2025 BOI rule update US entities are now exempt. Check if you still need to file →
We answer most inquiries within one business hour during US business days.
Illinois · Dissolution Guide

Dissolve an LLC in Illinois: five dollars, if you’re current.

The paperwork of ending a Illinois company is small: the statement of termination (llc-35.15), $5, filed with the Secretary of State. Illinois requires good standing to dissolve, the one state where you must catch up before you can quit. The wind-down around the filing, the vote, the creditors, the final returns, is where endings succeed or fail, and it runs in order. Here is the whole sequence, with nothing left billing you afterward.

Filed on the Illinois official record · the ending made official
Illinois dissolution deskWound down in order, filed with the state, closed for good
ACCURACY VERIFIED

The certificate prepared and filed with the Secretary of State, with the wind-down sequenced so nothing keeps billing you afterward.

The filing, decoded

Four facts cover the whole system

1 · What the filing is

The statement of termination (llc-35.15), filed with the Secretary of State for $5. It ends the company’s existence on the record; the wind-down around it is what ends its obligations. We prepare and file it →

2 · You must be current to quit

Illinois has the strangest exit rule in the country: the company must be in good standing to voluntarily dissolve, a revoked or administratively dissolved LLC cannot simply file the ending. The reports you skipped have to be caught up, penalties paid, before the five-dollar Statement of Termination is even accepted. In Illinois, you pay your way out the door.

3 · What must happen around it

The members authorize dissolution the way the operating agreement says, creditors get settled, assets distribute, and the final returns go in, each marked final so the accounts actually close. Illinois adds no tax-clearance step for LLCs, but skipping the final returns leaves accounts generating questions for a company that no longer exists.

4 · What it costs

The state charges $5 for the statement of termination (llc-35.15). When we handle it, the total is the state fee plus a transaction fee plus our service fee, one-time, itemized on the pricing page before you pay, with the wind-down checklist and the final-return guidance built into the filing.

✓ Accuracy verified against the official filing requirements · checked 2026

The wind-down, in order

Five steps, and nothing bills you after

DECIDE & AUTHORIZEThe members vote the dissolution the way the operating agreement prescribes, and the resolution goes in the record. Companies without written terms discover here that even the ending has no agreed rules.
SETTLE & NOTIFYCreditors paid or provided for, contracts closed out, assets distributed to members. The filing does not erase debts, the wind-down resolves them, in this order for a reason.
FINAL RETURNSFinal state and federal returns, each marked final so the accounts close behind you. No tax-clearance certificate stands between you and the filing here, which makes it easy to skip the returns, and expensive later.
FILE THE PAPERSThe statement of termination (llc-35.15), $5, to the Secretary of State. This is the moment the company legally ends, filed after the wind-down, not instead of it.
AFTER THE FILINGClose the bank account, notify the IRS on the final federal return, keep the records, dissolved companies still get asked questions, and the file is what answers them.

Illinois’s exit runs in sequence: authorization, settlement, final returns, then the statement of termination (llc-35.15) for $5 with the Secretary of State. Done in order, nothing bills you afterward, and the record shows a company that ended on purpose.

The decision is step one

Where you stand decides what you do next

You are closing the company now

Run the sequence, not just the filing: the wind-down checklist puts debts, taxes, and accounts in order, and we prepare and file the dissolution when the company is actually ready to end.

You walked away years ago

Then the exit got harder, not easier: Illinois requires good standing to dissolve voluntarily, so the lapsed reports and their stacked penalties must be cured first, then the $5 termination can file. The longer the drift, the bigger the catch-up; the ending itself stays five dollars.

You have partners

The vote comes first and the operating agreement governs it: who can call the question, what majority carries, who signs. If nothing was ever written, the ending inherits the same defaults as everything else, settle the terms before the filing, not after.

Paying to reach the exit

The ending cost five dollars, reaching it cost four hundred

The wind-down checklist taking shape on paper
The Chicago company had drifted two years behind on reports when we decided to end it, and Illinois delivered the news: no termination without good standing. We paid the back reports and penalties just to earn the right to file the $5 ending. In Illinois the exit is nearly free. The path to it is where the meter runs.
Former co-owner, Chicago logistics companyStays current now, if only to keep the exit cheap
Standing restoredExit earnedEnded for $5

Representative composite drawn from customer outcomes.

