Vol. 1 · No. 02 · 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
How to form an LLC in Florida
A $125 filing fee, no state income tax on individuals, and Sunbiz — one of the better state filing portals in the country. Florida is the canonical business-friendly sunbelt state, and for residents, it delivers.
lorida is one of the few states where the marketing matches the reality. There is no personal income tax. The Sunbiz filing portal works the way a 2020s government website should…
Editor's selection
Guides
How to form an LLC in Oklahoma
Filing fees, Articles of Organization, and the $25 annual certificate.
Guides
How to form an LLC in Connecticut
A $120 filing fee, an $80 annual report, and one of the country's stricter pass-through tax regimes. Connecticut is a fine home state to form in — and a bad choice for anyone who isn't from here.
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The full index
- №475 How to form a Maryland LLC $100 filing, $300 annual report — and the personal property tax that makes Maryland expensive.
- №474 How to form a Kentucky LLC Low $40 filing fee, $15 annual report, and the LLET that catches every founder off guard.
- №473 How to form an LLC in Oregon A $100 filing, a $100 annual report, and no state sales tax.
- №472 How to form a Louisiana LLC $100 filing, $35 annual report, and the civil-law subtleties no other state has.
- №471 Harvard Business Services review (2026) Forty-five years of Delaware-only practice, a flat $229 formation, and the cheapest registered-agent renewal in the industry at $50 a year.
- №470 How to form an LLC in Colorado A $50 filing fee and an online-only Secretary of State. The cheapest flagship state in the country — and one of the most pleasant to work with.
- №469 How to form a Maine LLC $175 filing, $85 annual report, and the compliance items Pine Tree State founders miss.
- №468 Form an LLC in California (2026) The $70 Articles of Organization, the $800 annual franchise tax, the gross-receipts fee tiers, and the AB 85 exemption that already expired.
- №467 Firstbase Review (2026): The Default for Non-US Founders Bundled formation + EIN + US banking for international founders — but you're paying for the bundle.
- №466 Form an LLC in Arizona (2026) The $50 Articles of Organization, the newspaper publication rule (Maricopa and Pima exempted), and the new Arizona Business Center portal.
- №465 Form an LLC in Arkansas (2026) The $45 Certificate of Organization, the flat $150 franchise tax, and the filing routed to the Secretary of State instead of the DFA.
- №464 District of Columbia LLC formation: the UBT trap A $99 filing, a $300 biennial report — and a 8.25% Unincorporated Business Tax that catches most solo founders by surprise. The D.C. guide.
- №463 Converting an LLC to a C-Corp: what it costs, when to do it Delaware statutory conversion, state-law merger, and the F-reorganization — three mechanics, one clean outcome, and the VC-timing question most founders get wrong.
- №462 Annual reports: all 51 jurisdictions (2026) A reference table of LLC annual report fees, deadlines, and Secretary of State links for all 50 states plus DC — with notes on the traps worth knowing.
- №461 Bizee review (2026) Formerly IncFile, still the lowest year-one cost in the category — and, as usual in this category, the best deal has the noisiest checkout.
- №460 Wyoming LLC formation: the founder's privacy state The state that invented the LLC in 1977 — still the strongest package of privacy, low cost, and charging-order protection in the country. A founder's deep-dive.
- №459 North Carolina LLC: a well-run state with a corporate tax glide path to file, annual report due April 15, and a scheduled elimination of corporate income tax by 2030. Who North Carolina fits and who it does not.
- №458 LegalZoom review: the brand tax, and what you actually get for it The best-known LLC formation service in the U.S. is neither the cheapest nor the fastest. Here is an honest account of where LegalZoom earns its price and where it does not.
- №457 New Jersey LLC formation: a practical guide $125 to file, $75 annual report, and a two-portal registration dance that trips up most first-time founders.
- №456 Harvard Business Services review: the Delaware specialist the lawyers quietly recommend A family-owned Lewes agent with a $50-a-year registered agent fee. When Delaware is the right state, Harvard is usually the right filer.
- №455 Forming a U.S. LLC as a non-U.S. founder (2026) ITINs, EINs without an SSN, the bank account problem, and the tax-treaty traps that catch out most international owners.