Arizona vs Missouri LLC: fees, taxes, and which to pick

Key differences at a glance

• Arizona requires newly formed LLCs to publish a formation notice in local newspapers; this can add $50 to $1,800 depending on county.
• Missouri requires LLCs to adopt a written operating agreement by statute. The other state treats it as recommended rather than required.

Where each state fits

For most filers, forming in the state you actually operate from is the right call. The side-by-side below shows where the two states meaningfully diverge.

What each state offers that the other does not

Three-year cost, side by side

Rough estimate of the state-facing cost to form and keep an LLC through three years. Both totals include a $100 per year registered-agent estimate.

What it costs under your specific situation

The table below runs the same LLC through four common scenarios. "Non-resident" rows assume a typical home-state foreign LLC registration adds about $200 per year of stacked cost; the real number depends on which state you live in and ranges from $50 to over $800 depending on jurisdiction.

Arizona vs Missouri: full comparison

Taxes in Arizona and Missouri

How each state handles entity-level tax on LLCs. Pass-through classification means member-level income tax also applies at each member's residence state.

Ongoing compliance

The recurring filings each state requires after formation.

Formation process, side by side

What actually happens from the moment you start filing to the moment you're in good standing. Use this as a checklist.

Before you pick either state

Agency contacts

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is it cheaper to form an LLC in Arizona or Missouri?

  Formation fees are identical: $50 in both states. The year-over-year cost is where they differ. Arizona runs $100 per year after formation, Missouri runs $100.

• Can I form an LLC in Arizona if I live in Missouri?

  Yes, but your Missouri business will almost certainly need to register as a foreign LLC in Missouri too, which means paying Missouri's foreign registration fee and any ongoing Missouri obligations on top of the Arizona ones. The "form elsewhere to save" math usually doesn't work for operating businesses; it only works when you have no physical operations tied to any specific state.

• How long does it take to form an LLC in Arizona vs Missouri?

  Arizona online: 14 business days; Missouri online: 1 business day. Arizona offers paid expedite from $35. Missouri does not offer paid expedite.

• Which state has lower taxes for an LLC, Arizona or Missouri?

  Arizona: state income tax applies to member-level pass-through income, no entity-level franchise or LLC tax. Missouri: state income tax applies to member-level pass-through income, no entity-level franchise or LLC tax.

• Do both states require a registered agent?

  Yes. Every US state (and DC) requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical street address in the state. Arizona and Missouri both have this requirement. You can serve as your own agent if you live in the state; most out-of-state filers use a commercial agent for $50 to $125 per year.

• Does Arizona or Missouri have a publication requirement?

  Arizona does. New LLCs must publish a formation notice in approved newspapers, which can add $50 to $1,800 to your first-year cost depending on the county where the LLC is based. Missouri has no publication requirement.

• Do I need a written operating agreement in Arizona or Missouri?

  Missouri requires LLCs to adopt a written operating agreement by statute. Arizona treats it as strongly recommended rather than required. In practice, any LLC with more than one member, or any LLC planning to preserve its liability shield, should have a written agreement regardless of which state it's formed in.

• Which state should I pick if I run an online business from home?

  Form in the state you actually live in. Your home state's Department of Revenue treats your residence as nexus regardless of where the LLC is filed, which means you owe state income tax there anyway. Forming in Arizona or Missouri to escape your home state's tax doesn't work; it adds paperwork. The non-resident filings make sense when you genuinely operate nowhere in particular: international founders, purely passive holding entities, or real-estate LLCs owning property in other states.

