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

Published: June 2026 · Updated for the 2026 tax year

Starting an LLC in Connecticut is genuinely one of the cheaper, simpler ones — $120 to file, an $80 report once a year, and that's the recurring state cost. The catch isn't a hidden fee; it's outdated information. Half the guides you'll read still tell you to budget $250 a year for a Business Entity Tax that Connecticut repealed back in 2020. This guide walks through every step, what a Connecticut LLC actually costs (year by year, with the dead tax taken out), how to form one from outside the US, and the March 31 deadline that quietly dissolves LLCs that ignore it.

Form your Connecticut LLC for free with Jupid. We prepare and file your Certificate of Organization — you pay only the state's $120 filing fee, with no service markup. Start your Connecticut 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 a lot of paperwork in a lot of states and watching customers trip over the same potholes again and again.

Connecticut's pothole isn't a cost — it's a correction. For years the state charged a $250 Business Entity Tax, and that number got baked into every "how to start an LLC in Connecticut" article, every cost calculator, every Reddit thread. Connecticut repealed it for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020. It's gone. But the internet didn't get the memo, so founders still set aside money for a tax they'll never owe — and some even go hunting for a March 15 filing deadline that no longer exists. What replaced the BET, quietly, is an elective Pass-Through Entity Tax that most small LLCs won't touch.

So this guide does three things the others get wrong or skip: it tells you the BET is dead and adds up the real recurring cost ($80 a year, full stop), it explains the elective PET in plain terms, and it hands you a dated checklist so the March 31 Annual Report deadline doesn't catch you. Everything here is current for 2026, with links to the official sources so you can verify before you file.

Connecticut LLC at a glance

Sources: Connecticut Secretary of the State — Domestic LLC forms and fees, Connecticut Department of Revenue Services.

Should you actually form your LLC in Connecticut?

If you live in Connecticut and run your business from Connecticut, you should almost certainly form your LLC in Connecticut. The popular advice to "form in Wyoming or Delaware instead" doesn't help you here: an out-of-state LLC that does business in Connecticut has to register as a foreign LLC with the Secretary of the State, which means a second set of fees, an $80 Connecticut Annual Report anyway, and a registered agent in the other state. You end up paying more for more paperwork — and you've added a second state's compliance calendar.

Forming elsewhere makes sense in a narrower set of cases: you genuinely don't operate in Connecticut (no office, employees, or significant activity here), you're a non-resident with no US footprint at all, or you have a specific reason — outside-investor expectations, for instance — that points to Delaware. The good news is that Connecticut is already a low-cost, no-franchise-tax, no-publication state, so the case for fleeing it is weaker than it is for, say, California. 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.

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

How to start an LLC in Connecticut, step by step

1. Choose and check your LLC name

Your name has to include "Limited Liability Company," "LLC," or "L.L.C." ("Limited" can be shortened to "Ltd." and "Company" to "Co."), and under CGS §34-243k it has to be distinguishable from every other entity on the Secretary of the State's records. Search the Connecticut business records search before you get attached to anything. Need ideas or want to check a few options at once? Our Connecticut business name generator is built for exactly that. If you want to lock a name in before you're ready to file, a Reservation of Name holds it for 120 days for $60 — though most founders just file directly.

2. Appoint a Connecticut registered agent

Every Connecticut LLC needs an agent who can accept legal papers and official notices on its behalf — the state calls it a registered, resident, or statutory agent, and they all mean the same thing. That agent is either an individual who actually lives in Connecticut (18 or older) with a physical street address — a P.O. box won't do — or a business entity authorized to act as agent in Connecticut. You can serve as your own LLC's agent if you're a Connecticut resident available during business hours. The agent's name and address become 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 registered agent for roughly $100–$150 a year. You appoint the agent right inside the Certificate of Organization; changing it later is a $50 filing.

