How to Start an LLC in Arizona: Cost, Steps, and Requirements

Arizona is one of the cheapest states in the country to form and maintain an LLC: $50 to file, and then genuinely nothing every year. But it has one unusual requirement that trips up new owners, and one filing quirk that sends people to the wrong government office entirely. This guide covers the cost, the timeline, the (nonexistent) annual requirements, the seven filing steps, the publication rule, how an Arizona LLC is taxed, and how Arizona compares to sole proprietorships, Delaware, and Florida.

Everything below is verified against the Arizona Corporation Commission’s own fee schedule and Arizona statute, but fees and processing times change. This is educational, not legal or tax advice — confirm current figures with the ACC before you file, and talk to a CPA or attorney about your specific situation. It’s part of our broader guide to LLC vs S-corp vs sole proprietorship.

How do you start an LLC in Arizona?

Starting an LLC in Arizona means choosing a compliant name, appointing a statutory agent with an Arizona street address, filing the Articles of Organization (Form L010) with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), and paying the $50 filing fee. After approval, most LLCs must also publish a formation notice in a newspaper within 60 days — unless the statutory agent’s address is in Maricopa or Pima County.

One detail deserves emphasis up front, because it’s the single most common error in Arizona LLC guides: Arizona LLCs are formed with the Arizona Corporation Commission, not the Secretary of State. Arizona’s Secretary of State does not handle LLC formation (it handles trade names and trademarks). File through the ACC’s eCorp online portal at ecorp.azcc.gov. From there, the sequence is straightforward: name → statutory agent → Articles of Organization → publication (if required) → operating agreement → EIN → state tax registration. The whole process is inexpensive by national standards, and once you’re done, Arizona asks almost nothing of you on an ongoing basis.

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Arizona?

Starting an LLC in Arizona costs $50 to file the Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission, or $85 if you add the $35 expedite at filing. Beyond that, the only mandatory costs are the newspaper publication (roughly $30–$300, and $0 if your statutory agent is in Maricopa or Pima County) and, if you choose one, a registered-agent service. There is no annual report and no annual fee.

Here’s the full first-year cost picture, with figures from the ACC’s LLC fee schedule:

For accelerated processing beyond the $35 expedite, the ACC also offers next-business-day and same-business-day services at higher fees (roughly +$100 and +$200 respectively), submitted with a cover sheet. Other common filings: Certificate of Good Standing $10, Statement of Change of address $5, Articles of Amendment $25, and a Foreign Registration Statement (for an out-of-state LLC registering in Arizona) $150. Verify all current fees on the ACC schedule before filing, since they can change.

How long does it take to form an LLC in Arizona?

Arizona LLC processing times fluctuate significantly, so the honest answer is a range: standard processing has recently run anywhere from about 9 to 16 business days, while the $35 expedite typically cuts it to roughly 3–5 business days. The ACC publishes its live document processing times, updated regularly, showing exactly which filing dates it is currently working through — that page, not a blog estimate, is the number to trust.

Because the queue moves, treat any published timeline (including this one) as indicative. If you have a hard deadline — a bank appointment, a client contract, a lease — pay the $35 expedite, or use the ACC’s next-day or same-day accelerated services. Two things that reliably slow you down regardless of processing speed: filing by mail instead of through eCorp, and submitting an incomplete package. If the ACC rejects your Articles, you generally get a short window to cure the defect, but you’ve lost your place in the queue. Note that the publication clock (60 days) starts at approval, not at filing, so a slow queue doesn’t cost you publication time.

What are the annual requirements for an Arizona LLC?

Arizona LLCs have no annual report and no annual fee — $0 per year. Arizona is one of a small handful of states with zero recurring state filing obligation for LLCs, which makes it one of the cheapest states in the country to maintain an entity. There is no yearly form, no yearly deadline, and consequently no late penalty for an annual report, because none exists.

That does not mean zero ongoing compliance. Four things still matter. First, you must continuously maintain a statutory agent with a valid Arizona street address; if your agent resigns or your address changes, file a Statement of Change ($5) promptly. Second, the 60-day publication requirement (below) is Arizona’s one real formation deadline, and missing it is the classic route to administrative dissolution. Third, if you sell taxable goods or services, you must file TPT returns on your assigned schedule with the Arizona Department of Revenue. Fourth, city business licenses renew annually in most Arizona municipalities. So the state itself asks nothing yearly, but your agent, your taxes, and your city still do.