Full state guides

• ArizonaOpen Arizona LLC guide →
• MissouriOpen Missouri LLC guide →

More Arizona and Missouri comparisons

Sources

• Filing fee: azcc.gov/docs/default-source/corps-files/fee-schedules/fee-schedule-ll… · verified April 21, 2026
  Arizona Corporation Commission Schedule of Fees - Limited Liability Companies (A.R.S. Title 29), Rev. 3.2026. 'Articles of Organization' = $50 regular, $85 expedited (the $85 figure is the total, i.e. $50 base + $35 expedited surcharge).
• Expedited filing: azcc.gov/docs/default-source/corps-files/fee-schedules/fee-schedule-ll… · verified April 21, 2026
  Regular expedited processing for Articles of Organization totals $85 ($35 surcharge on top of the $50 base fee) and is generally completed within 3-5 business days. Arizona also offers Same Day/Next Day Accelerated Processing on top of expedited: Next Day = $100, Same Day = $200, 2-Hour = $400. We record the cheapest expedited tier (the $35 surcharge, approx 5 business days) in the struct.
• Foreign LLC registration fee: azcc.gov/docs/default-source/corps-files/fee-schedules/fee-schedule-ll… · verified April 21, 2026
  Foreign Registration Statement = $150 regular, $185 expedited. We record the regular fee.
• Operating agreement requirement: www.azleg.gov/ars/29/03105.htm · verified April 21, 2026
  A.R.S. §29-3105 (Arizona Limited Liability Company Act) recognizes an operating agreement as the governing document among members and permits it to be oral, written, implied, or any combination. There is no statutory requirement that an LLC adopt an operating agreement, so this is recorded as not required.
• Publication requirement: www.azleg.gov/ars/29/03201.htm · verified April 21, 2026
  A.R.S. §29-3201(G) requires newspaper publication of the notice of LLC formation in the county of the statutory agent's street address for three consecutive publications within 60 days after filing the Articles of Organization, unless the statutory agent's street address is in a county with a population of more than 800,000, in which case the Commission inputs the notice into its public notice database. Only Maricopa County and Pima County exceed that population threshold, so LLCs with statutory agents in those two counties are exempt (covering roughly 75% of Arizona's population). LLCs in the remaining 13 counties must arrange publication; typical newspaper cost is $60-$120.
• Franchise tax: azdor.gov/forms/corporate-income-tax-highlights · verified April 21, 2026
  Arizona has no franchise tax on LLCs or corporations. The Arizona Department of Revenue levies only a corporate income tax (4.9% on C-corp taxable income, $50 minimum) and the Transaction Privilege Tax (a gross-receipts-style sales tax at 5.6% statewide plus local rates), neither of which functions as a traditional franchise tax.
• Corporate income tax rate: azdor.gov/forms/corporate-income-tax-highlights · verified April 21, 2026
  Arizona corporate income tax is a flat 4.9% of Arizona taxable income (A.R.S. §43-1111) with a $50 minimum tax. LLCs are pass-through by default and do not owe corporate income tax unless they elect to be taxed as a C-corp. Recorded here for the maxCorporateRate informational field.
• Sales tax rate: azdor.gov/business/transaction-privilege-tax · verified April 21, 2026
  Arizona's statewide Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) rate is 5.6%. TPT is technically a tax on the vendor's privilege of doing business rather than a consumer sales tax, but it functions as the state's sales tax. Counties and municipalities add their own TPT rates, with combined effective rates commonly ranging 7.5% to 11.2% across Arizona. Only the 5.6% statewide rate is recorded in salesTaxRate.
• Business name search: arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov/businesssearch · verified April 21, 2026
  The Arizona Corporation Commission retired the legacy eCorp system on January 12, 2026 and replaced it with the Arizona Business Center (ABC). The ABC portal hosts the current public business entity search and online filing system. The previous ecorp.azcc.gov URLs no longer resolve.
• Online filing portal: arizonabusinesscenter.azcc.gov/homepage · verified April 21, 2026
  Arizona Business Center is the ACC's official online business filing portal as of January 12, 2026. Articles of Organization, foreign registrations, and most maintenance filings are submitted here. Approval times are generally 12-15 business days for regular online filings, faster with the expedited surcharge.
• Certificate of Formation name: www.azcc.gov/docs/default-source/corps-files/forms/l010-articles-of-or… · verified April 21, 2026
  Form L010 - Articles of Organization (domestic LLC). Filers using the online Arizona Business Center portal complete an equivalent on-screen form. Instructions are published at azcc.gov as form L010i.
• Annual report: www.azcc.gov/corporations/forms/llc-forms · verified April 21, 2026
  Unlike Arizona corporations, Arizona LLCs do not file an annual report. The Arizona Corporation Commission's LLC forms page lists no annual report form for LLCs, and the LLC fee schedule does not include an annual report fee. This is confirmed by A.R.S. Title 29, Chapter 7, which imposes no annual report duty on LLCs.
• Filing fee: www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/fees.pdf?v=2025 · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri SOS Schedule of Fees and Charges (revised 01/2025), Chapter 347 Limited Liability Companies: Certificates of Limited Liability Company (domestic online) $50.00; Certificates of Limited Liability Company (domestic or foreign, paper) $105.00. Includes $5 Technology fund component. Mo. Rev. Stat. 347.179(1) sets the base fees as $45 online / $100 paper; the $5 tech surcharge brings totals to $50/$105.
• Expedited filing: www.sos.mo.gov/business/corporations/forms · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri SOS Corporations Division does not publish an expedited service tier for LLC filings. Online filings through bsd.sos.mo.gov are typically processed immediately or within one business day at the standard $50 fee, so there is no separate expedite option. A $55 Pre-Clearance Examination is available for reviewing a document for form and legal adequacy before submission (Schedule of Fees and Charges, General Fees) but does not accelerate filing itself.
• Operating agreement requirement: revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=347.081 · verified April 21, 2026
  Mo. Rev. Stat. 347.081(1) provides that the member or members of an LLC 'shall adopt' an operating agreement. The statute uses mandatory language (shall adopt) and describes permissible contents, making Missouri one of the handful of states (with California, Delaware, Maine, and New York) that statutorily require an operating agreement. The agreement does not need to be filed with the SOS and may be in any form, but it must exist.
• Foreign LLC registration fee: www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/fees.pdf?v=2025 · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri SOS Schedule of Fees and Charges (01/2025): Certificates of Limited Liability Company (domestic or foreign)(paper) $105. Foreign LLCs must file the Application for Registration of a Foreign Limited Liability Company (LLC 4) by paper; Missouri does not publish an online filing path specifically for foreign LLC registration.
• Business name search: bsd.sos.mo.gov/BusinessEntity/BESearch.aspx?SearchType=0 · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri SOS Business Entity Search. Confirm name distinguishability before filing the LLC 1.
• Corporate income tax rate: dor.mo.gov/taxation/business/tax-types/corporation-income/ · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri Department of Revenue Corporation Income Tax page: the corporate income tax rate is a flat 4% for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020 (Chapter 143 RSMo). Applies to LLCs electing C-corp treatment.
• Sales tax rate: dor.mo.gov/taxation/business/tax-types/sales-use/ · verified April 21, 2026
  Missouri Department of Revenue Sales/Use Tax page: state sales and use tax rate is 4.225% (3.0% General Revenue, 1.0% Education, 0.125% Conservation, 0.10% Parks/Soils). Local jurisdictions add their own sales tax on top; combined rates typically range from 5% to over 10%.