How much does it cost to form an LLC in Indiana in 2026?

The state filing fee is $95 when you file Articles of Organization online through INBiz, or $100 if you file by paper. Plan for $32 every two years for the Business Entity Report, which works out to roughly $16 a year, plus $50 to $125 a year for a commercial registered agent if you use one. There is no franchise tax and no annual minimum.

Does Indiana have an annual report for LLCs?

No, Indiana uses a biennial schedule. Every two years, on the anniversary month of formation, LLCs file a Business Entity Report (State Form 48725) through INBiz. The fee is $32 online or $50 by paper. Many older guides still describe Indiana as an annual-report state, so it is worth double-checking your filing schedule against the Secretary of State's current requirement.

Does Indiana have a franchise tax on LLCs?

No. Indiana does not impose a franchise tax on LLCs at any revenue level. The only recurring state obligation is the $32 biennial Business Entity Report, which is a filing fee rather than a tax. LLCs electing C-corp treatment owe the Indiana corporate adjusted gross income tax at a flat 4.9%, calculated on income rather than as a minimum.

How long does it take to form an Indiana LLC?

Online filings through INBiz typically clear in 1 business day, which is among the fastest standard turnarounds in the country. Paper filings run around 7 business days. Indiana does not offer a separate expedited tier because the online queue already functions as the fast lane at the standard $95 fee.

Do Indiana LLCs pay state income tax?

The LLC itself does not pay Indiana corporate income tax by default; members report their share of pass-through income on Indiana individual returns at a flat 3.00% state rate for 2026, plus county adjusted gross income tax from roughly 0.5% to 3%. An LLC electing C-corp treatment owes Indiana's flat 4.9% corporate adjusted gross income tax on Indiana-sourced income. Sales and use tax is a flat 7.0% statewide with no local add-on.

Should I form my LLC in Indiana instead of my home state?

Only if you live in Indiana or operate here. Indiana's quiet compliance regime does not transfer through foreign-LLC registration: if you live in Illinois or Michigan and form in Indiana, your home-state operations still require foreign qualification back home, with that state's annual fees on top. For a non-resident online business with no Indiana ties, Wyoming or your home state is almost always the cheaper long-term choice.

Does Indiana require an operating agreement?

No. Indiana law (Ind. Code 23-18-4-4 under the older Business Flexibility Act and the current Uniform LLC Act rewrite) permits but does not require a written operating agreement. An agreement can be written or oral. A written agreement is still strongly advised for any multi-member LLC because Indiana's default statutory rules on voting and distributions rarely match what members actually want.

What happens if I miss the Indiana Business Entity Report deadline?

Indiana does not charge a monetary late penalty for a missed Business Entity Report, which is unusual among states. What happens instead is administrative dissolution: if the report stays unfiled long enough, the Secretary of State marks the LLC dissolved and the entity loses its good standing. Reinstatement requires filing the overdue report plus any reinstatement paperwork the SoS requires, so keeping the biennial deadline is cheaper than fixing it later.

Indiana LLC: fees, filing steps, and 2026 costs

$95 Filing fee Online filing available

$211 Year 1 estimate Filing + first year tax + RA

1 day Approval Mail ~7d

$32 2-yr report Ongoing

Where Indiana fits, and where it doesn't

Good fit for Indiana

You live in Indiana and your business operates here; you run a small trades, consulting, or e-commerce operation and want a clean entity the state will mostly leave alone; you are a solo practitioner or partner who prefers a cheap, low-drama compliance calendar; you are a Louisville- or Cincinnati-area founder with Indiana residency looking for a simpler regime than Ohio or Kentucky for LLC maintenance; you are tired of state pages that surface a franchise tax you then have to research away.

