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

Published: May 2026 · Updated for the 2026 tax year

Starting an LLC in Arizona is one of the cheaper ways to set up a business in the US — $50 to file, no annual report, a 2.5% flat income tax — with one quirk that trips people up: a newspaper publication requirement that, depending on which county your address is in, either doesn't apply to you at all or costs a few hundred dollars and has a 60-day deadline. This guide walks through every step, what an Arizona LLC actually costs (year by year, not just the headline fee), how to form one from outside the US, and the deadlines worth putting on a calendar.

Form your Arizona LLC for free with Jupid. We prepare and file your Articles of Organization — you pay only the state's $50 filing fee, with no service markup. Start your Arizona LLC →

A note from Slava

I'm Slava, co-founder and CEO of Jupid. Before this I co-founded and scaled an AI-powered accounting platform to around $30M in revenue and more than 100,000 business users — the kind of company that ends up filing paperwork in a lot of states and watching customers trip over the same potholes again and again.

Arizona's potholes are smaller than most. The $50 filing fee is genuinely low, and the "no annual report, no annual fee" thing is real — Arizona is one of the cheapest states in the country to keep an LLC alive year after year. But two things confuse almost everyone. First, you file with the Arizona Corporation Commission, not the Secretary of State, and half the "how to start an LLC in Arizona" articles still say "Secretary of State." Second, the publication requirement: a lot of pages flatly tell you "you have to publish a notice in a newspaper for $100–$300," and they don't mention that if your address is in the Phoenix or Tucson area — which is most of the state's population — you don't publish anything at all. The Commission does it for you, free.

So this guide does three things the others skip: it explains the publication rule correctly, with both cases laid out plainly; it adds up the real cost over time; and it hands you a dated checklist for your first 90 days so the 60-day publication window (if it applies to you) doesn't slip. Everything here is current for 2026, with links to the official sources so you can verify before you file.

Arizona LLC at a glance

Sources: Arizona Corporation Commission — Corporations Division, ACC fee schedule for LLCs, Form L010 instructions, Arizona Department of Revenue.

Should you actually form your LLC in Arizona?

If you live in Arizona and run your business from Arizona, form your Arizona LLC in Arizona. The popular advice to "form in Wyoming or Delaware instead" doesn't help here, and in Arizona's case it especially doesn't: an out-of-state LLC that does business in Arizona has to register as a foreign LLC with the ACC anyway, which means a second filing fee, a second registered agent, and a second state's rules to keep up with — for no benefit, because Arizona is already cheap. There's no $800-style franchise tax, no annual report, and a 2.5% flat income tax. You'd be paying more for more paperwork.

Forming elsewhere makes sense in a narrower set of cases: you genuinely don't operate in Arizona (no office, employees, or significant activity here), you're a non-resident with no US footprint yet, or you have a specific reason — outside-investor expectations, say — that points to Delaware. If you're weighing it, our best state to form an LLC tool walks through the trade-offs, and our Wyoming LLC guide covers the non-resident case in detail. If the newspaper publication step is what's giving you pause, note that New York has a similar requirement that's far more expensive and has no county-based waiver.

For everyone else: Arizona it is. Here's how.

How to start an LLC in Arizona, step by step

1. Choose and check your LLC name

Your name has to include one of the LLC tags Arizona accepts — "limited liability company," "limited company," "L.L.C.," "L.C.," "LLC," or "LC" — and it has to be distinguishable from every other entity on the ACC's records. Search the ACC entity database before you get attached to anything. Need ideas or want to check a few options at once? Our Arizona business name generator is built for exactly that. If you want to lock a name in before you're ready to file, a name reservation holds it for 120 days for $10.

2. Appoint an Arizona statutory agent

Arizona's term for a registered agent is "statutory agent." It has to be an individual who's an Arizona resident, an Arizona entity, or a foreign entity authorized to do business in Arizona — and in every case it needs an Arizona street address (the "known place of business"), not a P.O. box. The agent has to sign a Statutory Agent Acceptance (Form M002), which you file together with the Articles. You can serve as your own LLC's agent if you're an Arizona resident; the LLC itself cannot. The agent's name and address are public record, which is one reason people who'd rather not publish a home address — and everyone who lives out of state — hire a commercial statutory agent for roughly $100–$150 a year.

