51 state guides. Your rules, not an average.
Filing fees, annual reports, franchise taxes, and the quirks that make each state its own country. One complete guide per state, DC included, each checked against the state's own portal before it publishes.
Start typing. Your state jumps out.
Every guide covers the same ground: what it costs to file, what the state expects every year, how it taxes your entity, and what makes it different from everywhere else.
Six states carry most of the traffic.
Most owners should form at home. These six are where the exceptions go, each for a different reason.
Delaware
The default for venture-backed startups: chancery court, investor familiarity, and predictable corporate law.
Wyoming
Low fees, no state income tax, and the strongest privacy defaults of any formation state.
Texas
No personal income tax, a huge home market, and a franchise tax most small businesses never owe.
Florida
No personal income tax and fast processing, with an annual report deadline that catches people in May.
Nevada
No state income tax and strong liability protections, balanced against higher annual fees than its neighbors.
California
Where the most founders live, and where the annual franchise tax applies no matter where you formed.
All 50 states and DC.
Undecided? Put states side by side.
The guides tell you how one state works. These four tools tell you how they compare.
Fees, taxes, and reporting duties for any states, side by side.
Compare → The dataState filing feesEvery formation and report fee, verified against the state portals.
See the table → The deadlinesCompliance calendarWhat each state expects from you every year, on one calendar.
Open → Two states at onceForeign qualificationFormed in one state, operating in another. How registration works.
Learn →Five things actually vary by state. Everything else is noise.
Strip away the folklore and states differ on a short list. Here is the complete list, with the honest range on each.
| What varies | The range | Concrete examples | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formation fee | Roughly $50 to $500, once | California $70 · Delaware $110 · Nevada $425 | The smallest number in the decision, despite the ads |
| Report cadence | Annual, biennial, decennial, or none | Florida annual by May 1 · California LLCs biennial · Pennsylvania decennial | Sets the rhythm of your compliance calendar |
| Ongoing tax model | Flat fee, margin tax, income minimum, or nothing | Delaware $300 flat · Texas margin tax with a high floor · California $800 minimum | The real recurring cost, and the one that compounds |
| Privacy | Owners public, agents only, or fully shielded | Wyoming shields members · Florida lists officers publicly | Decides what a search of state records reveals about you |
| Courts and case law | General courts to a dedicated business judiciary | Delaware's Court of Chancery, the reason investors default there | Only matters if you expect investors or disputes |
Now the decision rule, complete: form where you operate, because operating in a state makes you register there anyway, and forming elsewhere means paying two states forever. Break that rule for exactly two reasons: institutional investors who require a Delaware corporation, or a genuinely location-independent business that values Wyoming's privacy and low carry. Every figure above is verified against the state's own portal and restamped when legislatures move; when in doubt, your state's fee table is the reference.
Pick the state. We handle its paperwork.
Once you know where you are forming, the state's own quirks become our problem, not yours.
- 1Pick your state
For most owners that is the state where you live and work. The guides tell you when it is not.
- 2Compare if torn
Put the finalists side by side on fees, taxes, and annual duties before you commit.
- 3Form it there
We file with that state's office, in its format, with a specialist review before submission.
- 4Keep it standing
The Business OS tracks that state's report deadlines and taxes so the guide becomes routine.
Still choosing an entity first? Take the entity type quiz. Moving an existing company? Read the domestication guide. What a filing costs lives in one place: pricing.
The state guides, answered.
Which state should I actually form in?
For most owners, the state where you live and operate. Forming elsewhere usually means registering at home anyway, which doubles the fees and the paperwork. The famous exceptions are real but narrow: Delaware for venture-backed corporations and Wyoming when privacy and low ongoing cost are the priority. If you are genuinely torn, the state comparison puts your finalists side by side.
What does each state guide cover?
The same ground every time, so you can compare like with like: the state at a glance, what makes it different, how it taxes LLCs and corporations, what it expects annually, and the filing path when you are ready. California's guide is a good example of the format, including the franchise tax that surprises owners who formed out of state.
I live in one state but sell into another. Which guide applies?
Both, usually. Your formation state governs your entity, and a state you operate in can require you to register there as a foreign entity. The foreign qualification guide explains when a second state's threshold is crossed, and the sales tax nexus guide covers the separate question of where you owe sales tax.
How current are the fees and deadlines on these pages?
Every figure is verified against the state's own portal or statute before publishing, each page carries its last review date, and changes trigger a correction rather than waiting for a scheduled pass. The consolidated state filing fees table follows the same rule. If a state changed something yesterday, trust the state's portal first and tell us, and we will restamp the page.
Can I move my company to a different state later?
Often, yes. Many states allow domestication, which moves the entity itself rather than dissolving and starting over, and keeps your EIN, bank accounts, and history intact. Where domestication is not available, there are workable alternatives with different tradeoffs. The domestication guide walks through both paths and the states that support each.
Does File.Business file in every state?
All 50 states and DC, in each state's own format and with its own quirks handled. That includes registered agent coverage in every state, which each state requires from the day you form. Start from start filing and the state you choose routes the filing correctly.
Where do I see what a filing costs?
Two different numbers, kept in two honest places. The state's own fee is public data and lives in the state filing fees table, verified per state. What File.Business charges for the work lives only on pricing, so the guides stay guides and never turn into a pitch.