How to Start an LLC in Connecticut: Step-by-Step Guide (2026)

Connecticut has quietly become a friendlier place to form a business than its reputation suggests. The state that used to charge every LLC a $250 Business Entity Tax scrapped that fee back in 2020, and its filing process now runs almost entirely online through a modern portal. If you’re figuring out how to start an LLC in Connecticut in 2026, the core numbers are simple: a $120 state filing fee, a document called the Certificate of Organization (not “Articles of Organization” like most states), and an online turnaround that’s usually measured in a few business days rather than weeks.

You can file everything yourself directly with the Connecticut Secretary of the State through the business.ct.gov portal. But if you’d rather not juggle the registered agent requirement, the Certificate of Organization, and an annual report deadline you’ll only meet once a year, a formation service can handle the paperwork in about 15 minutes. ZenBusiness, for example, will prepare and file your Connecticut Certificate of Organization for $0 plus the state’s $120 fee, and its paid tiers fold in the registered agent service and operating agreement that most Connecticut owners end up needing anyway.

This guide walks through every step of starting an LLC in Connecticut, what it actually costs once you strip away the upsells, and where a paid formation service earns its fee versus where you’re better off doing it yourself in 2026.

Connecticut LLC Formation at a Glance

Before the step-by-step, here’s the short version:

Item	Detail
Filing agency	Connecticut Secretary of the State (via business.ct.gov)
Formation document	Certificate of Organization
State filing fee	$120
Processing time	A few business days online; longer by mail
Expedited options	24-hour expedited service available for an added fee
Annual filing	Annual Report, due each year between Jan 1 and March 31
Annual Report fee	$80
Registered agent required?	Yes — must have a Connecticut street address
Operating agreement required?	Not legally required, but strongly recommended

Keep that table handy — everything below expands on it.

Step-by-Step: How to Start an LLC in Connecticut

Step 1: Choose and Check Your LLC Name

Your name has to include “Limited Liability Company,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC,” and it must be distinguishable from every other entity already on file with the Connecticut Secretary of the State. Run a search in the business registry on business.ct.gov before you get attached to anything — Connecticut’s database is more crowded than people expect, particularly around finance, insurance, and health-related terms given the industries clustered around Hartford and Fairfield County.

If you’re not ready to file right away, you can reserve a name for 120 days for $60. It’s optional, but if you’re waiting on a co-founder’s signature or a lease to close before you form, it’s cheap insurance against someone else grabbing the name in the meantime.

Step 2: Appoint a Connecticut Registered Agent

Every Connecticut LLC needs a registered agent — a person who resides in Connecticut, or a business authorized to operate here, with a physical Connecticut street address (no P.O. boxes) available during normal business hours to accept legal documents and state mail on your LLC’s behalf. If the concept is new to you, our guide on what a registered agent is covers the role in more depth.

You can serve as your own registered agent if you have a Connecticut address and don’t mind it becoming part of the public record. In my experience, most first-time owners skip this once they realize what it means in practice: if your LLC ever gets sued, a process server can show up at that address — potentially in front of clients, a landlord, or your family. A commercial registered agent service keeps that off your personal address and typically runs $0–$125 a year, often bundled free for the first year with a formation package.

Step 3: File the Certificate of Organization

This is the filing that actually creates your LLC. Connecticut calls it the Certificate of Organization — the same document other states label “Articles of Organization” — and it asks for your LLC’s name, principal office address, registered agent details, and whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. File it online through business.ct.gov and the $120 state fee covers it.

When I formed LLCs across several states, Connecticut’s online system was one of the smoother ones to use — the portal walks you through each field and flags obvious errors before you pay. Online filings are typically processed within a few business days; mailed filings take noticeably longer, so unless you have a specific reason to file on paper, do it online. If you’re on a deadline, Connecticut offers 24-hour expedited service for an additional fee — confirm the current expedite pricing on business.ct.gov, since the state adjusts it periodically.

Step 4: Get Your EIN From the IRS

Once your LLC is approved, get a free Employer Identification Number directly from the IRS — you’ll need it to open a business bank account, hire employees, and handle taxes. Skip any service that tries to charge you for this; it’s a five-minute application on IRS.gov. We’ve written a full walkthrough on how to get an EIN for free using the IRS’s own method if you’d rather do it yourself.

Step 5: Draft an Operating Agreement

Connecticut doesn’t legally require an operating agreement, but under the Connecticut Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, it’s the document that lets you override the state’s default rules with terms you actually chose. Without one, Connecticut’s statutory defaults govern profit splits, voting rights, and what happens when a member leaves — and those defaults rarely match what a real business wants, especially a multi-member one. Our guide on LLC operating agreements breaks down what to include, whether you’re single-member or have partners.