Skip Indiana when

You live in Illinois, Michigan, or Ohio and someone pitched Indiana as a tax-shelter play; it is not, and foreign-qualifying the Indiana LLC back home cancels any notional savings. You are a non-resident online business with no Indiana nexus and no reason to pick this state specifically; Wyoming and your home state are both cheaper once you add up the long-term costs. You already have an Ohio, Missouri, or Montana LLC and are thinking about moving to Indiana purely for the biennial schedule; the difference between $32 every two years and $0 annually is not worth a domestication.

What an Indiana LLC actually costs

Formation filing fee Paid once at formation $95
Commercial registered agent Annual, estimate $100
Annual report fee Every 2 years $32
Year 1 total estimate Formation plus first-year ongoing $211

Registered agent estimate uses a $100 midpoint. Specialist agents start around $50 per year. Full-service formation companies bundle RA for $125 to $200.

Cost across the first three years

Year 1 $211

Year 2 $116

Year 3 $116

How Indiana compares on the basics

Online filing File through state portal

Yes

Expedited processing Not offered

Annual report required Separate report on top of tax

Yes

State-imposed annual tax None beyond income tax

Written operating agreement required Recommended, not statutorily required

Recommended

Newspaper publication requirement Not required in this state

State sales tax 7% state rate

How to apply for an LLC in Indiana

Pick a compliant LLC name
The name must end in "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or an approved abbreviation, and must be distinguishable from every other entity on the Indiana Secretary of State record. Check availability at the Indiana entity search.
Designate a registered agent
Every Indiana LLC is required to have a registered agent with a physical street address in Indiana. You can serve as your own agent if you live in Indiana, or hire a commercial service for $99 to $249/yr. See the Indiana registered agent guide.
File Indiana Articles of Organization (State Form 49459)
Filing fee is $95. Online filing is available through the state portal. Mail filings are accepted.
Apply for a federal EIN
Free directly from the IRS in about 15 minutes (see the EIN guide). Required for opening a business bank account, hiring employees, and most formation-service tax workflows.
Adopt an operating agreement
Indiana does not require an operating agreement by statute, but adopting one is strongly recommended to preserve the liability shield. See the operating agreement pillar for the 12 clauses every agreement should include.

Filing walkthrough

You file Articles of Organization (State Form 49459) through INBiz at inbiz.in.gov, which is the Secretary of State's one-stop business portal. Online filings cost $95 and typically clear in 1 business day, which is one of the fastest standard turnarounds in the country. Paper filings cost $100 and run around 7 business days. There is no separate expedited tier because the online queue already functions as the fast lane.

Indiana requires a registered agent with an Indiana street address. You can serve as your own agent if you live here, or use a commercial agent for the usual $50 to $125 a year. The Articles themselves are short and ask for name, principal office, registered agent details, management structure, and organizer signature. One thing to flag is that Indiana's INBiz portal bundles a few post-formation steps (EIN registration via IRS link-out, state tax registration with the Department of Revenue, and Business Entity Report scheduling) into the same dashboard, so if you are paying attention during checkout you can knock out several administrative items in one sitting.

Check name availability File online Indiana formation guidance

How Indiana taxes an LLC

Indiana does not impose a franchise tax on LLCs. The only recurring state-entity obligation is the $32 biennial Business Entity Report, which is a filing fee, not a tax.

LLC income flows through to members by default. Single-member LLCs are disregarded for federal and Indiana purposes; multi-member LLCs file Form IT-65 as partnerships. Members report their share on Indiana individual returns at a flat 3.00% state rate for 2026, which is scheduled to continue declining under current law, plus county adjusted gross income tax that varies roughly from 0.5% to 3% depending on where the member lives. Indiana is one of the lowest personal-income-tax states in the Midwest, and the flat structure makes the math easy.

An LLC electing C-corp treatment owes the Indiana corporate adjusted gross income tax at a flat 4.9%, which is competitive with neighboring states. Statewide sales and use tax is 7.0% flat, with no local add-on, and food and prescription drugs are generally exempt.

Ongoing compliance and costs after year one

Budget $32 every two years for the Business Entity Report through INBiz, plus $50 to $125 a year for a commercial registered agent if you use one. On an annualized basis, the state-entity bill works out to roughly $16 per year, which is among the cheapest in the country. There is no franchise tax, no gross receipts tax, and no annual minimum to worry about.

