Form a Corporation in Illinois.

Two numbers make up the total: the Illinois state filing fee for your Articles of Incorporation, which the state sets and we pass through at cost with no markup, and our formation service, which is free. So you pay what Illinois charges plus any options you choose, such as expedited handling or a registered agent. Current amounts are on the pricing page, and it is worth budgeting for ongoing items too, like the Illinois annual report and any franchise tax.

It depends on Illinois's current queue and whether you pay to expedite. Some states clear online filings the same day, others take one to three weeks by standard processing, and peak seasons like January stretch that out. We file the moment your details are verified and give you Illinois's realistic window up front, so you are not left guessing. If a funding or contract deadline is driving the timing, expedited service is usually worth it.

These are tax elections on the same Illinois corporation, not different entities. A C-corp pays its own tax and is what venture investors expect; an S-corp election passes income to your personal return and can lower self-employment tax once profit is steady, but it limits you to 100 US-resident shareholders and a single class of stock. Raising venture capital points to a C-corp; a closely held, profitable company should run the S-corp math. We can file either.

Authorized shares are the ceiling your Illinois corporation can issue, and you do not issue them all at once. A common startup starting point is 10,000,000 shares, which leaves room for founders, an option pool, and investors without amending later. Keep issued shares well below the authorized number, and note that some states base a franchise tax or filing fee on share count, so a huge number is not always free.

Par value is a nominal floor price per share, often set very low, that has little to do with a share's real worth. Most modern corporations use a tiny par value or no-par stock, and Illinois's rules decide which is allowed and how it interacts with any share-based fees. It matters mainly for accounting and, in a few states, for how franchise tax is figured, which is why founders set it as low as the state permits.

In practice, yes. Bylaws are the internal rulebook for how your Illinois corporation runs: how directors and officers are chosen, how meetings and votes work, and how shares transfer. Illinois may not file them, but banks, investors, and your own board expect them, and courts look to them in a dispute. We include a bylaws template so the corporation is properly organized from day one, not just registered.

Yes. A corporation is governed by a board, and Illinois law expects at least one director named and an organizational meeting held soon after formation to adopt bylaws, appoint officers, and authorize stock. For a solo founder that board can start as just you and expand as investors or independent members join. We walk you through the first-meeting resolutions so none of the foundational governance is skipped.

Forming is the start, not the finish. A Illinois corporation generally files a periodic annual report, keeps a registered agent on record, holds annual meetings with minutes, and pays any state franchise tax. Miss these and the state can pull your good standing or dissolve the entity. A compliance calendar keeps every date in view, and our subscription can handle the filings for you.

Yes. You do not need to be a US citizen or resident to own or form a Illinois corporation. The one extra step is the EIN, which we obtain from the IRS for you when you have no Social Security Number, and that unlocks US banking and payment processing. A C-corp is often the right structure for non-US founders raising money, though the tax picture differs, so plan early; our EIN guide is the place to start.