How to start an LLC in Arizona in 7 steps

You can start an LLC in Arizona in seven steps: choose a name, appoint a statutory agent, file the Articles of Organization, create an operating agreement, get an EIN, register for state taxes and licenses, and open a business bank account. Here’s each step — what it is, why it matters, how to do it, and the mistake to avoid.

Step 1: Choose an Arizona LLC name

Your LLC name must include “Limited Liability Company,” “LLC,” “L.L.C.,” “LC,” or “L.C.” (professional LLCs use PLLC or similar), and it must be distinguishable from every other entity already registered in Arizona. Search the ACC’s eCorp business database before you commit to branding, a domain, or signage. You can optionally reserve a name for 120 days for $10. The mistake is buying a domain and printing materials before confirming the name is available — a rejected name means refiling and a fresh trip through the queue.

Step 2: Appoint a statutory agent

Arizona calls the registered agent a statutory agent: a person or company with a physical Arizona street address (no PO boxes) available during business hours to receive legal documents. A signed Statutory Agent Acceptance form is filed alongside your Articles at no extra charge. You can be your own agent, or hire a service (~$100–$300/year) to keep your home address off the public record. This is the highest-leverage decision on the page: because the publication requirement is keyed to the county of your statutory agent’s street address, choosing an agent in Maricopa or Pima County legally eliminates the publication step and its cost entirely. The mistake is appointing an agent in another county without realizing you’ve just bought yourself a newspaper bill and a 60-day deadline.

Step 3: File the Articles of Organization (Form L010)

The Articles of Organization is the filing that legally creates your LLC. File Form L010 through the ACC’s eCorp portal (or by mail) and pay $50, or $85 to add the expedite. You’ll list the LLC name, the statutory agent and their acceptance, the principal address, whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed, and the members or managers. The mistake — and it’s a big one — is filing with the Arizona Secretary of State, which does not form LLCs. It’s the Arizona Corporation Commission, Corporations Division.

Step 4: Create an operating agreement

An operating agreement is the internal contract that sets ownership percentages, voting rights, profit distributions, management duties, and what happens if a member leaves or the company dissolves. Arizona does not require you to file one with the state, but it is strongly recommended: without it, Arizona’s statutory default rules govern your company, and those defaults may not match what you and your co-owners actually intended. Even single-member LLCs benefit — it evidences the separation between you and the business, which is what liability protection rests on. Banks and investors often ask to see it. See our guide to LLC vs S-corp vs sole proprietorship for how ownership and tax elections interact. The mistake is skipping it because “it’s just me.”

Step 5: Get an EIN from the IRS

An EIN (Employer Identification Number) is your business’s federal tax ID, and it’s free from the IRS online in about ten minutes. You need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, and handle most tax filings — and a multi-member LLC needs one by default. Get your EIN directly from the IRS — never pay a third-party site for what the government gives away for nothing. The mistake is paying a service $50–$100 for a free ten-minute form.

Step 6: Register for Arizona state taxes and licenses

If your LLC sells taxable goods or services, you must obtain a Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license from the Arizona Department of Revenue and file TPT returns. Arizona has no statewide general business license, but most cities (Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Scottsdale, and others) require their own city license, so check with your municipality. If you’ll have employees, register for withholding and unemployment insurance too. See our guide to small business taxes. The mistake is assuming TPT works like a normal sales tax — it doesn’t, and the difference matters (see the tax section below).

Step 7: Open a business bank account and stay compliant

Open a dedicated business bank account as soon as your EIN arrives, and run every dollar of business income and expense through it. This isn’t bookkeeping hygiene — it’s what preserves your liability protection. Commingling personal and business funds is the single most common way owners hand a plaintiff the argument that the LLC is a sham and the “corporate veil” should be pierced. Then calendar your real obligations: publication within 60 days (if applicable), TPT returns, city license renewal, and keeping your statutory agent current. There’s no annual report to calendar, because Arizona doesn’t have one. Consider coverage as well — see our guide to business insurance types and costs. The mistake is treating the LLC as a formality while running money through a personal account.

The publication requirement: Arizona’s biggest gotcha

Most new Arizona LLCs must publish a notice of formation in an ACC-approved newspaper for three consecutive publications, within 60 days of approval, in the county of the statutory agent’s street address. This is required by A.R.S. §29-3201(G), and it’s the requirement that catches nearly everyone forming an LLC in Arizona for the first time. Publication typically costs $30–$300 depending on the newspaper and county.

