How to Form an LLC
in Illinois

Illinois charges a $150 filing fee for Articles of Organization (Form LLC-5.5) filed online through the Secretary of State at cyberdriveillinois.com. That puts Illinois in the middle of the US filing-fee range — Kentucky charges $40 at the low end, Massachusetts $500 at the high end. Optional extras: name reservation ($25 for 90 days), expedited processing ($100 for 24-hour service by Illinois SOS), Series LLC ($400 premium instead of $150), and certified copies ($25/document). Eleet AI charges $349 all-inclusive — that covers the $150 state fee, Articles of Organization preparation, filing with the Illinois Secretary of State, and first-year Illinois registered agent service. National services advertise $0-$39 formation prices and then add the $150 state fee, registered agent ($125–$299/yr), compliance calendar, and operating agreement as separate line items — realistic DIY totals typically land $175–$525+.

Every Illinois LLC must file an annual report with the Secretary of State and pay a $75 fee. The due date is the first day of the LLC's anniversary month each year — if you form on April 17, 2026, your first annual report is due April 1, 2027, then April 1 every year after. Illinois is unusual in using the anniversary-month rule rather than a fixed calendar-year deadline like most states (Delaware: June 1, California: April 15). File online at cyberdriveillinois.com using your 8-digit file number. Late filings incur a $300 penalty on top of the $75 fee and can result in involuntary dissolution after 60 days of delinquency. The report itself is short — LLC name, principal office, registered agent, and manager/member info.

Yes — for LLCs taxed as partnerships or disregarded entities (the default for most small LLCs), Illinois phased out the Franchise Tax completely by December 31, 2024, under the 2019 budget reform. The prior $25 minimum franchise tax on LLCs no longer applies. However, there is a separate tax that most articles online conflate with the franchise tax: the Personal Property Replacement Tax (PPRT). PPRT is 1.5% of the LLC's net income (for LLCs taxed as partnerships under IRC Subchapter K) and is paid to the Illinois Department of Revenue, not the Secretary of State. It replaces the old corporate personal-property tax that was abolished in 1979. For LLCs electing C-Corp tax treatment, the PPRT rate is 2.5% plus the regular Illinois corporate income tax. Most small single-member LLCs earn pass-through income with zero or minimal PPRT, but it's a real line item at scale.

The PPRT is Illinois' quiet recurring business tax — the one no competitor ad ever mentions. For LLCs taxed as partnerships or multi-member entities filing Form IL-1065, the rate is 1.5% on Illinois net income. For LLCs electing C-Corp status, the rate is 2.5% plus the flat 4.95% corporate income tax (effective combined 7.45% on Illinois-source income). Single-member LLCs treated as disregarded entities for federal tax generally file only the Illinois Schedule K-1-P flow-through on the member's personal IL-1040, and the PPRT typically does not apply at the entity level. The PPRT exists because Illinois abolished the corporate personal-property tax in 1979 and needed to replace the revenue. It is filed annually via Form IL-1065 (partnerships), IL-1120 (corporations), or IL-1120-ST (S-corps). For context: a 2-member LLC earning $100,000 in Illinois net income owes ~$1,500/yr in PPRT in addition to individual income tax on the pass-through profits.

Standard online filing through cyberdriveillinois.com processes in 7–10 business days for Articles of Organization. Paper filings (mailed to Springfield) take up to 4 weeks. Illinois offers 24-hour expedited processing for an additional $100, making it same-next-business-day from submission. There is no higher expedite tier (no 4-hour or 1-hour options like Ohio or Delaware). Eleet AI's standard Illinois filing uses normal online processing (7 business days typical); add the $100 expedite for 24-hour service if you need the LLC formed urgently. Note that "processing time" is state-side only — bank account setup, EIN issuance (instant online), and operating agreement drafting happen in parallel.

No. Unlike New York (mandatory 6-week newspaper publication, typically $500–$2,000+ depending on county) and Arizona (county-newspaper publication within 60 days), Illinois has no LLC publication requirement. Your LLC is legally formed the moment the Secretary of State accepts your Articles of Organization. This makes Illinois noticeably cheaper than NY/AZ for out-of-state founders who want a Midwest business presence.

Yes — every Illinois LLC must continuously maintain a registered agent with a physical Illinois street address (805 ILCS 180/1-35). The agent receives service of process, Illinois Secretary of State correspondence, and legal notices on behalf of the LLC during normal business hours. Requirements: must be either (a) an Illinois resident natural person age 18+, or (b) an Illinois-qualified business entity authorized to transact business in Illinois, AND must have a physical Illinois street address (no P.O. boxes, no commercial mail-drop addresses). You can serve as your own agent if you are an Illinois resident available during business hours — but most founders use a commercial agent for privacy (your home address would otherwise appear on the public SOS record) and for reliability (no missed service of process while you're on vacation, which results in default judgments). Eleet AI's Illinois registered agent service is included free in year one with formation, then $100/yr after.

Illinois recognizes Series LLCs under 805 ILCS 180/37-40, one of only about 20 states with full series-LLC statutes. A Series LLC is a single parent LLC that creates internally-separated "series" or "cells," each of which can hold assets, enter contracts, and have its own members — with statutory liability segregation between series. Most commonly used by real estate investors who hold multiple properties (one series per property, so a slip-and-fall lawsuit at property A cannot reach property B), and by serial entrepreneurs running multiple product lines under one umbrella. Illinois Series LLC filing fee is $400 (versus $150 for a regular LLC), the annual report is $75 for the parent plus $50 per active series, and each series can optionally file its own Certificate of Designation. Caveats: IRS tax treatment of series is still evolving (most small series treated as separate partnerships/disregarded entities), and some states that don't recognize Series LLCs may treat foreign series as a single entity for liability purposes. Not a fit for most solo founders — it's a real estate and portfolio-holding tool.

Probably yes if you operate in Chicago, which has the most complex local-license environment in the Midwest. Illinois does not issue a general state-level business license, but most municipalities require their own. Chicago businesses must obtain a BACP (Business Affairs and Consumer Protection) license — the license category depends on activity (Limited Business License $250/2yr for professional services, Regulated Business License $500/2yr for retail, plus industry-specific licenses like food, tobacco, liquor). Home-based Chicago LLCs need a separate Home Occupation Zoning Affidavit. Suburban Cook County and the collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will) each have their own municipal licensing — Naperville, Schaumburg, and Oak Brook all require local business registrations. Sales tax collection requires registration with the Illinois Department of Revenue via MyTax Illinois (no separate state license fee). Industry-specific state licenses (contractors, cosmetologists, real estate, healthcare, food service, liquor) issue through the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) and layer on top of local permits. Home-based, online-only LLCs operating outside Chicago often have minimal local license requirements.

Yes. Illinois welcomes non-resident LLC formations and cyberdriveillinois.com accepts filings from all 50 states and internationally. The only Illinois-resident requirement is the registered agent — a commercial agent like Eleet AI satisfies this. However, the foreign-qualification trap applies: if you operate your business mainly in another state (employees there, storefront there, services delivered from there), that state will require you to register your Illinois LLC as a foreign LLC, adding another filing fee, another registered agent, and potentially another annual report. Forming in your home state is usually simpler unless you have a specific Illinois connection (Chicago operations, Illinois-based customers or employees, an Illinois real estate holding, or a strategic reason like Illinois Series LLC recognition). Non-residents forming in Illinois should also be aware that Illinois-source income triggers Illinois income tax obligations (4.95% flat individual rate on Illinois-source profits for pass-through LLC members).