One thing to weigh here that doesn't come up in most states: the county of your statutory agent's street address decides whether you have to publish a newspaper notice. Pick an agent in Maricopa County (Phoenix area) or Pima County (Tucson), and the publication step is automatically waived. More on that in step 4.

3. File the Articles of Organization (Form L010)

This is the step that creates your LLC. File Form L010 online through eCorp for $50, or pay $85 to add the $35 expedite at the time of filing. You'll list the LLC name, the statutory agent and their acceptance, the known place of business, the management structure (member-managed or manager-managed), and the members or managers. Filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission — not the Secretary of State — is the part people get wrong; Arizona's SOS doesn't handle LLC formation. Regular processing times fluctuate; the ACC publishes live processing dates, and if you need it faster the ACC also lists next-business-day (about +$100) and same-business-day (about +$200) service on top of the $50 fee — verify the exact tiers on the fee schedule. Once it's approved, download the stamped copy from eCorp — your bank will ask for it.

4. Publish a Notice of LLC Formation within 60 days — unless you're in Maricopa or Pima County

This is Arizona's one real quirk, and it splits into two cases.

Case 1 — your known place of business is in Maricopa County or Pima County. You do nothing. Those two counties exceed the 800,000-population threshold in A.R.S. §29-3201(G), so the ACC publishes the Notice of LLC Formation on its own website automatically — no newspaper, no fee, no deadline to track. Most new Arizona LLCs fall here, because most of the state's population (and most statutory agents) sit in the Phoenix and Tucson metros.

Case 2 — your known place of business is in any other Arizona county. Within 60 days of the ACC approving your Articles, you must publish a Notice of LLC Formation in an ACC-approved newspaper in that county for 3 consecutive publications, then (best practice) file an Affidavit of Publication with the ACC. Cost runs roughly $30–$300 depending on the county and the paper. Failing to publish when it's required can be cited as grounds for administrative dissolution, so don't let the 60-day window slip — line up the newspaper as soon as your Articles are approved.

If you're not sure which case applies to you, it's the county of the street address you listed as your statutory agent's address. That's why step 2 mentioned picking an agent in Maricopa or Pima County if you'd rather skip this entirely.

5. Write an operating agreement

Arizona doesn't legally require an LLC to have an operating agreement, and you don't file it with anyone — but every LLC should have one anyway, and you keep it with your company records. It sets out ownership percentages, how profits are split, who can make decisions, and what happens if a member leaves. Even a single-member LLC should have one; it's part of how you keep the liability shield intact and it's the document banks and partners ask for.

6. Get your EIN from the IRS

An EIN is your LLC's federal tax ID, and you need it to open a bank account, hire anyone, and file taxes. It's free, and you get it after the ACC approves your Articles. Apply at irs.gov — if you have an SSN or ITIN, the online application takes a few minutes. If you don't (common for non-resident owners), file Form SS-4 by fax, mail, or the IRS international phone line; see the non-resident section below. Never pay a third party for the EIN itself — the number is always free from the IRS.

7. Register for Arizona taxes and local licenses

Forming the LLC doesn't cover your tax registrations. If you sell taxable goods or services, register for a Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) license through AZTaxes.gov — the state license fee is small (around $12 per location), and most Arizona cities tack on their own city TPT license fees. TPT is broader than a typical sales tax: it can reach some services, contracting, and commercial leasing, so check whether it applies to you. Most Arizona cities also require a separate city business license. If you'll have employees, register for Arizona withholding and unemployment insurance (via AZTaxes.gov and the Arizona Department of Economic Security) and set up federal payroll. And any professional or occupational license you'd need as a sole proprietor — contractor (through the Arizona Registrar of Contractors), food service, cosmetology, and so on — you still need as an LLC.

8. Stay in good standing — there's no annual report

Here's the part that makes Arizona unusually low-maintenance: there is no LLC annual report and no annual fee. You don't owe the ACC anything on a recurring basis. What you do have to do is keep your statutory agent and address current — if either changes, file a Statutory Agent Acceptance or Change of Statutory Agent with the ACC (small fee) — and pay whatever taxes apply (TPT returns if you're registered, the 2.5% income tax through your members' returns, city license renewals). Run a quick "good standing" check on eCorp once a year and you're done.

