Vol. 1 · No. 01 · May 2026
The Journal.
The honest way to read about U.S. company formation. Every piece is editorially locked before we run any affiliate link, and we date our freshness checks like a legal filing.
Lead story
West Virginia LLC formation: the Mountain State guide
A $100 filing, a cheap $25 annual report, and a simplified 2022 tax overhaul — why West Virginia is quietly getting easier for small founders.
est Virginia is not a destination formation state, and it does not try to be. What it is, in 2026, is a cleanly run small state with a $100 filing fee, a $25 annual report, and;…
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- №499 How to Form an LLC in Utah $54 to form, $18 annual — Utah is one of the cheapest states in the country to run a compliant LLC, and one of the fastest to file.
- №498 How to Form an LLC in Vermont $125 filing, $35 annual — Vermont's LLC fees are reasonable, but its corporate income tax and compliance surface earn it a middle-of-the-pack ranking.
- №497 Virginia LLC formation: the Old Dominion guide Modest fees, a corporate income tax, and a business-friendly SCC — what founders actually need to know about Virginia.
- №496 Stripe Atlas review: the $500 venture-track Delaware C-Corp in a box YC and accelerator-default, integrated banking, and the 83(b) mailing done for you. An honest look at who Stripe Atlas is and is not for.
- №495 Stripe Atlas review (2026) The right answer for a Delaware C-Corp that will raise venture capital, and a poor answer for almost anything else. $500 flat, no upsell ladder.
- №494 Series LLCs: which states, when they work, when they don't The eighteen jurisdictions that allow the structure, the cases where it genuinely cuts overhead, and the three scenarios where founders consistently get it wrong.
- №493 LLC vs S-Corp: when the election actually pays The S-corp election doesn't change your legal entity — it changes your tax return. The math only works above a specific profit threshold. Here is where that line sits in 2026.
- №492 Ohio LLC: to file, no annual report, and the CAT to understand One of the cheapest LLCs to maintain in the country — a $99 filing fee and no annual report — balanced against the Commercial Activity Tax on gross receipts over $3M.
- №491 Rocket Lawyer Review (2026): Formation as the Gateway Drug The LLC filing is fine. The real product is a $39.99/month legal subscription.
- №490 Inc Authority Review (2026): Free Formation, Aggressive Upsells The $0 price tag is real. Whether you walk out paying $0 is another question.
- №489 MyCompanyWorks Review (2026): The Quiet Workhorse Unglamorous, well-supported, and transparent about what things cost.
- №488 LegalZoom review (2026) The most-recognized brand in online entity formation is also the most-upsold. The free tier exists; getting out on it does not happen by accident.
- №487 LLC vs C-Corp: which, when, and why A C-corp costs more to run and is taxed twice. It is still the right structure for venture-backed startups — and, after the 2025 QSBS expansion, for some companies that would never have considered one.
- №486 How to Form an LLC in Texas $300 filing, no state income tax, and a franchise tax that doesn't apply until revenue crosses $1.23 million. For most new LLCs, Texas is effectively a zero-tax state.
- №485 How to form an LLC in South Carolina A $110 filing and one of the few states with no LLC annual report.
- №484 North Dakota LLC: a low-friction home-state filing $135 to file, $50 annual report, some of the lowest individual income tax rates in the country, and a well-designed Secretary of State portal. Why North Dakota works for residents.
- №483 How to Form an LLC in South Dakota No corporate or personal income tax, $150 filing, and the country's strongest asset-protection trust regime — why SD punches above its population.
- №482 How to Form an LLC in Iowa (2026 Guide) Filing the Certificate of Organization with the Iowa Secretary of State, paying the $50 fee, and filing the $60 biennial report.
- №481 How to Form an LLC in Tennessee $300 filing, no state wage tax — but franchise and excise tax hit entities from dollar one. Plan for that before you file.
- №480 How to form an LLC in Rhode Island A $150 filing, a $50 annual report, and a $400 minimum franchise floor.
- №479 How to form an LLC in Georgia A $100 filing fee, a $50 annual report, and an online portal that works. Georgia is a quietly good state in which to form — predictable, cheap, and without gotchas.