A North Carolina LLC costs $422 all-in through Anonymousllc.co in 2026: a $297 service fee plus the $125 state filing fee, with filing, registered agent year one, operating agreement, EIN, and 4-5 bank applications included. Ongoing cost is the $200 annual report ($202 online) due April 15 plus $100/year registered agent. Founders who want privacy choose the $397 Wyoming Anonymous LLC and foreign-qualify into North Carolina.
The North Carolina Secretary of State charges a $125 filing fee for the Articles of Organization, paid once at formation. This is the only mandatory state fee at filing time. The $125 goes to the state, not to the formation service. A founder who files direct pays that $125 and then handles the name check, operating agreement, EIN, and bank applications alone. Anonymousllc.co adds a $297 service fee to complete every step, for $422 total. North Carolina does not charge a separate publication fee, which some states impose. That keeps the entry cost lower than states like New York or Arizona, where a newspaper publication requirement adds hundreds of dollars to formation.
A North Carolina LLC costs $422 all-in through Anonymousllc.co: a $297 service fee plus the $125 state fee. That covers the state filing, registered agent for year one, operating agreement, EIN, and 4-5 US bank applications. There are no upsells hidden behind that number. Add-on services are priced separately when needed: EIN standalone $99, ITIN $299, and BOI filing $150 per report. A founder who wants ownership off the public record chooses the $397 all-in Wyoming Anonymous LLC and foreign-qualifies it into North Carolina instead of forming directly.
Ongoing cost is the $200 annual report ($202 online) due April 15 each year plus $100/year for registered agent service through a commercial provider. There is no separate franchise tax on the LLC itself. Income tax is separate and depends on profit, not a flat yearly fee: North Carolina applies a flat 4.5% personal income tax to pass-through LLC income. Missing the April 15 annual report moves the LLC toward administrative dissolution. Anonymousllc.co files the report for clients as part of registered agent service, so the deadline is never missed.
Filing yourself costs only the $125 state fee, but the founder handles the name check, operating agreement, EIN, and bank applications alone. Anonymousllc.co charges a $297 service fee on top of the $125 and completes everything in 5-10 business days. The DIY route saves the $297 in cash and spends it in time and missed steps: a rejected name resets the filing, a non-resident EIN requires a fax SS-4 as third-party designee, and bank approval is stronger across four or five applications than one. Anonymousllc.co runs all of it in parallel from a single WhatsApp intake.
No. North Carolina does not charge a franchise tax in the Delaware sense on an LLC. The recurring state obligation is the $200 annual report ($202 online) due April 15, not a franchise tax. North Carolina levies a franchise tax on C-corporations, but a default LLC taxed as a pass-through does not pay it. An LLC that elects C-corporation treatment enters different rules. For most North Carolina LLCs, the ongoing state cost is the $200 annual report plus $100/year registered agent.
New Mexico is the lowest-cost option at $347 all-in with no annual report and no annual fee. Wyoming forms for $397 all-in with a $60 annual report. North Carolina runs $422 in year one plus a $200 annual report each April 15. Delaware costs $407 all-in and charges a $300 flat franchise tax due June 1. Nevada costs $722 all-in and adds an annual list and state business license near $350/year. New Mexico and Wyoming also keep owners off public records, which North Carolina does not. A cost-and-privacy-focused founder forms in New Mexico or Wyoming and foreign-qualifies into North Carolina.
Yes. North Carolina applies a flat 4.5% personal income tax to pass-through LLC profit, separate from the $125 filing fee and $200 annual report. The income tax scales with profit rather than a fixed amount. The filing fee and annual report are fixed compliance costs; the income tax depends on what the business earns. A single-member LLC reports profit on Schedule C, and a multi-member LLC issues K-1s, with North Carolina's 4.5% rate applying to each owner's share. An S-corp election can lower self-employment tax once net income exceeds $40,000-$60,000. See /north-carolina-llc-tax/ for the full treatment.
From year two, a North Carolina LLC costs about $300 a year in fixed maintenance: the $200 annual report ($202 online) due April 15 plus $100/year for registered agent service. Income tax on profit is separate. Year one's $422 includes the one-time $125 filing fee and setup, which do not repeat. The recurring obligations are the annual report and the registered agent, both handled by Anonymousllc.co so nothing lapses. A lapsed LLC that misses the annual report faces administrative dissolution and a $250 reinstatement plus state fees, which makes the $300 upkeep the cheaper path.
A privacy-focused founder forms the $397 all-in Wyoming Anonymous LLC, then registers it as a foreign LLC in North Carolina to operate locally. This keeps ownership off the public record while meeting North Carolina's registration rules. The foreign LLC pays North Carolina's registration fee and files the same $200 annual report due April 15 as a domestic LLC. The trade-off is running two states of compliance in exchange for owner privacy. A North Carolina-only business with no privacy need pays less by forming domestically at $422 all-in. Anonymousllc.co structures either path. The privacy premium is the second state's registration and annual report, weighed against keeping the owner's name off North Carolina's public record.
No. A non-US resident pays the same $422 all-in as a US resident: a $297 service fee plus the $125 state fee. North Carolina places no citizenship or residency surcharge on LLC ownership. The one difference is the EIN path: a non-resident without an SSN gets the EIN by fax filing IRS Form SS-4 in 5-7 days, included in the $422. A non-resident who also wants ownership privacy pairs the North Carolina filing with a $397 Wyoming Anonymous LLC. Optional add-ons like ITIN ($299) apply only if personal US tax filing requires one.
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