The biennial schedule is the one thing worth calendaring properly because it catches filers who assume every state is annual. The report is due by the end of your anniversary month in each second calendar year after formation, and Indiana does not assess a monetary late penalty. What happens instead is quieter: miss the report long enough and the Secretary of State administratively dissolves the LLC. Under HB 1593 effective January 1, 2026, the SoS also accepts the biennial report during the 90 days before the anniversary month, so you can file early if the timing suits you.

Common mistakes forming an Indiana LLC

Two patterns come up. First, filers treat Indiana's Business Entity Report as annual because that is what most other states require, and then either file twice in error or assume the state will send a yearly reminder that never arrives. Indiana switched to a biennial schedule under Ind. Code 23-0.5-2-13 and the Secretary of State has stuck with that pattern since the Business Flexibility Act rewrite. Check your anniversary month and add a reminder for every second year. Second, filers sometimes pay the $50 paper fee when INBiz offers the same filing online for $32. The $18 savings only shows up if you file online; the paper route is slower and more expensive with nothing extra to show for it.

State agencies that handle Indiana LLCs

Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division

Website: www.in.gov/sos
Phone: (317) 232-6576
Email: inbiz@sos.in.gov
Mail: Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division, 302 W. Washington Street, Room E018, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Office: Indiana Statehouse, 200 W. Washington Street, Room 201, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Hours: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern, Monday to Friday

Indiana Department of Revenue

Website: www.in.gov/dor
Phone: (317) 232-2240
Mail: Indiana Department of Revenue, 100 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Office: 100 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46204
Hours: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern, Monday to Friday

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Indiana in 2026?

The state filing fee is $95 when you file Articles of Organization online through INBiz, or $100 if you file by paper. Plan for $32 every two years for the Business Entity Report, which works out to roughly $16 a year, plus $50 to $125 a year for a commercial registered agent if you use one. There is no franchise tax and no annual minimum.
Does Indiana have an annual report for LLCs?

No, Indiana uses a biennial schedule. Every two years, on the anniversary month of formation, LLCs file a Business Entity Report (State Form 48725) through INBiz. The fee is $32 online or $50 by paper. Many older guides still describe Indiana as an annual-report state, so it is worth double-checking your filing schedule against the Secretary of State's current requirement.
Does Indiana have a franchise tax on LLCs?

No. Indiana does not impose a franchise tax on LLCs at any revenue level. The only recurring state obligation is the $32 biennial Business Entity Report, which is a filing fee rather than a tax. LLCs electing C-corp treatment owe the Indiana corporate adjusted gross income tax at a flat 4.9%, calculated on income rather than as a minimum.
How long does it take to form an Indiana LLC?

Online filings through INBiz typically clear in 1 business day, which is among the fastest standard turnarounds in the country. Paper filings run around 7 business days. Indiana does not offer a separate expedited tier because the online queue already functions as the fast lane at the standard $95 fee.
Do Indiana LLCs pay state income tax?

The LLC itself does not pay Indiana corporate income tax by default; members report their share of pass-through income on Indiana individual returns at a flat 3.00% state rate for 2026, plus county adjusted gross income tax from roughly 0.5% to 3%. An LLC electing C-corp treatment owes Indiana's flat 4.9% corporate adjusted gross income tax on Indiana-sourced income. Sales and use tax is a flat 7.0% statewide with no local add-on.
Should I form my LLC in Indiana instead of my home state?

Only if you live in Indiana or operate here. Indiana's quiet compliance regime does not transfer through foreign-LLC registration: if you live in Illinois or Michigan and form in Indiana, your home-state operations still require foreign qualification back home, with that state's annual fees on top. For a non-resident online business with no Indiana ties, Wyoming or your home state is almost always the cheaper long-term choice.
Does Indiana require an operating agreement?

