How to start an LLC in Virginia

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

The $100 fee for Articles of Organization is set by statute and is the same online, by mail or in person. The SCC's published instructions show no added online charge. Expedited service is only for online filings, never paper, and the expedite fee is not refunded if the filing is rejected, and a resubmission needs a new expedite fee. The SCC prices next-day service at either $50 or $100 without saying which applies to LLC Articles, so that figure is left blank here. An online filing with no attached document is usually accepted at checkout anyway, so expediting mostly matters if you attach your own articles or your name needs review.

Sources: Virginia filing fee and Virginia filing office, reviewed September 24, 2026.

What are the steps to form an LLC in Virginia?

You file online through the Clerk's Information System (CIS), which needs a free account before you can file. Virginia forms LLCs through the State Corporation Commission (SCC), not a Secretary of State. You need a free CIS account to file or reserve a name online, and signing up asks for your home address, not the business address, because a third party verifies your identity against it. CIS opens on a cookie consent screen before anything else. You can also mail the paper form to P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, VA 23218-1197, or deliver it to 1300 East Main Street, Tyler Building, 1st Floor, Richmond, where in-person service runs only from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., Monday to Friday. The Clerk's Office phone lines are (804) 371-9733 and 1-866-722-2551.

1. Search the name. Free. What you need: The proposed LLC name. The check ignores the required LLC wording, small words like the, and, or, of and for, and certain punctuation, then compares what is left against every name on record.

   What you get: A result saying whether the name is distinguishable from names already on record. How long it takes: Instant

   An available result does not hold the name for you. The name must use standard keyboard letters and cannot contain these characters: { } [ ] " < > ^ \. Registering a name with the SCC does not give you trademark rights.

   Where to do this

2. Create a CIS account. Free. What you need: Your personal details, including your home address, followed by a username and password. The password needs at least eight characters with a capital letter, a number and exactly one special character.

   What you get: A CIS login and dashboard where your filings, receipts and SCC letters appear.

   If identity verification fails, check that you entered your home address, or try a previous address or name if you moved or changed your name recently. One account covers every business you file for.

   Where to do this. This step is described from Virginia's published instructions, because the screens are only visible after signing in.

3. Reserve the name (optional). Costs $10. What you need: The exact name to reserve, online in CIS or on Form SCC631.

   What you get: A 120-day exclusive hold on the name, with a reservation ID and PIN in the acceptance letter on your CIS dashboard.

   Reserving is not required. Skip it if you are filing Articles of Organization right away. If you do reserve, you will need the reservation ID and PIN when you file.

   Where to do this

4. Line up a registered agent and registered office. Free. What you need: The agent's name, how the agent qualifies, and the physical Virginia street address of the agent's business office, including the county or independent city it is in.

   What you get: The registered agent and registered office details the Articles of Organization require.

   The agent can be a Virginia resident who is a member or manager of the LLC (or holds a similar role in a company that is a member or manager), or a member of the Virginia State Bar. It can also be a corporation, LLC or registered limited liability partnership authorized to do business in Virginia. The LLC cannot be its own agent. A virtual office or mail drop is not accepted, and a P.O. box is allowed only in a town of under 2,000 people with no street address, and then only on paper.

   Where to do this

5. File Articles of Organization. Costs $100. What you need: In CIS: the LLC name (or your reservation ID and PIN), an email and phone number for the LLC, an industry code, whether the LLC lasts indefinitely or ends on a set date, the registered agent and their qualification, the registered office, the principal office street address, the management structure, and the name and capacity of each organizer signing. You then check out and pay by card on a payment site run by LexisNexis, where you can also choose expedited service.

   What you get: Submitted Articles of Organization, a payment receipt, and an acceptance email once the SCC approves them. How long it takes: Usually an acceptance email right after checkout for an online filing with no attached document. If you attach your own articles or the name needs review, expect about five business days.

   An organizer must sign. The principal office cannot be a P.O. box but does not have to be in Virginia. Let CIS build the articles from what you type rather than uploading your own, and never attach an operating agreement or other documents, since mismatches and extra attachments are among the top reasons the SCC rejects filings. Paper Form LLC1011 is the alternative, with the same $100 fee.

   Where to do this. This step is described from Virginia's published instructions, because the screens are only visible after signing in.

6. Receive the certificate of organization. Free. What you need: Nothing further.

   What you get: The SCC's certificate of organization. The LLC legally exists from the moment the certificate is issued, unless the articles name a later effective date, which can be no more than 15 days out.

   SCC letters, including acceptance and rejection notices, appear under Correspondence on your CIS dashboard. A rejection notice explains how to fix and resubmit.

   Where to do this

What does an LLC name need to include in Virginia?