3. File the Certificate of Organization

This is the step that creates your LLC. File the Certificate of Organization online through business.ct.gov for $120 (the fee is the same if you mail a check to the Secretary of the State). You'll list the LLC name, the registered agent and address, the principal office, the management structure (member-managed or manager-managed), and at least one member or manager. Online filings are usually approved in about two to three business days; mailed filings run roughly seven to ten business days plus mail time. There's no state expedite tier, so online is the fast path. Once it's approved, download the stamped Certificate — your bank will ask for it.

4. Write an operating agreement

Connecticut does not legally require an LLC to have an operating agreement, and you don't file it with anyone — but you should still have one, and you should put it in writing. 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 most banks ask to see it when you open an account. Connecticut's Uniform Limited Liability Company Act fills in default rules if you don't write your own, but those defaults rarely match what you actually want.

5. 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. Apply at irs.gov after your formation is approved — 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.

6. File the Annual Report every year by March 31

This is the deadline that matters most over the life of your LLC. Connecticut requires an Annual Report filed online through business.ct.gov between January 1 and March 31 every year, for $80. There's no separate Business Entity Tax to pay alongside it (that's the repealed one), and no franchise tax — just the $80 report. File after March 31 and your LLC is flagged "Not in Good Standing," which can stop you from getting a Certificate of Legal Existence right when a bank or counterparty asks for one. Leave it unfiled for more than a year and the consequences get real — more on that below.

7. Register for Connecticut state taxes if they apply

Forming the LLC doesn't cover your tax obligations. If you sell taxable goods or services with Connecticut nexus, register for a Sales & Use Tax Permit through myconneCT using Form REG-1 — there's a $100 one-time permit fee, and the state sales tax rate is 6.35%. If you'll have employees, register for Connecticut withholding tax (no fee) through myconneCT and for unemployment insurance with the Department of Labor. Any professional or industry license you'd need as a sole proprietor — contractor, food service, liquor, real estate — you still need as an LLC. There is no Business Entity Tax to register for; it no longer exists.

What a Connecticut LLC really costs, year by year

Most guides quote "$120 plus $80 plus a $250 Business Entity Tax." That last number is wrong — the BET is gone. Here's the fuller, accurate picture.

Year one

Every following year

The dead tax to stop budgeting for. The single most common mistake with Connecticut is setting aside $250 a year for the Business Entity Tax. Connecticut repealed it for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020. A 2026 LLC does not file it, does not owe it, and shouldn't look for a "March 15 BET deadline" — both the tax and that deadline are gone. Your recurring state obligation is the $80 Annual Report due March 31, and nothing else.

What replaced it: the elective Pass-Through Entity (PE) Tax. The PE Tax was mandatory from 2018 through 2023; for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024 it became optional. If you elect it, the entity pays a flat 6.99% on its pass-through income, the election is annual and irrevocable for that year, and members get a credit equal to 87.5% of their share of the tax paid. It's a federal SALT-cap workaround that mostly benefits profitable multi-member firms with members who itemize. Most small and single-member Connecticut LLCs simply don't elect it — their profits pass through to the owner's personal Connecticut return at the ordinary 2%–6.99% brackets, and that's the end of it.

DIY versus a formation service versus Jupid. Doing it yourself costs the $120 filing fee and your time. A formation service charges $0–$300 on top of the state fees (the "$0" packages still pass through the $120 and then upsell you a registered agent and a "compliance" subscription). Jupid forms your Connecticut 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 ongoing cost and hassle actually lives. To model the annual numbers for your situation, use our Connecticut LLC annual cost calculator.

Forming a Connecticut LLC as a non-resident or foreign founder

You can own a Connecticut LLC without being a US citizen or resident — Connecticut imposes no residency requirement on members or managers. The practical hurdles are a Connecticut registered agent, an EIN, a US bank account, and your US and Connecticut tax filings.

Registered agent. If no member or manager lives in Connecticut with a real street address, you must use a commercial registered agent here. Budget around $100–$150 a year. P.O. boxes and mailbox-store addresses don't qualify.

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 the line that asks for the responsible party's SSN/ITIN/EIN, write "Foreign" or "N/A" — don't invent a number. Submit it by fax or mail, or call the IRS international EIN line (it's not toll-free), 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 a few 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 a couple of months.