What an Arizona LLC really costs, year by year

Most guides quote "$50, no annual fee" and stop. That headline is accurate — but here's the fuller picture.

Year one

Every following year

The publication trap for the non-metro minority. If your address is outside Maricopa and Pima County, the 60-day publication window is the one timed obligation Arizona gives you — and it's easy to forget because it lands after you've filed and moved on. Set it the same day your Articles are approved. The cleanest fix, if you can: use a commercial statutory agent whose street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, and the requirement disappears.

DIY versus a formation service versus Jupid. Doing it yourself costs the $50 (plus publication if it applies) and your time. A formation service charges $0–$300 on top of the state fees — and the "$0" packages still pass through the $50 and then upsell you a statutory agent, a publication service, and a "compliance" subscription you mostly don't need in Arizona. Jupid forms your Arizona LLC for free — you pay only the state filing fee — and then handles the bookkeeping and tax filings afterward, which is where most of the real ongoing work lives. To model the annual numbers for your situation, use our Arizona LLC annual cost calculator.

Forming an Arizona LLC as a non-resident or foreign founder

You can own an Arizona LLC without being a US citizen or resident — Arizona imposes no residency requirement on members or managers. The practical hurdles are an Arizona statutory agent, an EIN, a US bank account, the publication step (if it applies to you), and your US and Arizona tax filings.

Statutory agent. If no member or manager is an Arizona resident, you must use a commercial Arizona statutory agent (or have an Arizona entity serve), with a real Arizona street address — no P.O. boxes. Budget around $100–$150 a year. Worth doing here: choose a statutory agent whose street address is in Maricopa or Pima County, so the newspaper publication requirement is automatically waived. It's one less thing to manage from abroad.

Getting an EIN without an SSN. The IRS online EIN tool requires the responsible party to have an SSN or ITIN, so foreign founders generally can't use it. Instead, file Form SS-4: on line 7a, name the individual who actually controls the LLC; on line 7b, where it asks for that person's SSN/ITIN/EIN, write "Foreign" (or "N/A," per the current instructions) — don't invent a number. Submit it by fax or mail to the IRS EIN operation for applicants with no US residence, or call the IRS international EIN line, where someone outside the US can get the number over the phone. Check the current Form SS-4 instructions for the right fax and phone numbers, since the IRS changes them. Fax turnaround is usually about four business days; phone is immediate. The EIN is free.

ITIN. An ITIN (Form W-7) is a tax ID for individuals who aren't eligible for an SSN. Your LLC gets an EIN; you as an owner may separately need an ITIN if you have to file a personal US return. ITINs are issued with a tax return attached or through an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent and can take roughly 7–11 weeks.

The Form 5472 obligation — don't skip this. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is a "disregarded entity" that generally must file Form 5472 along with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, reporting transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner. The penalty for missing it is $25,000. Almost no Arizona LLC guide mentions this; build it into your annual calendar from day one.

US bank account. Most US banks want the owner physically present to open a business account, along with the EIN confirmation letter, the filed Articles of Organization, the operating agreement, and a passport. Several fintech business-banking platforms onboard non-resident-owned US LLCs remotely — eligibility and policies change, so check current terms before you rely on any of them. You'll typically need a US business address, which can be your statutory agent or a virtual office depending on the bank.

Arizona tax. Arizona's flat 2.5% income tax applies to Arizona-source pass-through income; a non-resident member with Arizona-source income may owe Arizona nonresident tax (the optional PTE tax election can handle the SALT-cap and withholding angle for profitable multi-member LLCs). TPT applies if the LLC sells taxable goods or services in Arizona, regardless of where the owner lives — get a TPT license through AZTaxes.gov. There's no ACC annual report or annual fee to worry about. Federally, if the LLC is engaged in a US trade or business, the foreign owner has US filing obligations of their own (Form 1040-NR for an individual, plus the Form 5472 filing above).

Statutory agents and the Corporate Transparency Act (BOI)

Your statutory agent is the person or company designated to receive lawsuits and official notices for the LLC. It has to be an Arizona resident, an Arizona entity, or an authorized foreign entity with a physical Arizona street address — and because the agent's address is public (and decides the publication question), plenty of Arizona residents hire a commercial agent purely to keep their home address off the record and to land in Maricopa or Pima County.

