Registered Agent Services for Florida LLCs

Florida's Registered Agent Rule

Florida Statutes Chapter 605, the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act, requires every LLC to maintain a registered office and a registered agent at that office. Under section 605.0113, the registered office must be a Florida street address, since the statute specifically states that P.O. boxes are not acceptable, and the agent must be either a Florida resident individual or an entity authorized to transact business in Florida whose business address is identical to the registered office.

Who Can Serve as a Florida LLC's Agent

A member, manager, or other individual associated with the LLC can serve as registered agent if that person is a Florida resident with a Florida street address. The LLC itself, however, cannot act as its own registered agent under Florida law, a rule it shares with California and unlike more permissive states such as Delaware. If no individual connected to the LLC meets the residency and address requirements, the LLC needs either an authorized business entity or a paid registered agent service with a Florida address.

The Agent Must Accept the Role in Writing

Florida requires the registered agent to sign a statement accepting the appointment. This acceptance is built into the Articles of Organization when you first form the LLC, and it appears again on the change-of-agent form if you switch agents later, so a new agent's signature is part of making any change valid.

Changing Your Registered Agent

To switch agents, file the Statement of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both for Limited Liability Company, Form INHS18, with the Division of Corporations, for a $25 fee. The form requires the new agent's signed acceptance as part of the submission. An agent who is resigning rather than being replaced by the LLC can also initiate that process directly with the state.

How the Agent Requirement Connects to Florida's Annual Report

Florida LLCs file an annual report online through Sunbiz between January 1 and May 1 each year, with a $400 late fee added after May 1 and no provision to waive it. An LLC that has not filed by the third Friday in September is administratively dissolved the following Friday. Keeping a valid, reachable registered agent matters here because that agent is who receives the state's notices about this deadline; an outdated agent address increases the risk of missing the warning before dissolution.

Using a Registered Agent Service Instead

Some Florida LLC owners prefer a paid registered agent service over naming themselves, often because they do not want their home address published in Sunbiz's public entity search, or because they travel and cannot guarantee availability during business hours at a fixed address. Our Florida registered agent guide and our Florida LLC guide cover how this fits alongside Florida's other filing requirements.

Florida's Annual Report Penalty Is Unusually Steep

The $400 late fee for missing Florida's May 1 annual report deadline is high relative to many states, and Sunbiz says there is no provision to waive it. Make sure whoever serves as your registered agent reliably passes along any notice about this deadline.

Confirm the Acceptance Signature Before You File

Since Florida requires the new agent's signed acceptance as part of a change filing, confirm that signature is in hand before you submit Form INHS18, rather than discovering the filing is incomplete after submission.

A Florida Address Is Not the Same as a Florida Mailing Address

The registered office must be where the agent is actually present during business hours; a mail-receiving address alone, without someone available there to accept service of process, does not satisfy the statute's intent even if it technically has a street number.

Not Legal or Tax Advice

Florida has no state income tax, but LLCs taxed as corporations still owe Florida's corporate income tax. Talk to a tax professional about how your LLC's tax classification affects its filings, separate from the registered agent requirement.