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 — even if the LLC owes no tax. The penalty for missing it is $25,000. A multi-member foreign-owned LLC files Form 1065 with K-1s instead, and foreign partners face withholding under §1446 on effectively-connected income. Almost no Connecticut 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 Certificate 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 registered agent or a virtual office depending on the bank.

Connecticut tax. The $80 Annual Report applies no matter where you live, and there's no franchise tax or Business Entity Tax to layer on top. A non-resident member with Connecticut-source income files Connecticut Form CT-1040NR/PY and may face composite filing or withholding through the LLC. The entity can optionally elect the 6.99% Pass-Through Entity Tax as a SALT-cap strategy, but that's a profitability-driven choice, not a requirement. 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). A founder in a tax-treaty country may reduce US withholding on certain income — case by case; talk to a cross-border CPA.

Registered agents and the Corporate Transparency Act (BOI)

Your registered agent is the person or company designated to receive lawsuits and official notices for the LLC. It has to be a Connecticut resident (18 or older) with a physical street address or a business authorized to act as agent in Connecticut — and because the agent's address is public, plenty of Connecticut residents hire a commercial agent purely to keep their home address off the record.

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 a Connecticut-formed LLC — even one with foreign owners — has no BOI filing obligation. FinCEN has said it intends to finalize the rule, with a final rule expected sometime 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 Connecticut, that entity does have its own FinCEN obligations.)

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 required by Connecticut law, but kept with your records and expected by most banks.
• Check your BOI status. As of early 2026 a domestic Connecticut LLC has no FinCEN filing to make; re-verify at fincen.gov/boi.

Days 1–30

• Open a US business bank account (EIN letter, filed Certificate of Organization, operating agreement, ID). Separate finances from day one — it preserves the liability shield.
• Register for a Sales & Use Tax Permit through myconneCT ($100) if you sell taxable goods or services.
• Register for Connecticut withholding tax and unemployment insurance if you'll hire, and set up federal payroll.
• Get any professional or industry licenses your work requires, plus any local/municipal permits.
• Look into business insurance — general liability now, workers' comp once you have employees.

Days 1–60

• Set up bookkeeping so your Connecticut and federal returns are easy at year-end and you can decide, with real numbers, whether the elective PE Tax is ever worth it.
• Plan for quarterly estimated taxes (state and federal) on your pass-through profit.
• If you're a foreign-owned single-member LLC, calendar the annual Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 filing ($25,000 penalty for missing it).

By March 31 each year — hard deadline

• File the $80 Annual Report online through business.ct.gov. The filing window opens January 1; don't let it slip past March 31, or your LLC drops to "Not in Good Standing."

Common mistakes with Connecticut LLCs

Budgeting for the dead Business Entity Tax. Why it hurts: you set aside $250 a year (and hunt for a March 15 deadline) for a tax Connecticut repealed for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020 — wasted money and wasted worry, and worse, it can make you think your costs are higher than they are. Fix: delete the BET from your plan. Your only recurring state cost is the $80 Annual Report due March 31.

Missing the March 31 Annual Report. Why it hurts: file late and your LLC is "Not in Good Standing," which can block a Certificate of Legal Existence when a bank or partner needs one. Leave it more than a year and the Secretary of the State can administratively dissolve the LLC — it becomes "forfeited," loses good standing, and its business name becomes available for someone else to grab. Fix: calendar January as your filing month every year and file well before March 31; it's $80 and takes minutes online.

Skipping the operating agreement because "Connecticut doesn't require one." Why it hurts: it's true that the state doesn't require it, but going without weakens the liability shield you formed the LLC to get, and most banks won't open an account without seeing one. Fix: adopt a written agreement — even a short one for a single-member LLC — and keep it with your records.

