Cost To Form An LLC In Kansas 2024: Detailed Reviews & Guides
Reviewed by Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
The article is checked by our editorial team, Which includes entrepreneurs who are painfully aware of how overwhelming and challenging it is to start a business for the first time.
As a business owner, starting a limited liability company can be a fantastic way to protect your personal assets and enjoy some favorable taxation situations. But if you’re thinking about starting an LLC in Kansas, then you need to know how much the Kansas Secretary of State charges for doing so.
That’s why we’ve put together this guide. It covers every filing fee that a domestic LLC or foreign LLC may encounter while submitting articles of organization and operating agreements to the Kansas Secretary of State.
So, without further delay, let’s take a look at the Kansas LLC cost information you need to know before completing your online filing with the Kansas Department of State.
What Is an LLC in Kansas?
Small businesses with one LLC member or more than one member can choose from a variety of business entities. One is a limited company, called an LLC. Others include an S corporation and a sole proprietorship.
An LLC operates how many small businesses already conduct official business. It gives you some benefits when you pay taxes and file annual reports. Plus, limited liability companies protect the personal assets of LLC owners and receive more flexibility in the business world with legal documents under Kansas law and Kansas tax requirements.
The bottom line is that a small business may be better served by filing articles of organization and an operating agreement with the Kansas Secretary of State to become an LLC than choosing another business entity or business structure.
LLC Cost in Kansas
The cost of creating a Kansas LLC with the Kansas Secretary of State encompasses more than one charge for your business entity. The following information will include all of the different filing fees you may have to pay when you form an LLC online or via traditional LLC formation paperwork.
With that in mind, here’s what aspiring Kansas LLCs need to know about fees before they form an LLC.
Kansas LLC Filing Fee
The baseline Kansas LLC filing fee is $165. This is the price you pay regardless of whether you file online or in person. The Secretary of State may charge extra to process your operating agreement and articles of organization at an expedited speed.
Kansas LLC Annual Report Fee
You must also submit annual reports as a Kansas LLC. The Kansas annual report fee is $55. This is a yearly figure that must always be paid in order to remain in good standing with the Secretary of State.
Registered Agent Fee
You also need to have a registered agent on file to complete the LLC registration process in Kansas. You can either be your own registered agent or hire a professional registered agent service.
If you want to hire a professional service to keep you in good standing with the Secretary of State, then expect to pay between $99 and $300 annually for them to represent your organization online with various professional services designed for Kansas LLCs.
Cost to Form a Foreign LLC in Kansas
If you want to register a foreign-covered entity as an LLC in Kansas, the cost will still be $165 to do so. There is no difference in filing fee for articles of organization or operating agreements for foreign companies.
Business Permits and Licenses
You may also need a business license when you go through the LLC formation process. However, the Secretary of State does not require a standard license or permit that every business structure in the state must have to operate.
This means that you will only encounter fees from the Secretary of State in this category if you run certain types of businesses. Companies like pharmacies, for example, will need business licenses, whereas a laundry service may not have to complete this kind of organization filing under state law.
Taxes
You will also be responsible for various kinds of federal taxes and state taxes as an LLC. This section will cover the main ones you need to account for when divvying up your business income and looking at your business bank account.
State Income Tax
The state income tax rate in Kansas is between 3.7% and 5.7%. The amount you owe the Secretary of State will depend on the amount of income you earn after filing articles of organization and an operating agreement.
State Sales Tax
In Kansas, there is a sales tax of 6.5%. This applies to every transaction that you complete after you file online to form an LLC and enjoy liability protection.
Self-Employment Tax
As a self-employed business owner, you will be responsible for paying a federal self-employment tax of 15.3%. This is set by the federal government and may be based on the LLC’s tax closing month or tax closing date when you complete your own operating agreement and become your own resident agent.
Withholding Tax
An LLC owner will need to withhold 7.65% from employees’ paychecks to account for federal taxes. When you pay federal taxes, this figure will be requested.
Other LLC Filing Costs
You may encounter other fees after you submit your articles of organization and operating agreement. Here are the main ones to consider when you form an LLC online for liability protection.
LLC Name Reservation Fee
You can reserve an official business name before filing official articles of organization or an operating agreement. The state charges $30 holds to reserve a name for up to 120 days.
“Doing Business As” (DBA) Name
In Kansas, you cannot register a DBA name to a physical address. There are no state filing fees to be aware of for this since it’s not something the state does.
Business Domain Name & Website
The cost to register a business domain name and build a website can vary significantly for companies in Kansas. Your charges will be influenced by the competitiveness of the domain name you want and the type of company that you hire to build your site.
For example, drag-and-drop website builders tend to be more affordable than private web design firms.
Certified Document Copies
You may need certified document copies in various situations. The cost for this is a baseline rate of $15, then an additional $1 per page that you request.