BosAI closes the loops people forget

Ask what the wind-down means for you

BosAIYour workspace · Illinois records connected

How do I dissolve my LLC in Illinois?

The filing itself is the small part: the statement of termination (llc-35.15), $5, with the Secretary of State. The real work is the order around it: member vote, creditors settled, final returns marked final. We prepare and file it with the wind-down sequenced.

Do I need tax clearance to dissolve in Illinois?

No tax-clearance certificate, but a standing requirement instead: Illinois accepts voluntary termination only from companies in good standing, so lapsed reports and penalties must be cured first. Final Department of Revenue returns close the tax side; the LLC-35.15 and its $5 close the record.

What happens if I just stop and walk away?

The drift compounds uniquely here: out-of-standing companies cannot file their own ending, so every lapsed report adds to the price of eventually quitting. Illinois’s five-dollar exit rewards the current and taxes the drifted. Catch up, wind down, file, in that order.
Create your free workspace →
One ending done right. The platform handles the rest

Everything the ending touches, handled in one place

Business Search hub

Every state's record, one guide per state

Name Availability

Distinguishable is not the same as safe, check properly

Registered Agent

A Illinois address that never misses a service of process

Compliance Calendar

Your deadlines tracked, so the record stays boring

CRM

The counterparties you vet become the clients you keep

Business Banking

Open the account the day your filing comes back

Explore the Business OS
Go deeper

Illinois, beyond the ending

Cornerstone

How to Start an LLC in Illinois

Name search to filed Articles, the Illinois playbook.

Read the guide →
Costs

What a Illinois LLC Costs

State fees, the recurring bill, and the first-year total.

See the numbers →
State hub

Form a Business in Illinois

Entity types, taxes, and the Illinois playbook.

Open the hub →
File

Form an LLC in Illinois

From clean name to filed Articles, handled.

Start the filing →
Frequently asked

Illinois Dissolution questions.

How do I dissolve an LLC in Illinois?

File the statement of termination (llc-35.15) with the Secretary of State, $5, after the wind-down: member authorization per your operating agreement, creditors settled, assets distributed, final returns filed. We handle the whole sequence as part of dissolution service.

How much does it cost to dissolve a Illinois LLC?

The state fee is $5 for the statement of termination (llc-35.15). When we handle it, the total is the state fee plus a transaction fee plus our service fee, one-time, itemized on the pricing page before you pay, with the wind-down checklist and the final-return guidance built into the filing.

Does Illinois require tax clearance to dissolve an LLC?

No tax-clearance certificate, but a standing requirement instead: Illinois accepts voluntary termination only from companies in good standing, so lapsed reports and penalties must be cured first. Final Department of Revenue returns close the tax side; the LLC-35.15 and its $5 close the record.

What happens if I never dissolve my Illinois LLC?

The company slides out of good standing as reports lapse and penalties stack, and here is the Illinois twist: it cannot file its own ending from that condition. Voluntary termination requires good standing, so the drift compounds, back reports, penalties, then the exit. The five-dollar ending is only cheap for companies that keep current on the way to it.

What has to happen before the papers are filed?

Authorization first, the members vote per the operating agreement. Then settlement: creditors paid or provided for, contracts closed, assets distributed. Then the final tax returns, marked final. The dissolution filing is the last domino, not the first; filed early, it ends a company that still owes its wind-down.

What should I do after the dissolution is filed?

Close the bank account, file the final federal return with the box marked final, cancel licenses and registrations that keep renewing, and keep the company records, banks, buyers, and tax authorities ask dissolved companies questions for years, and the file is what answers them.

Can File.Business dissolve my Illinois LLC for me?

Yes: we prepare and file the dissolution with the wind-down sequenced around it, the checklist, the final-return guidance, and the record kept in your document vault after the ending is official. When we handle it, the total is the state fee plus a transaction fee plus our service fee, one-time, itemized on the pricing page before you pay, with the wind-down checklist and the final-return guidance built into the filing.

Still specific to your situation? Ask BosAI ↑

Start your business in the next 5 minutes.

No state-fee markup. Pay only the state fee. 60-day money-back guarantee.

No state-fee markup 60-day money-back Cancel anytime