LLC Mississippi: How to Start a Mississippi LLC in 2026

Mississippi LLC at a glance

An LLC in Mississippi costs $50 to form and nothing a year in state filing fees, provided the annual report goes in on time. Those two numbers come from the Secretary of State’s Services and Fees document, which lists the Certificate of Formation at $50 and the annual report of a Mississippi LLC as "No fee".

If you live or trade in Mississippi, forming here keeps things simple and cheap. If you live outside the US and have no link to the state, compare the running costs of other states first in our LLC state fee comparison tool.

How to start an LLC in Mississippi

You start a Mississippi LLC by choosing a name, appointing a registered agent and filing the Certificate of Formation online for $50. The rest is paperwork you keep yourself and registrations with the IRS and the Department of Revenue. These are the steps in the usual order.

1. Choose and check the name. Under section 79-29-109 of the Mississippi Code, the name must contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L. L. C." or "LLC". Search the Secretary of State’s business records to make sure the name is free. If you are not ready to file, a name reservation costs $25.
2. Appoint a registered agent. The agent receives lawsuits and official notices. It can be a commercial registered agent registered with the Secretary of State, or a noncommercial agent with a physical Mississippi address (details below). Our registered agent service covers this if you do not have one.
3. File the Certificate of Formation. The certificate is short. Section 79-29-201 requires the LLC’s name, the registered agent information, and a dissolution date only if the LLC is to have one. File it through the Secretary of State’s online business portal and pay $50. Our articles of organization guide explains the formation document in more detail.
4. Write an operating agreement. The Secretary of State’s business start-up guide says the members "should develop an operating agreement to govern the company, although one is not required by law." Banks and payment providers often ask to see one, so sign it before you open accounts.
5. Get an EIN. The EIN is free from the IRS. With an SSN or ITIN you 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.
6. Register for state taxes you need. The start-up guide notes that most entity types will need to register with the Mississippi Department of Revenue, for example for sales tax or payroll withholding.
7. Put 15 April in your calendar. The annual report is free but not optional. Our compliance deadline calendar can remind you.

Prefer to hand it over? Our filing team checks the name, prepares and submits the Certificate of Formation, and keeps your documents in your portal. The package also includes a US address with mail forwarding, a registered agent and your EIN letter.

Mississippi LLC cost

The Mississippi LLC cost in state fees is $50 in the first year and $0 a year after that. There is no annual report fee and no newspaper publication step for LLCs. Here is the full list of official fees you are likely to meet.

The arithmetic is simple. Year one: $50 for the Certificate of Formation, plus $25 if you reserved the name first, so $50 to $75. Each later year: $0 to the Secretary of State. What you actually spend beyond that comes from choices, such as a commercial registered agent, a business address or help with filings. A founder outside the US should also budget for yearly federal filings (see the non-resident section), which cost more in preparation time than anything Mississippi charges.

Mississippi LLC registration: what the Secretary of State records

Mississippi LLC registration creates a public record with the Secretary of State’s Business Services division, and the business record is searchable online. The Certificate of Formation itself holds very little: the name, the registered agent, and a dissolution date if you set one. Members and managers are not listed on it.

The annual report asks for more. Under section 79-29-215, it includes the registered agent, the principal office address, the names and addresses of the managers or members, any officers, whether there is an operating agreement, and a description of the business. Plan who and which address you list, because the report becomes part of the LLC’s record.

Mississippi LLC annual report

Every Mississippi LLC files an annual report by 15 April, and the Secretary of State charges nothing for it. The annual reports page says reports "can be filed any time on or after January 1st of each year and are due by April 15th of that year", and that "All annual reports must be filed online". You need the LLC’s Business ID number, which you can find by searching the business records.

• Fee: none for a Mississippi LLC.
• Window: 1 January to 15 April.
• How: online only, using the Business ID.
• If it is incomplete: section 79-29-215 gives the LLC 30 days after notice to correct it and still count as filed on time.
• If it is not filed: under section 79-29-821, the Secretary of State may start administrative dissolution once the report is more than 60 days late.
• Reinstatement: $50, on top of bringing the missing reports up to date.

Mississippi registered agent

Every Mississippi LLC must have a registered agent, and the Certificate of Formation names it. Mississippi splits agents into two kinds under its Registered Agents Act, and the Secretary of State’s registered agents page explains both.

