Online Arizona LLC FAQ

In Arizona, you create an LLC by filing "articles of organization" with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) and paying a filing fee. You need to name a statutory agent on your articles of incorporation.

Statutory agent. The Arizona Corporation Commission requires that one individual or commercial business (other than the LLC itself) act as your statutory agent for service of process. Your agent will receive official government notifications, correspondence from the ACC, and notice of lawsuits. The LLC can name one of its initial members to serve as the agent, or Nolo's partner Vcorp Services can serve as your registered agent. If you choose to use an individual agent, the ACC will send your agent an email asking the agent to accept the appointment. Your agent must respond within seven days. If your agent fails to respond within the allotted time, your LLC filing will be rejected. Note that the ACC will not send your statutory agent this email until it processes your LLC filing (three to four days after you submit your order).

Operating agreement. Your LLC also needs an operating agreement, though it doesn't need to be filed with the ACC. Your operating agreement explicitly states the rights and responsibilities of the LLC owners (and managers, if applicable). An operating agreement clarifies the business arrangement between the owners and governs how your LLC will be run. If you don't create a written operating agreement, the LLC laws of your state will govern the inner workings of your LLC.

Licenses and permits. After the Corporation Commission accepts your articles of organization filing and you have an operating agreement, your LLC is official, but you will still need to obtain the licenses and permits that all new businesses must have to operate. These may include a business license (sometimes also referred to as a "tax registration certificate"), a federal employer identification number, a seller's permit, or a zoning permit. Forming an LLC does not exempt you from any of these requirements that apply to all businesses. For more information, see the Licenses & Permits for Your Business area of Nolo's website.

To begin creating your Arizona LLC, visit the Online Arizona LLC page at the Nolo website.

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Do I need to file a beneficial ownership information report for my LLC?

All LLCs, unless exempt, must complete a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report by the appropriate deadline. You must file your BOI report with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury. File online through FinCEN's BOI E-Filing System.

In your BOI report, you must provide basic information about:

• your LLC (the reporting company)
• the individual who filed your LLC's formation documents (the company applicant), and
• your LLC's beneficial owners (those owners who either own or control at least 25% of your LLC's interests or have substantial control over your LLC).

Your filing deadline and the information required for your BOI report depend on when you formed your LLC.

If you formed your LLC in 2024, then you must file your BOI report within 90 days of when either you received actual notice or when your state's filing office provided public notice of your LLC's creation, whichever is earlier. If you formed your LLC in 2025 or later, then your deadline is reduced to 30 days.

If you formed your LLC in 2023 or earlier, you must file a BOI report by January 1, 2025. You don't need to complete the section related to the company applicant in the BOI report. This section only applies to companies formed on or after January 1, 2024.

There's no charge for filing a BOI report. You can learn more about FinCEN's new reporting requirement and how it applies to your LLC in our article on BOI reports.

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How much will it cost to form my Arizona LLC?

The price of Nolo's Online Arizona LLC formation service varies depending on your needs. To compare the prices of Nolo's three Arizona LLC packages, see the package and pricing details page.

Nolo's Basic Service. The lowest priced package is Nolo's Basic Service, which includes preparation of the articles of organization and regular filing, and will take two weeks (if the ACC is not experiencing long delays in processing time).

Nolo's Standard Service. Our standard Service package gets you all of the benefits of the Basic Service plus preparation of the IRS application for a tax ID (Form SS-4) and the Business Forms Bundle, containing 30 forms and contracts that every small business needs. Includes access to NoloCloud Legal Forms for business anywhere at any time from your account. Processing time is generally two weeks.

Nolo's Express Premiere Service. For all of these items plus Priority Rush Filing, a personalized LLC records book, membership certificates, an LLC seal, and preparation of the IRS application for a tax ID (Form SS-4), choose Nolo's Express Premiere Service. With Priority Rush Filing, your LLC will be formed within one business day, and you'll receive your final LLC documents three to four business days later. You'll receive your LLC records kit several days after your final documents.

You can also add one or more of the following services for a small fee: preparation of a customized operating agreement, registered agent service, accounting help, and/or business license advice.

Note that filing fees charged by the state are not included in our package prices. The Arizona Corporation Commission charges $85 for filing online. The filing fee will be added to your total when you check out.

Please note that coupon codes are not applicable to LLC packages.

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How long will it take to form my Arizona LLC?

If you order the Basic or Standard package, we will file your paperwork with the Arizona Corporation Commission within four to five business days. You should receive your final documents one week later, IF you (or the person you name as your registered agent) promptly respond to an email from the Corporation Commission accepting the registered agent appointment. (If you opt to have our partner Vcorp Services act as your commercial registered agent, you can skip this step.)

If you order the Express Premiere package, we will file your paperwork with the Corporation Commission within one business day. You should receive your final documents three to four days later, IF you (or the person you name as your registered agent) promptly respond to an email from the Corporation Commission accepting the registered agent appointment. (If you opt to have our partner Vcorp Services act as your commercial registered agent, you can skip this step.) You'll receive your LLC records kit directly from the manufacturer.

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How long do I have to work on my LLC formation?

