Start a Free LLC in Colorado

Per the Colorado Secretary of State, as of September 2026, Colorado charges $50 to file the Articles of Organization. After that, the Periodic Report costs $25 every year. With LLC Register, formation is included in the $99-a-year Colorado registered agent service, so year one costs $149.

Online filings are processed immediately, as soon as payment is confirmed. Colorado does not offer paid expedited processing for LLC formations. Your LLC exists once the state accepts your filing.

To start an LLC in Colorado, choose an available name, appoint a Colorado registered agent, and file the Articles of Organization with the Colorado Secretary of State for $50. Then sign an operating agreement, get a free EIN from the IRS, open a business bank account and register for any state taxes. LLC Register files it for you as part of the $99-a-year registered agent service.

Yes. You can file online only through the Secretary of State's business filing system, Colorado does not accept a paper Articles of Organization. The Articles of Organization costs $50.

In Colorado you form an LLC by filing the Articles of Organization with the Colorado Secretary of State. Other states call this document the articles of organization or the certificate of formation. The filing fee is $50.

No. Colorado does not offer paid expedited processing for LLC formations. Online filings are processed immediately, as soon as payment is confirmed.

Use the Colorado Secretary of State's free online business name search to check whether your LLC name is available. Your Colorado LLC name must include an LLC designator such as "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company" and be distinguishable from every other entity name on record with the Secretary of State. Different designators or articles of speech can make two names distinguishable, but punctuation, capitalization and letter case cannot.

Your Colorado LLC name must include an LLC designator such as "LLC" or "Limited Liability Company" and be distinguishable from every other entity name on record with the Secretary of State. Different designators or articles of speech can make two names distinguishable, but punctuation, capitalization and letter case cannot. The rules are set by the Colorado Limited Liability Company Act (C.R.S. Title 7, Article 80), together with the common provisions for registered agents, entity names and periodic reports in the Colorado Corporations and Associations Act (C.R.S. Title 7, Article 90).

Yes. You can reserve a name for $25; the reservation lasts 120 days and can be renewed for another $25. A reservation is optional; filing the formation document also secures the name.

Yes. Every Colorado LLC must have a registered agent. Your registered agent needs a usual place of business in Colorado, a physical street address open during normal business hours where someone can accept documents in person, not a P.O. box. Since July 1, 2025, an individual agent must also verify Colorado residency with a driver's license or state ID number, or through an alternative mailed-passcode process, and an entity agent must itself be in good standing with the Secretary of State.

Yes. A member or manager can serve as the LLC's registered agent if they are 18 or older, live in Colorado or have a usual place of business there, and verify Colorado residency with an ID number or the passcode process. Your address becomes public record, and someone must be there during business hours to accept legal papers.

Not as your registered agent's address. Your registered agent needs a usual place of business in Colorado, a physical street address open during normal business hours where someone can accept documents in person, not a P.O. box. Since July 1, 2025, an individual agent must also verify Colorado residency with a driver's license or state ID number, or through an alternative mailed-passcode process, and an entity agent must itself be in good standing with the Secretary of State. A PO box can usually serve as a mailing address, but the registered agent needs a physical address in Colorado.

File the Statement of Change (Changing the Registered Agent Information) with the Colorado Secretary of State. The fee is $10.

Serving as your own Colorado registered agent is free if you qualify. Commercial registered agents charge a yearly fee. LLC Register's Colorado registered agent service is $99 a year and includes LLC formation and annual report filing.

Yes. Colorado LLCs must file the Periodic Report every year. The state fee is $25.

The Periodic Report is due every year during your LLC's assigned periodic report month, and can be filed anytime from two months before that month to two months after it. Your first one is due during your periodic report month in the first year after formation, within that same two-month-before to two-month-after window. It is filed with the Colorado Secretary of State.

Per the Colorado Secretary of State, as of September 2026, the Periodic Report state fee is $25. It is due every year during your LLC's assigned periodic report month, and can be filed anytime from two months before that month to two months after it. LLC Register files it for you at no extra service fee while your registered agent service is active.

Missing the window brings a $50 late penalty and Noncompliant status; if it is still unfiled two months later, the LLC becomes Delinquent and must file a Statement Curing Delinquency, with extra sworn paperwork required after 5 or more years of delinquency, to return to Good Standing. File as soon as possible to keep your LLC in good standing.

Colorado charges LLCs no franchise or privilege tax. The only recurring state charge is the $25 Periodic Report fee.