Most formation services include a basic operating agreement template in their paid packages; a lawyer-drafted version for a multi-member LLC with unequal ownership or specific buyout terms runs $300–$800 if you have one custom-drafted.

Step 6: Register for State Taxes and Local Licenses

Depending on what you sell, you may need to register with the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) through the myconneCT portal for sales and use tax — Connecticut’s state sales tax rate is 6.35%, with higher rates on a handful of specific goods. Connecticut has no single statewide general business license, but many professions and municipalities require their own permits, so check with your town or city clerk before you open your doors. This is easy to overlook because none of it runs through the Secretary of the State’s office.

Step 7: File Your BOI Report (If It Applies to You)

Under the federal Corporate Transparency Act, most new LLCs were originally required to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN. That changed in 2025: FinCEN issued an interim rule narrowing the requirement so that most U.S.-formed companies with U.S. beneficial owners are no longer required to file, with the obligation now focused primarily on foreign-formed entities registered to do business in the U.S. Rules here have moved quickly, so check FinCEN’s official BOI page directly and read our BOI report guide before assuming you’re exempt — your specific ownership structure matters.

Step 8: Open a Business Bank Account

Once you have your approved Certificate of Organization and EIN in hand, open a dedicated business checking account. This is non-negotiable if you want the liability protection an LLC offers to actually hold up — commingling personal and business funds is one of the fastest ways to hand a plaintiff’s attorney an argument for “piercing the corporate veil” and reaching your personal assets anyway.

Connecticut LLC Costs and Fees Breakdown

Here’s what forming and maintaining a Connecticut LLC actually costs in 2026, split into what’s mandatory versus optional:

Mandatory state costs:

• Certificate of Organization: $120 (one-time)
• Annual Report: $80/year, due between January 1 and March 31

Optional but common costs:

• Name reservation: $60 (120 days)
• Expedited processing: additional fee, varies by turnaround
• Registered agent service: $0–$125/year if you don’t act as your own
• Operating agreement (attorney-drafted): $300–$800

For a broader comparison of what LLC formation costs across every state, see our complete breakdown of LLC costs. Connecticut’s $120 filing fee lands in the middle of the national range — pricier than Kentucky’s $40 but a fraction of Massachusetts’s $500 — and its recurring $80 annual report keeps ongoing costs reasonable compared with high-fee states.

How Formation Services Price Connecticut LLCs

Service	Starting Price	What’s Included
ZenBusiness	$0 + state fee	Name check, filing, worry-free compliance guarantee; Pro tier adds operating agreement + EIN
LegalZoom	$0 + state fee	Basic filing; add-ons priced separately, Pro tier bundles EIN and compliance alerts
Tailor Brands	$0 + state fee	Formation bundled with logo and branding tools
Inc Authority	$0 + state fee	Free formation tier, upsells for registered agent and compliance
Northwest Registered Agent	$39 + state fee	Free year of registered agent, strong privacy protections
Bizee	$0 + state fee	Free formation tier, registered agent add-on
LLC Attorney	$199+ + state fee	Licensed attorney reviews your formation documents

A few things worth knowing before you pick one. Unlike LegalZoom, which typically charges separately for the operating agreement and EIN retrieval unless you’re on its top tier, ZenBusiness’s Pro plan bundles both — which matters in Connecticut, since you’ll want the operating agreement to override the state’s default rules and the EIN before you can open a bank account. And unlike Bizee’s free tier, which leaves you handling registered agent duties yourself unless you pay extra, ZenBusiness’s mid-tier plans fold registered agent service in directly, so it’s one less renewal date to track.

If your priority is keeping your personal address off public filings, Northwest Registered Agent has built its reputation specifically around privacy and doesn’t sell customer data to marketing lists — worth a look if that’s your main concern rather than lowest total cost. And if you want a licensed attorney’s eyes on your paperwork — say you’re bringing in multiple members with unequal stakes from day one — LLC Attorney is built for that, though you’ll pay a premium versus the DIY-adjacent services above. For a full side-by-side across every major provider, our best LLC formation services comparison ranks all seven on price, speed, and support quality.

Connecticut LLC Taxes and Ongoing Compliance

Forming the LLC is the easy part. Keeping it in good standing is where owners tend to slip.

Annual Report. Connecticut requires every LLC to file an Annual Report each year, due between January 1 and March 31 — a fixed window, not tied to your formation anniversary the way some states do it. The fee is $80. Miss it long enough and the state can administratively dissolve your LLC, at which point you lose your liability protection and have to pay to reinstate. Set a calendar reminder for early each year; this is the single most common way Connecticut owners fall out of good standing.

No more Business Entity Tax. Connecticut used to hit every LLC with a $250 Business Entity Tax every two years. That tax was eliminated for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020, so if you’re reading older guides that still mention it, they’re out of date — one of the genuine cost improvements Connecticut has made in recent years.