Here’s the part worth reading twice: LLCs whose statutory agent’s street address is in Maricopa County or Pima County are exempt. The statute waives publication for counties above a population threshold (currently 800,000), and only Maricopa (Phoenix metro) and Pima (Tucson) exceed it — in those counties, the ACC posts your formation to its own public notice database for free and you do nothing. Since roughly 75% of Arizonans live in those two counties, most LLCs are exempt without realizing it, and those who aren’t can often become exempt simply by appointing a statutory agent with a Maricopa or Pima County address. That single choice, made at Step 2, legally erases the requirement and its cost.

If you’re not exempt, take it seriously. Use a newspaper from the ACC’s approved-newspapers list (a paper not on the list doesn’t satisfy the statute), run the notice three consecutive times within the 60-day window, and keep the affidavit of publication for your records — filing it with the ACC is permitted but not mandatory. Failure to publish can lead to administrative dissolution of your LLC, which is precisely why this is the one deadline an Arizona LLC owner must not miss. (Confirm the current approved-newspaper list and requirements with the ACC — this is educational, not legal advice.)

How is an Arizona LLC taxed?

An Arizona LLC is a pass-through entity by default: the LLC itself pays no federal income tax, and profits flow to members’ personal returns (a single-member LLC is a “disregarded entity”; a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership). At the state level, that pass-through income is taxed on the member’s Arizona return at the state’s flat 2.5% individual income tax rate — one of the lowest in the nation. Arizona has no franchise tax.

Three more things shape an Arizona LLC’s tax picture. First, self-employment tax (15.3%) still applies to active members’ earnings — the LLC structure doesn’t avoid it, which is why owners with consistent profits sometimes elect S-corp taxation to reduce it (worth discussing with a CPA once profit is meaningful). Second, Arizona uses a Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) rather than a conventional sales tax. The distinction is real, not semantic: TPT is legally a tax on the seller for the privilege of doing business, not on the buyer — which means you owe it even if you forgot to collect it from your customer. The state retail rate is about 5.6%, and county and city rates stack on top (Phoenix lands around 8.6% combined; Tucson around 8.7%), with different rates for different business classifications. Third, if you elect C-corporation treatment, Arizona’s corporate rate is 4.9% (with a $50 minimum). See our guide to small business taxes. (Educational, not tax advice — confirm current rates with the Arizona Department of Revenue and the IRS.)

LLC vs sole proprietorship in Arizona

An LLC and a sole proprietorship are fundamentally different in one respect that matters more than all the others: an LLC creates a legal separation between you and your business, and a sole proprietorship does not. In Arizona, that protection costs $50 once and $0 per year, which is about as cheap as liability protection gets in the United States. The table compares them.

The guidance is unusually clear in Arizona. Because the state charges nothing annually, the lifetime cost of the liability shield is essentially the $50 filing fee plus a possible one-time publication bill. If your business has any exposure — you sign contracts, enter clients’ homes, sell a physical product, hire anyone, or carry debt — the LLC is nearly always worth it. A sole proprietorship makes sense for a true hobby or a zero-risk side income you’re testing. Everyone else should form the LLC.

Arizona LLC vs forming in Delaware, Wyoming, or Nevada

If you live and do business in Arizona, forming your LLC in Delaware, Wyoming, or Nevada is usually a costly mistake. The reason is the foreign-registration trap: an out-of-state LLC that actually operates in Arizona must register in Arizona as a foreign LLC anyway — a $150 Foreign Registration Statement — while still paying the other state’s fees and maintaining a registered agent in both states. You end up with two filings, two agents, and two sets of compliance for no benefit. The table compares them.

The Delaware advantage is real, but it’s for venture-backed companies raising institutional money, which expect Delaware’s corporate law and Court of Chancery. It is not for a local contractor, consultant, or e-commerce seller operating from Tempe. And Arizona already delivers what people usually chase in Wyoming and Nevada — low cost and no annual fee — without the second state’s overhead. Form where you do business. For an Arizona business, that’s Arizona.

Do you need a registered agent for an Arizona LLC?

Yes. Every Arizona LLC must appoint a statutory agent (Arizona’s term for a registered agent) with a physical Arizona street address available during business hours — no PO boxes. A signed Statutory Agent Acceptance form is filed with your Articles at no extra charge. You can serve as your own agent, or hire a service (~$100–$300/year) for privacy. Choosing one in Maricopa or Pima County also exempts you from publication.

Can a non-resident form an LLC in Arizona?