The name must include one of these: limited company, limited liability company, L.C., LC, L.L.C., LLC. The name cannot suggest a different kind of entity, so words like corporation, incorporated, Corp. or Inc. are out. It may not use bank or trust unless the LLC is in that business or the rest of the name makes clear it is not, and the same rule applies to engineer, architecture and land surveying. United States, national, Federal and reserve are barred for companies in banking, lending, brokerage, insurance, savings or trust business. Names with restricted words go to the Clerk's Office for review instead of being accepted on the spot. Check a name with the Virginia name search.

What is due after you form an LLC in Virginia?

Federal beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting. U.S. companies have been exempt since FinCEN's interim final rule of March 2025. FinCEN made that exemption permanent in a final rule issued August 11, 2026, which took effect August 14, 2026. Only certain companies formed outside the United States and registered to do business here still report. This rule has changed several times, so check FinCEN again before relying on it later. Source.

IRS Employer Identification Number (EIN). The IRS never charges for an EIN, so sites that charge a fee are not the IRS. The online application must be finished in one sitting and times out after 15 minutes of inactivity. Source.

Virginia sales tax registration. Registration is free, and the certificate must be displayed at the registered location. Doing business as a dealer without one is a Class 2 misdemeanor, and each day counts as a separate offense. Sales made only through a marketplace platform are generally the platform's to collect. This site's Virginia sales tax registration data has the timing rules for remote sellers. Source.

Virginia withholding tax registration. Once registered, you must file withholding returns every period even when nothing was withheld. How often you file depends on how much you withhold each month. Unemployment insurance is a separate registration with the Virginia Employment Commission, and this site's Virginia employer registration data covers both. Source.

Local business license (BPOL). Many Virginia localities tax business gross receipts under their own license ordinance, so check the ordinance of each locality where the LLC has a place of business. Source.

Annual registration fee. There is no annual report, just the $50 fee. The SCC mails a notice to your registered agent about two months before the due date, and you cannot pay before that notice is issued. Online card payments carry no processing fee. If the fee is late, even when the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, a $25 penalty is added. If it is still unpaid on the last day of the third month after the due date, the LLC is canceled automatically, so an October 2027 payment missed until January 31, 2028 ends the LLC. Reinstatement is possible within five years for $100 plus the unpaid fees. Watch for official-looking mail from private companies offering to pay this fee for you. The only payment that counts is the one made to the SCC. Source.

Where is the official Virginia guidance wrong or incomplete?

Official help pages are often the last thing an agency updates. Where one disagrees with the statute or the current form, the statute or form is what applies.

• The SCC's expedited services page prices next-business-day service at either $50 or $100 and does not say which applies to LLC Articles of Organization. The statute that authorizes expedite fees names no amounts, and the SCC's fee regulation does not list them, so the next-day fee stays blank here. The fee shows on the Payment Details screen in CIS, which we could not view. Source.
• The SCC's registered agent FAQ says every registered agent must be a Virginia resident. The statute also allows a corporation, LLC or registered limited liability partnership authorized to do business in Virginia to serve as agent, and Form LLC1011 lists that option. The statute and form are right. Source.
• The SCC's annual registration fee FAQ describes the cancellation deadline as the last business day of the third month after the due date. The statute says the last day of that month, with no business-day adjustment. Go by the statute and pay well before either date. Source.
• The SCC's Corporate Transparency Act page still says LLCs formed through the Clerk's Office are reporting companies that must file beneficial ownership reports. FinCEN's own page says U.S. companies are exempt under the final rule effective August 14, 2026. FinCEN is right. Source.

What else trips people up when forming an LLC in Virginia?

Virginia has no Secretary of State business filing office. Everything goes through the State Corporation Commission and CIS. The yearly obligation is a flat $50 fee, not a report, and the notice goes to your registered agent, so if you use a paid agent make sure it forwards mail. The SCC does not keep a list of members or managers, and the LLC itself must keep a current list of members at its principal office. A fictitious name (doing business as) can only be registered after the LLC exists. Professional services such as legal or medical practices use a different form, Articles of Organization for a Professional LLC.

Does Virginia have a franchise tax on an LLC?

No. Virginia does not impose a general LLC franchise or net-worth tax. LLCs do owe a flat $50 annual registration fee to the State Corporation Commission (SCC) instead of filing an annual report.

How is an LLC taxed in Virginia?

By default, an LLC is a pass-through entity: it pays no income tax itself, and the profits flow to the owners' personal returns. Virginia has a state individual income tax with a top rate of 5.75% (graduated brackets), so those profits are taxed on your Virginia return on top of federal tax. Graduated brackets: 2% up to $3,000; 3% on $3,001-$5,000; 5% on $5,001-$17,000; 5.75% over $17,000 (Code of Virginia 58.1-320, effective for tax years beginning on/after Jan 1, 1990, still current). These brackets are the same for all filing statuses, unlike the federal schedule, Virginia does not double the thresholds for married filing jointly.

An LLC can also elect to be taxed as an S-corp, which changes how owners pay self-employment tax. See LLC vs S-corp vs sole proprietorship and how self-employment tax works.