State income tax. Connecticut taxes LLC profits as pass-through income by default, meaning profits flow through to your personal return under the state’s graduated income tax. Connecticut enacted its first income tax rate cut in nearly three decades effective for the 2024 tax year, trimming its two lowest marginal rates — relief that continues to apply in 2026. Exact brackets depend on your filing status and income, so check the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services directly.

Pass-Through Entity (PET) tax. Connecticut was the first state in the country to adopt a pass-through entity tax, and it was mandatory for years. As of tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, that PET became elective rather than required — a meaningful change for multi-member LLCs weighing the federal SALT-cap workaround. Whether electing in makes sense is genuinely a “run the numbers with your CPA” question, and the kind of thing that shifts from one legislative session to the next.

Sales tax. If you sell taxable goods or certain services, register through myconneCT and collect Connecticut’s 6.35% state sales tax (some categories carry higher rates). None of the above is tax advice — your specific liability depends on your entity structure, revenue, and elections, so talk to a CPA licensed in Connecticut before you file your first return.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Forming a Connecticut LLC

Missing the March 31 Annual Report deadline. Because it’s a fixed calendar window rather than an anniversary date, people who formed mid-year often assume their first report is a year out — then get a surprise. Diarize it the day your LLC is approved.

Calling it “Articles of Organization.” Connecticut’s document is the Certificate of Organization. It’s a small thing, but searching for the wrong form name sends DIY filers down the wrong path.

Using a home address as the registered agent address. It’s free, but it also puts your home address into a public database anyone can search — including in a lawsuit.

Treating the operating agreement as optional busywork. I’ve seen too many multi-member LLCs skip it, hit a disagreement two years in, and discover Connecticut’s default statutory rules split things in a way nobody in the room actually wanted.

Assuming last year’s BOI rules still apply. Given how much FinCEN’s requirements shifted in 2025, don’t rely on anything written before that change to decide whether you need to file.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Connecticut? The mandatory state filing fee is $120 for the Certificate of Organization. Add optional costs like a $60 name reservation, a registered agent service ($0–$125/year), and any formation service fees, and most people spend between $120 and $300 total to get a Connecticut LLC up and running in 2026.

How long does it take to form an LLC in Connecticut? Online filings through business.ct.gov are typically processed within a few business days. Mailed filings take longer. Connecticut also offers 24-hour expedited service for an additional fee if you need it faster.

Do I need a registered agent to start an LLC in Connecticut? Yes. Connecticut law requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical Connecticut street address. You can serve as your own agent for free, or pay a commercial service to keep your personal address off public record.

What is the Connecticut LLC annual report, and how much does it cost? It’s a mandatory yearly filing that keeps your LLC’s information current with the Secretary of the State. It’s due between January 1 and March 31 each year and costs $80. Missing it can eventually lead to administrative dissolution.

Does Connecticut still have the Business Entity Tax? No. Connecticut eliminated the $250 biennial Business Entity Tax for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020. Standard Connecticut LLCs no longer owe it.

Is an operating agreement required for a Connecticut LLC? No, Connecticut doesn’t legally require one. It’s still strongly recommended, especially for multi-member LLCs, since without it your LLC is governed entirely by Connecticut’s default statutory rules rather than terms you chose.

Do I still need to file a BOI report for my Connecticut LLC? It depends. FinCEN significantly narrowed BOI reporting requirements in 2025, largely exempting U.S.-formed companies with U.S. beneficial owners. Check FinCEN’s official guidance directly, since your specific ownership structure determines whether an exemption applies.

Can I start a Connecticut LLC on my own without a formation service? Yes — everything can be filed directly through business.ct.gov for the $120 state fee with no markup. A service like ZenBusiness or LegalZoom mainly saves you time and reduces the risk of a rejected filing, rather than unlocking anything you couldn’t technically do yourself.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to start an LLC in Connecticut is more straightforward than the state’s old reputation implies — the $250 Business Entity Tax is gone, the Certificate of Organization files cleanly online, and the recurring costs come down to an $80 annual report you just can’t forget by March 31. Whether you file it yourself through business.ct.gov for the flat $120 state fee or let ZenBusiness or LegalZoom handle the paperwork and compliance tracking, the barrier to getting a Connecticut LLC formed in 2026 is low. The bigger, ongoing job is the discipline that comes after: filing on time, getting your operating agreement right, and deciding — with a CPA — whether Connecticut’s now-elective pass-through entity tax works in your favor. Get the formation right, and the rest is just upkeep.

The author name used in this article may be a pen name or pseudonym and is used for illustrative and editorial purposes only. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. Consult qualified professionals before making financial decisions.