Certificate of Good Standing (Certificate of Compliance)
The state of Kansas will give you a certificate of good standing after you file an annual report for the cost of $20.
Articles of Organization Fee
Filing articles of organization in the state of Kansas costs $160.
Attorney Fees
You may or may not need to hire an attorney while setting up your new LLC – especially if you’ve already hired a resident agent. The price of attorney fees can vary significantly depending on your needs and the attorney you hire.
Tax ID Number (EIN)
Every business in Kansas needs an employer identification number (EIN). But there are no fees for setting this up. You can create an employer identification number online for free.
6 Basic Steps to Start an LLC in Kansas 2024
Now that we’ve covered everything you need to know about the cost of starting an LLC in Kansas, let’s look at some steps for getting your new business registered. Here are six to guide you.
Choose a Name for Your LLC in Kansas
The first thing you’ll want to do is select a name for your new company. This must comply with all relevant naming regulations in Kansas, so be sure to check with the Secretary of State before finalizing your selection.
Choose a Registered Agent in Kansas
You’ll also need a resident agent available during normal business hours. You can either fulfill this responsibility yourself or hire someone to complete the task for you. Both options comply with the state’s requirements.
Read more: Best Kansas Registered Agent 2024
File Organizational Paperwork With the State
Now, you’re ready to file your organizational paperwork with the state. You can also either complete this task on your own or hire a service to do it for you. Hiring a service may even be free if you were already going to use them as a resident agent.
Obtain a Certificate from the State
Once you file your paperwork and pay all outstanding fees, you will be able to get your certificate of validity from the state. This is the document you need to begin serving customers legally with your new business structure.
Prepare an LLC Operating Agreement
At this point, you can prepare your operating agreement. This is the paperwork that tells the state how you plan on running your business from a managerial and profit-sharing perspective.
Obtain an EIN for Your LLC in Kansas
Finally, all that’s left to do is to set up your EIN. As we covered in the previous section, you can do this at no cost and entirely online in as little as 10 minutes, so this step shouldn’t be too difficult.
The Top 2 LLC Services in Kansas
If you’d like some guidance with the LLC formation process, you can hire a company that specializes in this paperwork. Here are two of the top options in the state to look into.
| Product |  |
 |
| Name | ZenBusiness | Northwest Registered Agent |
| Full review | Read full review | Read full review |
| Link | Check Price | Check Price |
Zenbusiness
ZenBusiness is a lot like Northwest. They also offer a wide variety of services in addition to LLC formation support, such as help with accounting, taxation, and even growth. One thing that sets Zen Business apart is the company’s after-hours customer support hotline. This makes it easy to get the compliance assistance you need no matter when you need it.
Zen Business also regularly receives high reviews and can start your LLC for free if you pay for another one of its service packages.
Northwest Registered Agent
Northwest is a business paperwork and resident agent provider that consistently receives high reviews. It offers affordable services and gives you access to many useful online resources and guides, that can give you ongoing assistance with everything you need to know about compliance.
You may be able to get them to start your LLC for you for free if you also hire them for another job, such as becoming your resident agent. Either way, if you’re looking for a high-quality provider in the state, Northwest could be it.
Read more: Best LLC Formation Services In Kansas (KS) 2024
Final Thoughts
Starting an LLC in Kansas is a smart way to improve protection for your personal assets, while also reducing some key business expenses in the area of taxation.
We hope our pricing guide will help you make a more informed decision about whether creating an LLC is right for you. Whatever you decide to do, we wish you the best of luck moving forward as you work towards your business goals in Kansas.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A Kansas LLC is a type of business entity. It’s one way that you can run a business in the state, and offers some nice benefits with personal liability protection and taxation.
The baseline filing fee is $165. However, you could pay more than this if you need other services, such as name reservation or expedited filing.
Yes, you can create your LLC without hiring a professional service. All of the paperwork is available online and you can file it yourself.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
+ 6 sources
Bizreport Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic research. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Bizreport, you can read more about the editorial process here.
- Kansas. gov – a service of the Information Network of Kansas I. Kansas Business Filing Center: The official Web site for starting and maintaining a business in Kansas. www.kansas.gov. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.kansas.gov/businesscenter/index.html?link=name_avail
- Kansas Department of Revenue – Sales (Retailers). www.ksrevenue.gov. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.ksrevenue.gov/bustaxtypessales.html
- Kansas Secretary of State – Forms Results. sos.ks.gov. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://sos.ks.gov/forms/forms_results.aspx?division=BS
- Employer ID Numbers | Internal Revenue Service. Irs.gov. Published 2012. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/employer-id-numbers
- Cost to Start a Kansas LLC. Northwest Registered Agent. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/llc/kansas/cost
- Cost to Start an LLC in Kansas. ZenBusiness Inc. Accessed January 28, 2023. https://www.zenbusiness.com/kansas-filing-fees/