LLC, Minnesota LLC and Missouri LLC pages, and every state is on our US LLC states page.
Sources
- Iowa Secretary of State: Business forms and fees
- Iowa Secretary of State: Business Services FAQs
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.112, Name
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.115, Registered agent
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.212, Biennial report
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.708, Grounds for administrative dissolution
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.709, Procedure for administrative dissolution
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 489.710, Reinstatement
- Iowa Legislature: Iowa Code 423.14A, Remote sellers
- 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.