Yes. Arizona has no residency or citizenship requirement to form an LLC — out-of-state residents and non-U.S. citizens can both do it. What you must have is a statutory agent with a physical Arizona street address. Non-U.S. owners can obtain an EIN without a Social Security number by filing Form SS-4 with the IRS, and should get professional advice on additional federal reporting obligations.

Is an LLC worth it in Arizona?

Usually yes. Arizona is among the cheapest states to form and maintain an LLC: $50 once and $0 per year, since there’s no annual report or annual fee. For that, you get liability protection separating your personal assets from business claims, plus added credibility with banks and clients. The one wrinkle is the publication requirement, which is free if your statutory agent is in Maricopa or Pima County.

LLC formation services for Arizona

There are three honest paths to forming an Arizona LLC, and none of the mentions here are sponsored — this section is purely editorial:

• DIY, directly with the ACC (cheapest — always): file Form L010 yourself through eCorp for the $50 state fee. Nothing is cheaper than this, and nothing you can buy makes the filing itself any more valid. For most single-member LLCs, this is genuinely a 30-minute task.
• Registered-agent service (~$100–$300/year): worth paying for if you want your home address off the public record, if you don’t have a reliable Arizona street address, or — specifically in Arizona — if you want a Maricopa or Pima County agent address to sidestep the publication requirement.
• Full formation service: these companies file the same $50 form on your behalf and add their fee on top. They can save you time and often bundle an agent, but understand you’re paying for convenience, not for a better outcome. Read what’s actually included, and watch for auto-renewing charges.

The honest bottom line: filing directly with the state is always the cheapest path, and the ACC’s eCorp portal is designed for ordinary people to use. Pay for a registered agent if privacy or the publication exemption matters to you. See our broader how to start a business step-by-step guide for what comes after formation.

Arizona LLC vs Florida LLC: a cost comparison

Arizona and Florida are both popular, low-friction states to form an LLC, but they trade off in opposite directions: Arizona is cheaper to maintain (no annual report, $0/year) while Florida has no state income tax on your pass-through profit. Which wins depends entirely on where you actually live and do business. The table compares them.

Over a decade, Arizona’s state filing costs total about $50 versus roughly $1,512 in Florida — but a Florida member pays no state income tax on the profits, which can dwarf that difference for any meaningfully profitable business. The decisive factor for almost everyone is simply this: form in the state where you live and operate. Registering in the “cheaper” state while operating in the other just means foreign-registering and paying both. If you’re genuinely relocating or opening a second entity, run the numbers on your actual profit. See our guide to starting an LLC in Florida for that side of the comparison.

Frequently Asked Questions About Starting an LLC in Arizona

Here are quick, standalone answers to the most common questions about forming an Arizona LLC. All are educational, not legal or tax advice.

How much does an LLC cost in Arizona?

An Arizona LLC costs $50 to file the Articles of Organization with the Arizona Corporation Commission, or $85 with the $35 expedite. Arizona then charges no annual report fee and no annual fee — $0 per year. Budget $30–$300 for the newspaper publication unless your statutory agent is in Maricopa or Pima County, where publication is free.

Does Arizona require an LLC annual report?

No. Arizona is one of the few states with no LLC annual report and no annual fee, so there is no recurring state filing and no annual deadline. You must still maintain a statutory agent, file TPT returns if you sell taxable goods or services, and renew any city business license. The one formation deadline is the 60-day publication requirement, if it applies to you.

How long does it take to get an LLC in Arizona?

Arizona LLC processing times vary. Standard processing has recently run roughly 9 to 16 business days, while the $35 expedite typically reduces it to about 3 to 5 business days. The Arizona Corporation Commission publishes live processing times showing which filing dates it is currently working through — check that before you file if timing matters. Next-day and same-day services are also available at higher fees.

Can I be my own registered agent in Arizona?

Yes. You can serve as your own statutory agent in Arizona if you have a physical Arizona street address (not a PO box) where you’re available during business hours to accept legal documents. The trade-off is that the address becomes public record. Many owners hire a service (~$100–$300/year) for privacy — and choosing one in Maricopa or Pima County also exempts them from the publication requirement.

Do you need an operating agreement in Arizona?

No, Arizona does not require an operating agreement or require you to file one with the state — but it is strongly recommended. Without one, Arizona’s statutory default rules govern ownership, voting, and distributions, which may not match what you intended. Even single-member LLCs benefit, since the agreement evidences the separation between owner and company that liability protection depends on.