Assuming you must pay (or can't avoid) the Pass-Through Entity Tax. Why it hurts: the PE Tax was mandatory through 2023, so older advice treats it as automatic. Since 2024 it's elective, and electing it when it doesn't help you just complicates your return for no benefit. Fix: treat the PE Tax as a deliberate, profitability-driven choice — most small and single-member LLCs skip it and let profits pass through to the owner's personal return.

Treating the legacy SOTS website as the place to file. Why it hurts: old links point to portal.ct.gov/SOTS, and you can lose time bouncing between pages. Fix: file and manage everything — formation, the Annual Report, agent changes — through the current business.ct.gov portal.

How Jupid helps

Jupid forms your Connecticut LLC for free — you pay only the state's $120 filing fee, with no service markup and no surprise "compliance" subscription. 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 a Connecticut LLC, the formation is the easy part and the state fees are small — the work that actually takes time year after year is clean books, the pass-through math on your personal return, deciding whether the elective PE Tax ever makes sense, and not letting the March 31 Annual Report slip. That's the work Jupid does for you. Start your Connecticut LLC free with Jupid →

Frequently asked questions

Does Connecticut still have a Business Entity Tax? No. Connecticut repealed the $250 biennial Business Entity Tax for tax periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020. A Connecticut LLC formed today owes no Business Entity Tax — it no longer exists. Many guides (and a lot of older calculators) still list it; ignore them. The only routine recurring state fee is the $80 Annual Report.

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Connecticut in 2026? The Certificate of Organization costs $120, whether you file online or by mail. Add the $80 Annual Report you'll owe each year (due by March 31), and a typical first-year minimum is about $200 before any registered agent service or income tax. There is no Business Entity Tax and no franchise tax.

When is the Connecticut LLC Annual Report due and what happens if I miss it? It's $80, filed online through business.ct.gov between January 1 and March 31 every year. File after March 31 and your LLC is marked "Not in Good Standing." Leave it unfiled for more than a year and the Secretary of the State can administratively dissolve the LLC — at which point it's "forfeited," loses its Certificate of Legal Existence, and its business name becomes available for someone else to take.

Does Connecticut have a Pass-Through Entity Tax for LLCs? Yes, but it's now optional. The Pass-Through Entity (PE) Tax was mandatory from 2018 through 2023; for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024 it is elective. The rate is 6.99%, the election is made annually and is irrevocable for that year, and members receive a credit equal to 87.5% of their share of the tax paid. Most small and single-member LLCs simply don't elect it — their profits pass through to the owner's personal Connecticut return instead.

Do I need a registered agent for a Connecticut LLC? Yes — Connecticut calls it a registered, resident, or statutory agent. It can be you or another Connecticut resident (18 or older) with a physical street address, or a business authorized to serve as agent in Connecticut. P.O. boxes are not allowed. If you don't live in Connecticut, you'll use a commercial registered agent.

Can a non-US resident form a Connecticut LLC? Yes. Connecticut has no citizenship or residency requirement for members or managers. You'll need a Connecticut registered agent, an EIN (which you can get without an SSN via Form SS-4), and you'll still owe the $80 Annual Report each year. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must also file Form 5472 with the IRS every year or face a $25,000 penalty.

Official sources

• Connecticut Secretary of the State — Domestic LLC forms and fees (Certificate of Organization $120; Annual Report $80; name reservation $60)
• business.ct.gov — online filing portal
• Connecticut Secretary of the State — Administrative Dissolution (what happens if you miss the Annual Report)
• Connecticut General Statutes, Chapter 613a — Uniform LLC Act (§34-243g registered agent · §34-243k permitted name)
• Connecticut Department of Revenue Services — Pass-Through Entity Tax (elective from 2024; 6.99%)
• Connecticut DRS — register your business / Sales & Use Tax · myconneCT
• Connecticut DRS — main site
• IRS — get an EIN · Instructions for Form SS-4 · About Form 5472
• FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information

Related on Jupid: Connecticut LLC formation · Connecticut LLC annual cost calculator · Connecticut business name generator · best state to form an LLC · New York LLC guide · Massachusetts LLC guide

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

Last updated: June 2026.