Colorado taxes an LLC the way the IRS does, so profits pass through by default to the members, who pay Colorado's flat individual income tax rate on their share; an LLC that elects corporate tax treatment instead pays Colorado's flat corporate income tax rate. Federally, a single-member LLC is taxed like a sole proprietorship and a multi-member LLC like a partnership, unless it elects to be taxed as a corporation.

If you sell taxable goods or services, apply for a Sales Tax License from the Colorado Department of Revenue; most licenses run on a two-year cycle and expire at the end of every odd-numbered year.

Before you hire, register with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for unemployment insurance and with the Department of Revenue for wage withholding; MyBizColorado can start both registrations in one place. You also need an EIN from the IRS before you run payroll.

It depends on your industry and location: Colorado regulates some professions and activities through state licenses, and many cities and counties require local business licenses. Start with the MyBizColorado.

Colorado does not require an LLC to have an operating agreement, and it is never filed with the state, though state law recognizes a written, oral or implied one among the members. LLC Register includes an operating agreement with every Colorado LLC it forms.

You need an EIN if your LLC has employees or more than one member, and most banks ask for one to open a business account. A single-member LLC without employees can use the owner's Social Security number for federal taxes, but an EIN keeps it off business paperwork.

Apply for free on the IRS website once the state has approved your LLC; online applicants receive the EIN immediately. Owners without a Social Security number can apply with Form SS-4 by fax or mail.

Yes. You do not have to live in Colorado or be a U.S. citizen to form a Colorado LLC. You do need a registered agent with a physical address in Colorado. Non-U.S. owners without a Social Security number apply for an EIN with IRS Form SS-4.

Yes. Colorado allows an LLC with a single owner. By default the IRS taxes a single-member LLC like a sole proprietorship, reported on the owner's personal return.

No. Colorado's business filings and FAQs describe no series LLC entity type or filing.

Yes. Licensed professionals named in Title 12 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, such as accountants, attorneys, dentists, physicians and counselors, can practice through a standard LLC as a "professional service company," sometimes with a specific professional designator in the name.

No. Colorado does not require newspaper publication to form an LLC.

Order a Certificate of Good Standing from the Colorado Secretary of State for $0. Banks, lenders and other states often ask for one as proof your LLC is current with the state.

An LLC formed in another state registers to do business in Colorado by filing the Statement of Foreign Entity Authority (SOFEA) with the Colorado Secretary of State. The fee is $100, and the LLC needs a Colorado registered agent. A foreign LLC whose true name is not available in Colorado must adopt an assumed entity name to transact business under in the state.

File the Articles of Amendment with the Colorado Secretary of State for $25. Amend when you change your LLC's name or other information in the formation document.

File the Statement of Dissolution with the Colorado Secretary of State for $10. Before you file, wind up the business: pay debts, close tax accounts and distribute what is left to the members.

File a Statement of Trade Name with the Colorado Secretary of State for $20. For an LLC, the trade name stays effective for as long as the LLC itself is in good standing, with no separate yearly renewal to track. A DBA lets your LLC trade under another name without forming a new company.

Yes. An eligible LLC can elect S corporation tax status by filing IRS Form 2553. The election can reduce self-employment tax once profits are high enough to pay yourself a reasonable salary. Colorado taxes an LLC the way the IRS does, so profits pass through by default to the members, who pay Colorado's flat individual income tax rate on their share; an LLC that elects corporate tax treatment instead pays Colorado's flat corporate income tax rate.

An LLC separates your personal assets from business debts and lawsuits, keeps pass-through taxation, and needs less paperwork than a corporation. In Colorado it costs $50 to form and the Periodic Report is $25 every year.

A sole proprietorship costs nothing to start, but you are personally liable for the business's debts. A Colorado LLC costs $50 to form and protects your personal assets, with the same pass-through taxes by default.

Usually not if your business operates in Colorado. An out-of-state LLC doing business here must also register as a foreign LLC in Colorado for $100 and keep a Colorado registered agent, so you pay two states' fees.

No. Formation is included in the $99-a-year Colorado registered agent service. The state still charges its $50 filing fee, which we pass through at cost.

For $99 a year plus the $50 state fee: Colorado LLC formation in year one, a Colorado registered agent, an operating agreement, and filing of your Periodic Report every year. Renewal is $99 a year. State fees are passed through at cost.

No. FinCEN has exempted companies created in the United States from beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting. Only foreign companies registered to do business in a U.S. state still have to report.

The Colorado Secretary of State, Business Organizations, handles LLC formations, amendments and annual filings. Its office is at 1700 Broadway, Suite 550, Denver, CO 80290.

Yes, you should. Mixing business and personal money can weaken the liability protection your LLC gives you. Banks usually ask for your filed Articles of Organization, your EIN and your operating agreement.