On the federal beneficial-ownership side: under the Corporate Transparency Act, LLCs were originally required to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN. That changed. FinCEN's interim final rule, published in March 2025, redefined a "reporting company" to mean only entities formed under foreign law that register to do business in a US state. As of early 2026, that means an Arizona-formed LLC — even one with foreign owners — has no BOI filing obligation. FinCEN has said it intends to finalize the rule, and a final rule is expected in 2026, so this could shift; check fincen.gov/boi before you assume one way or the other. (If you register a foreign-formed entity to do business in Arizona, the 30-day BOI deadline still applies to that entity, though it need not report US-person owners.)

Your first 30, 60, and 90 days

Days 1–7

• Get your EIN from the IRS (free; online if you have an SSN/ITIN, otherwise by fax, mail, or phone).
• Adopt your operating agreement — not filed with the state, kept with your records. Single-member LLCs need one too.
• Check your BOI status. As of early 2026 a domestic Arizona LLC has no FinCEN filing to make; re-verify at fincen.gov/boi.
• Figure out whether you have to publish. If your known place of business is in Maricopa or Pima County, you don't — the ACC handles it. Otherwise, line up an ACC-approved newspaper in your county now.

Days 1–30

• Open a US business bank account (EIN letter, filed Articles, operating agreement, ID).
• Register for a TPT license through AZTaxes.gov if you sell taxable goods or services (state license plus any city licenses).
• Apply for a city business license in the city or cities where you operate (Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale, and so on).
• If you'll hire, register for Arizona withholding and unemployment insurance (AZTaxes.gov / Arizona DES) and set up federal payroll.
• Get any professional or occupational licenses your work requires (contractor via the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, food/health, cosmetology, etc.).
• Look into business insurance — general liability now, workers' comp once you have employees (it's mandatory in Arizona).

Days 1–60 — hard deadline if it applies

• Publish the Notice of LLC Formation in an ACC-approved newspaper in your county for 3 consecutive publications, then file the Affidavit of Publication with the ACC — only if your known place of business is not in Maricopa or Pima County. If it is, there's nothing to do here.

By day 90

• No separate 90-day state deadline — Arizona has no annual report, and the only timed item is publication at 60 days (if applicable). Do a quick "good standing" check on eCorp and confirm everything above is done.

Ongoing each year

• No ACC annual report or annual fee — but keep your statutory agent and address records current (file a change with the ACC, small fee, if either changes).
• File TPT returns where applicable; renew city business licenses and any professional licenses.

Common mistakes with Arizona LLCs

Filing with the "Secretary of State." Why it hurts: Arizona's SOS doesn't form LLCs — the Arizona Corporation Commission does — so you waste time on the wrong office or, worse, follow a guide that's wrong about everything downstream. Fix: file Form L010 through eCorp with the ACC.

Assuming you have to publish a newspaper notice — or assuming you don't. Why it hurts: if your address is outside Maricopa and Pima County and you skip publication, you've missed a 60-day obligation that can be grounds for administrative dissolution; if you're in Phoenix or Tucson and pay a "publication service" anyway, you've spent $100–$300 on something the ACC does for free. Fix: check the county of your statutory agent's street address — Maricopa or Pima means the ACC publishes it for you; anywhere else means publish within 60 days.

Picking a statutory agent without thinking about the county. Why it hurts: an agent in Pinal, Yavapai, Coconino, or any other county pulls you into the publication requirement that an agent in Maricopa or Pima County would have waived. Fix: if you're hiring a commercial statutory agent anyway, pick one with a Maricopa or Pima County street address.

Thinking a Wyoming LLC saves you money in Arizona. Why it hurts: if you operate in Arizona, the out-of-state LLC has to register here as a foreign LLC — a second filing fee, a second registered agent, a second state's rules — and Arizona's home-state setup is already cheap (no annual report, 2.5% flat tax). You pay more for more paperwork. Fix: if Arizona is where you do business, form in Arizona.

Missing that TPT isn't a normal sales tax. Why it hurts: some service, contracting, and commercial-leasing businesses assume they're exempt because "we don't sell products," then find out they needed a TPT license. Fix: check whether your activity is in TPT scope on azdor.gov and register through AZTaxes.gov if it is.

