Filing fees rarely make headlines, but they quietly determine what it costs to keep a business alive on paper. This...
July 23, 2026
Filing fees rarely make headlines, but they quietly determine what it costs to keep a business alive on paper. This year brought changes in three states, and the effective dates do not line up the way most owners would expect.
Three states changed what it costs to form and maintain a business entity this year. Delaware raised annual taxes and fees under House Bill 400. Louisiana raised commercial filing fees under Act 921. New Jersey moved the other direction and cut formation fees.
The Delaware change is the one most business owners will get wrong, because part of it applies retroactively to a date that has already passed.
Delaware House Bill 400 was signed on May 21, 2026, and it carries two separate effective dates. Missing that distinction is what leads owners to assume they have more time than they do.
The bill’s own synopsis states that most fee changes take effect August 1, 2026, but that changes to the partnership, limited partnership, and limited liability company annual tax, along with the annual tax on registered series, take effect January 1, 2026.
In plain terms: if you own a Delaware LLC, the higher annual tax already applies to your 2026 tax year. The increase is not something coming later this summer. It is already in effect and reaches back to the start of the year.
| Delaware House Bill 400 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Item | Previous → New | Effective |
| LLC, LP, and GP annual tax | $300 → $400 | January 1, 2026 |
| Registered series annual tax | $75 → $100 | January 1, 2026 |
| LLP/LLLP annual tax cap | $210,000 | August 1, 2026 |
| Document preclearance | $250 → $350 | August 1, 2026 |
| Written report of a record search | up to $100 → up to $200 | August 1, 2026 |
| Accepting service of process | $50 → $100 | August 1, 2026 |
| Foreign corp. annual report late penalty | $200 | August 1, 2026 |
The service of process change is worth a second look. Every section of the corporation, LLC, LP, and LLP statutes that permits or requires service on the Secretary of State was amended to reflect the new amount. If your entity is ever served this way, the cost doubled.
Delaware also expanded expedited processing. The state now has authority to charge up to $300 for 24-hour service, up to $500 for same-day, up to $1,500 for two-hour, up to $2,500 for one-hour, and up to $10,000 for 30-minute service. These are ceilings the state may charge, not amounts automatically imposed on every filing, but they matter if you are closing a transaction on a deadline.
Your 2026 Delaware LLC annual tax comes due June 1, 2027, at the new $400 rate. That gives you time to plan, and it gives you a reason to look at your entity list before the bill arrives.
The entities that quietly cost the most are the ones nobody is watching: the holding company from a deal that closed, the subsidiary that stopped operating, the LLC formed for a project that never launched. Each of those now carries $400 a year instead of $300. Across a portfolio of five dormant entities, that is $500 in new annual cost for companies doing nothing.
If you have Delaware entities you no longer need, dissolving them is a decision worth making deliberately rather than by default. Spiegel & Utrera, P.A. maintains a Delaware office and can review your entities and handle dissolutions, cancellations, and conversions.
The Louisiana Secretary of State has posted notice that effective October 1, 2026, fees for the Commercial Division will increase in accordance with Act 921 of the 2026 Regular Legislative Session.
Act 921 began as House Bill 908. It passed the House on April 1, 2026, passed the Senate on May 21, and became law without the Governor’s signature on June 23, 2026. Increases generally run from roughly $5 to $30 depending on the filing, and they cover a broad range of transactions including formations, amendments, mergers, conversions, annual reports, and foreign qualification filings.
The Legislative Fiscal Office estimated the increases will generate roughly $5 million in additional annual revenue for the state, which gives a sense of scale: this is a broad adjustment across the fee schedule rather than a change to one or two filings.
Because the increases are spread across many filing types, the current schedule on the Secretary of State’s website is the authoritative source for any specific filing you are planning. If you have a Louisiana formation, amendment, or qualification on your roadmap for this year, completing it before October 1 locks in the current rate.
New Jersey went the opposite direction. Assembly Bill A5325 passed both chambers unanimously on June 30, 2026, was signed the same day as P.L. 2026, c.24, and took effect July 1, 2026.
| New Jersey Formation Fee Reductions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Filing | Previous Fee | New Fee |
| Original Certificate of Incorporation | $125 | $100 |
| LLC formation | $125 | $100 |
| Limited partnership formation | $125 | $100 |
| Foreign corp. application for authority | $125 | $100 |
| Nonprofit original certificate | $75 | $50 |
Fees for amendments, mergers, and dissolutions were also standardized or reduced. Annual report fees did not change: they remain $75 for most for-profit entities and $30 for nonprofits.
The savings are modest on a single filing. They matter more if you are forming several entities, qualifying an out-of-state company into New Jersey, or restructuring a group.
Three states, three different directions, three different effective dates, all inside a single year. That is the actual lesson here.
Fee schedules are set on legislative calendars, not business ones. No state sends you a notice when it raises a fee. You find out when the invoice arrives, or worse, when a filing gets rejected for the wrong payment amount and the delay costs you a deadline.
Three questions worth answering before the end of the summer:
Spiegel & Utrera, P.A. has offices in Florida, New York, New Jersey, California, Delaware, Nevada, and Illinois, and works with clients in all 50 states. Our attorneys handle formations, dissolutions, annual compliance, entity changes, and registered agent service.
Our General Counsel Club includes unlimited legal and business advice, which means you can call and ask whether a fee change affects your entity before it becomes a problem rather than after.
Questions about your entities? Call our office during regular business hours at (800) 743-9900 or submit your details on the Immediate Assistance Form.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Filing fees and effective dates are subject to change. Confirm current amounts with the applicable Secretary of State before submitting any filing.
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