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Rhode Island · Dissolution Guide

Dissolve an LLC in Rhode Island: fifty dollars stops the four-hundred-dollar meter.

The paperwork of ending a Rhode Island company is small: the articles of dissolution, $50, filed with the Secretary of State. Rhode Island keeps billing dead companies, the dissolution is what closes the tab. 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 Rhode Island official record · the ending made official
Rhode Island 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 articles of dissolution, filed with the Secretary of State for $50. 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 · Close the tab

Rhode Island bills companies that end badly: a revoked LLC keeps accruing the annual minimum tax, roughly $400 a year, charged to a ghost until the account is settled. The $50 Articles of Dissolution, filed after a real wind-down, are how the tab closes, and every year of drift costs eight times the filing that would have ended it.

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. Rhode Island 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 $50 for the articles of dissolution. 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 articles of dissolution, $50, 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.

Rhode Island’s exit runs in sequence: authorization, settlement, final returns, then the articles of dissolution for $50 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 tab has been running: revocation did not stop the ~$400 annual minimum from accruing, and the balance grows until someone settles it. Filing the $50 dissolution now, accounts squared, stops the accrual; another year of waiting just adds another $400 to the goodbye.

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.

The tab that outlived the shop

The store closed in spring, the state kept a tab running

Closing out the paperwork at the desk
Our Providence shop wound down in April, and the entity drifted into revocation while we scattered. Rhode Island did not scatter: the minimum tax accrued, roughly $400 a year, against a company with no lights on. Settling the tab and filing the $50 ending cost less than one more year of forgetting. Rhode Island charges dead companies rent. Eviction costs fifty dollars.
Former partner, Providence retail companyClosed the tab, finally, for less than one year’s accrual
Tab closedMeter stoppedEnded for $50

Representative composite drawn from customer outcomes.

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BosAIYour workspace · Rhode Island records connected

How do I dissolve my LLC in Rhode Island?

The filing itself is the small part: the articles of dissolution, $50, 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 Rhode Island?

No tax-clearance certificate to obtain, but the accounts must genuinely close: final Division of Taxation returns marked final, the minimum-tax account settled, then the $50 articles. An open tax account here is not dormant, it is accruing.

What happens if I just stop and walk away?

Revocation arrives and changes nothing about the billing: the ~$400 annual minimum keeps accruing against the dead company indefinitely. Of all the states, Rhode Island makes the drift most literally expensive. Fifty dollars, after the wind-down, buys the only ending that stops the meter.
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Frequently asked

Rhode Island Dissolution questions.

How do I dissolve an LLC in Rhode Island?

File the articles of dissolution with the Secretary of State, $50, 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 Rhode Island LLC?

The state fee is $50 for the articles of dissolution. 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 Rhode Island require tax clearance to dissolve an LLC?

No tax-clearance certificate to obtain, but the accounts must genuinely close: final Division of Taxation returns marked final, the minimum-tax account settled, then the $50 articles. An open tax account here is not dormant, it is accruing.

What happens if I never dissolve my Rhode Island LLC?

The reports lapse, revocation follows, and the meter keeps running: the annual minimum tax, roughly $400, accrues against the revoked company year after year, a tab with no natural end. Rhode Island prices unfinished endings annually. The $50 dissolution after a wind-down is the only version where the bill stops.

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 Rhode Island 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.

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