You have as long as you like to work on your LLC formation on Nolo.com. When you fill out your information in the LLC interview, your answers are automatically saved.

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What is the publication requirement for LLCs in Arizona?

The publication requirement refers to publishing a legal notice about your business formation in a newspaper. Note that LLCs with a principal place of business in Pima or Maricopa county do not have a publication requirement. (The Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) will publish information about new LLCs formed in Pima and Maricopa counties on its website, eliminating the need for those LLCs to publish their own legal notices.)

For LLCs with a principal place of business in all other counties, within 60 days, the LLC must publish a notice containing the information in its articles of organization in a newspaper for three consecutive weeks. After your LLC is formed, the ACC will send you a blank Notice for Publication for you to fill out and bring to an approved newspaper for publication. The LLC may, but does not need to, submit proof of publication to the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC). LLCs that neglect to comply with the publication requirement will be subject to a penalty from the ACC.

As part of Nolo's formation service, you can opt to have our partner Vcorp Services prepare the legal notice, contact the specific newspapers that meet the requirements of each county, publish the notices for the required number of days or weeks, and submit proof of publication to the ACC. For more information, visit Vcorp's publication services page.

Will I have to pay taxes on my Arizona LLC?

Federal taxes. The IRS does not impose taxes on the LLC; LLC income is reported on the members' individual tax returns.

State taxes. All new businesses need to register with the Arizona Department of Taxation. You can visit the Arizona Department of Taxation's website at https://azdor.gov/business to learn about state LLC taxes in Arizona, and you may also find it helpful to read Nolo's article on Arizona LLC Annual Filing Requirements.

Self-employment taxes. LLC members (owners) who are active in the business will probably have to pay self-employment taxes on their share of LLC profits—just as partners in a partnership do. Fortunately, an LLC member can deduct, as a business expense, half of the self-employment taxes paid. (Members in manager-managed LLCs may not have to pay self-employment taxes if they are not active in the business; if you are in this situation, consult a tax adviser to see if you should pay self-employment taxes.)

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Can I form an LLC in a different state than the one in which my business will operate?

You can form an LLC in Arizona even if your business will not be located in Arizona and/or no LLC members will live there. But you will probably still need to qualify your LLC to do business in your home state—and this means you'll have to file additional paperwork and pay additional fees. For more information on whether you'll need to qualify to do business in certain states, read Nolo's article Qualifying to Do Business Outside Your State on Nolo's website. Note that if you don't register to do business in another state when required, you won't be able to enforce contracts in that state.

Also, be ready for some state tax complications if you form your LLC in a state that's different from the state where all of its members live. For one thing, the LLC members might have to pay personal income taxes in the other state on LLC income. (At best, you might get credit for those taxes in your home state and not have to pay twice. At worst, you might have to pay taxes you wouldn't have had to pay at home.) Other state taxes vary from state to state, and might influence your choice of location for an LLC. An LLC—like any business—has to pay franchise taxes, sales and use taxes, other transaction and excise taxes, and employment, property, and transfer taxes.

In addition, in most states, you need to maintain a registered agent in the state where you form your LLC. To avoid these hassles, most smaller LLCs that will operate in only one state form their LLC in their home state. For more information, read Nolo's article Where to Form Your LLC.

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How can an LLC be ended after it has been formed?

Like a corporation, an LLC is meant to be a permanent legal entity, and it will exist—and incur taxes and fees, whether or not you are actively operating a business—until you take legal steps to dissolve it. If you decide to discontinue business as an LLC, you must file paperwork with the Corporation Commission. For specifics, see ACC's website at https://www.azcc.gov/. For general information on closing a business, read the article Closing Your Business: What You Need to Do on Nolo's website.

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What happens after I complete Nolo's LLC interview?

Your articles of organization will be generated and filed with the Corporation Commission. Turnaround times vary according to the package you choose.

If you ordered Nolo's Express Premiere Service, your LLC records binder and company seal will be sent to you independently, directly from the manufacturer.

As soon as your filing is complete, we will email you your final LLC documents, including your customized operating agreement (if you ordered one) and instructions on a few more steps you need to take, including holding an initial meeting of your members or managers. You'll also receive details related to filing your BOI report, including your filing deadline, instructions on how to file, and your company applicant's FinCEN ID, which you must use to complete your BOI report.

After completing your purchase, you may no longer go back and change your answers because your order is being processed. You may, however, view your answers by signing in to your Nolo account at www.nolo.com/products/customer/account/login, clicking on My Account, and clicking on Arizona LLC.

Once we send your documents to the Corporation Commission, we cannot refund your state filing fees and other third-party costs, such as courier and delivery services, should you decide to cancel your order. If you have questions, please let us know here.

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What if I want to change the information I gave you for my new LLC?

You can take as much time as you like to work on your LLC answer choices. Every time you add or edit an answer, your work is automatically saved.

After completing your purchase, you may no longer go back and change your answers because your order is being processed. You may, however, view your answers by signing in to your Nolo account at www.nolo.com/products/customer/account/login, clicking on My Account, and clicking on Arizona LLC.

Nolo's Online Legal Forms will store your personal information for one year after you pay for your LLC formation.

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Where can I learn more about LLCs?

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