How Jupid helps

Jupid forms your Arizona LLC for free — you pay only the state's $50 filing fee, with no service markup and no surprise "compliance" subscription (which, in Arizona, you mostly wouldn't need anyway — there's no annual report). After that, Jupid is your AI accountant, working in WhatsApp and iMessage the same way you already text. It connects to your business bank account, automatically categorizes your transactions (around 95.9% accuracy), keeps your deductions organized, and prepares your tax filings with CPA review before anything is submitted. For an Arizona LLC, the formation is quick and the state upkeep is light — but TPT returns, clean books, and getting the income-tax filings right are work, year after year, and that's the work Jupid does for you. Start your Arizona LLC free with Jupid →

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to publish my Arizona LLC in a newspaper? Only if your known place of business — the statutory agent's street address — is outside Maricopa County and Pima County. Those two counties exceed the 800,000-population threshold in A.R.S. §29-3201(G), so the Arizona Corporation Commission publishes the notice on its own website for free and you do nothing. If your address is in any other county, you must publish a Notice of LLC Formation in an ACC-approved newspaper in that county for 3 consecutive publications within 60 days of approval — roughly $30–$300 depending on the paper.

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Arizona in 2026? The state filing fee for the Articles of Organization (Form L010) is $50, or $85 if you add the $35 expedite at filing. There's no annual report and no annual fee. If your statutory agent's address is in Maricopa or Pima County there's no publication cost; otherwise budget about $30–$300 for the newspaper notice. A DIY Arizona LLC with a Phoenix or Tucson address can be as little as $50.

Does Arizona require an LLC annual report? No. Arizona is one of the few states that does not require LLCs to file an annual report and charges no annual or biennial fee for LLCs. (Arizona corporations do file annual reports — LLCs don't.) You still have to keep your statutory agent and address records current and pay any taxes you owe.

Do I need a registered agent for an Arizona LLC? Yes — Arizona calls it a "statutory agent." It must be an Arizona resident, an Arizona entity, or a foreign entity authorized in Arizona, in each case with an Arizona street address (no P.O. boxes), and the agent must sign a Statutory Agent Acceptance (Form M002) filed with your Articles. You can serve as your own LLC's agent if you're an Arizona resident; the LLC itself cannot.

Can a non-US resident own an Arizona LLC? Yes. Arizona has no citizenship or residency requirement for members or managers. You'll need a commercial Arizona statutory agent (pick one in Maricopa or Pima County to skip publication), an EIN (which you can get without an SSN by filing Form SS-4), and you'll owe Arizona tax on Arizona-source income. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must also file Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year — the penalty for missing it is $25,000.

Where do I file an Arizona LLC — the Secretary of State? No. Arizona LLCs are formed with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), Corporations Division — not the Secretary of State. File online through eCorp at ecorp.azcc.gov, or by mail or in person at the ACC in Phoenix.

How long does it take to form an LLC in Arizona? The ACC publishes live processing times that swing from a few days to several weeks for regular filings. Adding the $35 expedite at filing speeds it up; the ACC also lists next-business-day (about +$100) and same-business-day (about +$200) options. Check the ACC's current processing-times page before you count on a date.

Official sources

• Arizona Corporation Commission — Corporations Division (LLC formation, processing times, statutory agent forms)
• eCorp — online LLC filing portal
• ACC fee schedule for LLCs ($50 Articles, $35 expedite, name reservation, no annual report fee)
• Form L010 instructions — Articles of Organization (filing fee, statutory agent rules, the publication requirement and the Maricopa/Pima waiver)
• Arizona Revised Statutes Title 29 — Arizona Limited Liability Company Act (§29-3201(G) publication requirement and population threshold; §29-3115 statutory agent; §29-3112 name rules)
• Arizona Department of Revenue (flat 2.5% individual income tax, PTE tax) · Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT)
• AZTaxes.gov (TPT license registration, withholding registration, filing)
• IRS — get an EIN · Instructions for Form SS-4 · About Form 5472
• FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information
• Related on Jupid: Arizona LLC formation · Arizona LLC annual cost calculator · best state to form an LLC · how to start an LLC in New York · how to start an LLC in Wyoming · what you need to start an LLC

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Fees, deadlines, and thresholds change — verify with the official sources above before you file.

Last updated: May 2026.