• Commercial registered agent: any individual or entity that registers with the Secretary of State and holds itself out as a registered agent for hire. The agent pays $100 to register. On your filing you give only the commercial agent’s name.
• Noncommercial registered agent: "Any individual, corporation or LLC may act as registered agent for any Mississippi company provided the agent has a physical address in the state of Mississippi." You give the agent’s name, address and email address.

Changing agent later costs $10. Keep the agent current: section 79-29-821 lets the Secretary of State dissolve an LLC that has been without a registered agent for 60 days or more, or that has not reported a change of agent within 60 days. Mississippi residents often serve as their own agent. If you live elsewhere, or you do not want your home address on the record, use a commercial agent such as our registered agent service.

State taxes that affect a Mississippi LLC

A Mississippi LLC pays no annual state filing fee, and with the default federal tax treatment its profit is reported by the owners rather than taxed as a corporation. Other taxes depend on what the business does.

• Sales tax: the Department of Revenue says sales of tangible personal property in Mississippi are subject to the regular retail rate of 7%. Businesses located in the state register, collect and remit.
• Remote sellers: under section 27-67-3, a seller without a physical presence is doing business in Mississippi for use tax purposes once its sales into the state exceed $250,000 in any consecutive 12-month period.
• LLC taxed as a corporation: if the LLC elects corporate tax treatment, it files with the Department of Revenue’s corporate income and franchise tax section. That election changes federal and state filings, so decide it with a licensed tax professional.

If you need a sales tax permit, our sales tax registration service can prepare the application.

Forming a Mississippi LLC as a non-resident

You do not need to live in Mississippi, or in the US, to form a Mississippi LLC. Nothing in the formation rules requires a Mississippi owner; the in-state requirement is the registered agent. A founder abroad follows the same steps, with a few extra points.

• Registered agent: you will need a commercial agent, since you have no Mississippi address.
• EIN: without an SSN or ITIN, the EIN is requested by fax, mail or phone rather than online.
• 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 cannot be e-filed, so it goes by fax or mail. Our Form 5472 guide explains it.
• 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.

Mississippi’s free annual report makes it cheap to maintain, but it is not a common choice for founders with no US ties. Most of them compare Wyoming and New Mexico first; see our Wyoming vs Delaware vs New Mexico LLC comparison and best state for an LLC. If you will actually operate in Mississippi, with staff, premises or local customers, form here or register your out-of-state LLC here as a foreign LLC. Whether you owe US income tax depends on whether you have US trade or business income, which a licensed tax professional should review.

How to dissolve a Mississippi LLC

You close a Mississippi LLC by filing a Certificate of Dissolution with the Secretary of State, and the fee is $50. Section 79-29-205 covers the certificate, and the winding-up rules in Article 8 of the LLC Act govern paying creditors and distributing what is left.

Before filing, settle debts, close bank and payment accounts, file final tax returns and cancel any tax accounts with the Department of Revenue. The Department’s tax clearance letter is issued to corporate entities, "not LLC or individual", so an LLC does not obtain one. A foreign-owned single-member LLC also files a final Form 5472 for its last tax year. Our LLC dissolution service can prepare the state filing.

Doing it yourself vs using Borderless Filings

You can form a Mississippi LLC yourself online for $50, and the annual report is free to file. For a Mississippi resident acting as their own agent, doing it alone is realistic.

Our service adds a name and agent check before filing, preparation and submission by our filing team, a registered agent, a US address with mail forwarding, the EIN without an SSN, secure document storage in your portal, and reminders before 15 April. Service prices are on our pricing page, with the $50 state fee passed on at cost. When you are ready, start your order. For neighboring states, see our Alabama LLC, Tennessee LLC and Louisiana LLC pages, or the full list of US LLC states.

Sources

• Mississippi Secretary of State: Services and Fees Document
• Mississippi Secretary of State: Annual Reports
• Mississippi Secretary of State: Registered Agents
• Mississippi Secretary of State: Start Your Business in Mississippi
• Mississippi Code section 79-29-109: Name
• Mississippi Code section 79-29-201: Certificate of formation
• Mississippi Code section 79-29-205: Certificate of dissolution
• Mississippi Code section 79-29-215: Annual report for Secretary of State
• Mississippi Code section 79-29-821: Grounds for administrative dissolution
• Mississippi Code section 27-67-3: Use tax definitions
• Mississippi Department of Revenue: Mississippi Sales and Use Taxes
• Mississippi Department of Revenue: Registration Information for Sales and Use Tax Applicants
• Mississippi Department of Revenue: Tax Clearance Letter
• 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.