No. Indiana law (Ind. Code 23-18-4-4 under the older Business Flexibility Act and the current Uniform LLC Act rewrite) permits but does not require a written operating agreement. An agreement can be written or oral. A written agreement is still strongly advised for any multi-member LLC because Indiana's default statutory rules on voting and distributions rarely match what members actually want.
What happens if I miss the Indiana Business Entity Report deadline?

Indiana does not charge a monetary late penalty for a missed Business Entity Report, which is unusual among states. What happens instead is administrative dissolution: if the report stays unfiled long enough, the Secretary of State marks the LLC dissolved and the entity loses its good standing. Reinstatement requires filing the overdue report plus any reinstatement paperwork the SoS requires, so keeping the biennial deadline is cheaper than fixing it later.
How do I apply for an LLC in Indiana?

Apply for an LLC in Indiana by filing Indiana Articles of Organization (State Form 49459) with Indiana Secretary of State, Business Services Division. The filing fee is $95. Online filing is available through the state portal. Approval typically takes 1 business day online. Mail filings take about 7 business days. Before filing, pick a registered agent (see the Indiana registered agent guide) and confirm your business name is available using the state's entity search.

Compare Indiana to another state

Side-by-side breakdowns of fees, taxes, approval time, and compliance. Every other US jurisdiction has a dedicated compare page against Indiana.

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Indiana vs Louisiana

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Indiana vs Pennsylvania

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Indiana vs Rhode Island

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Indiana vs Utah

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Sources

Filing fee: law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-23/article-0-5/chapter-4/section-23… · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana LLC Articles of Organization filing fee is $95 when filed online through INBiz and $100 when filed by paper/mail. Form is State Form 49459. Online is the default and fastest path with approximately 1 business day processing. Indiana does not offer a separate expedited service tier; online filing through INBiz is the fast lane.
Expedited filing: inbiz.in.gov/business-filings · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana does not publish a formal expedited service tier for LLC Articles of Organization. Online INBiz filings are processed in approximately one business day at the standard $95 fee, so the practical expedite path is to file online rather than by mail.
Annual report fee: law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-23/article-0-5/chapter-2/section-23… · verified April 21, 2026
Ind. Code 23-0.5-2-13 requires every domestic filing entity and registered foreign entity (including LLCs) to deliver a biennial report to the Secretary of State every two calendar years on a schedule set by the SOS. Filing fee is $32 online through INBiz and $50 by paper. No statutory late monetary penalty; failure to file leads to administrative dissolution.
Corporate income tax rate: www.in.gov/dor/business-tax/corporate-income-tax/ · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana corporate adjusted gross income tax is a flat 4.9% as of July 1, 2021 and remains at 4.9% for 2026. Applies to C-corporations and to LLCs electing C-corp treatment.
Sales tax rate: www.in.gov/dor/business-tax/sales-tax/ · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana statewide sales and use tax is 7% flat, with no local add-on. Food and prescription drugs are generally exempt.
Foreign LLC registration fee: forms.in.gov/Download.aspx?id=13562 · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana foreign LLC Application for Certificate of Authority: $105 online through INBiz, $125 by paper/mail. After registration, the foreign LLC owes the same $32 online biennial Business Entity Report.
Business name search: bsd.sos.in.gov/publicbusinesssearch · verified April 21, 2026
Indiana Secretary of State Business Search. Confirm LLC name availability before filing Articles of Organization.
Operating agreement requirement: law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-23/article-18/chapter-4/section-23-… · verified April 21, 2026
Ind. Code 23-18-4-4 permits but does not require a written operating agreement. 23-18-1-16 defines operating agreement as any written or oral agreement of the members. Indiana does not mandate that LLCs adopt a written operating agreement.

Legal Disclaimer: FreeNetLaw provides general legal information, not legal advice. The information on this site is not a substitute for consultation with a licensed attorney. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify information with official sources and consult a qualified attorney for advice about your specific situation.