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LLC Cost in Colorado - How Much To Pay In Fees & Taxes in CO

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Last updated February 17, 2023

Written by Dmytro Kondratiev

Editor, lawyer

Disclosure: We earn a commission from some partner links. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.

Do you have an intention to launch a private business in Colorado? If you have already figured out how to start an LLC in Colorado, we bet you wonder how much it will cost. If so, you’ve come to the right place.

Below, you’ll find detailed info about the cost of forming an LLC in Colorado. You’ll learn everything you need to know to plan your startup budget in the most efficient manner and adequately schedule your upcoming business expenses.

How Much Does an LLC Cost in Colorado?

The LLC registration is not free of charge. Most likely than not, you are aware of the need to pay a state fee to legalize your business in a particular jurisdiction. Yet, do you know about any other associated charges and regular payments that might occur?

All in all, there is no single fixed LLC price in Colorado. The final cost will depend on the type of LLC you choose and the additional services you might need.

So, we’ll make a breakdown of Colorado LLC costs keeping those two factors in mind. You’ll find the following fees split into the most common and optional ones to ease your further calculations:

Business formation;
Maintenance expenses.

Standard Colorado LLC Fees

Limited liability companies are regulated by state laws. By and large, statutory regulations are very similar across jurisdictions, with some nuances and minor discrepancies to them. Yet, formation costs can greatly vary from one state to another.

There is a list of common LLC-related expenses covering both regular payments and one-time fees most of which are state charges.

Colorado Online Filing Fee: $50

It’s the Articles of Organization or an LLC statute that formalizes your business formation and gives it a status of an independent legal entity with its own powers, rights, duties, and commitments.

Colorado is among the states featuring affordable formation fees. A Colorado LLC filing fee is $50. Notably, the state is about online filings only. It means you’ll be able to submit your LLC formation application only via the Secretary of State’s website.

There are several benefits to it:

Online filing is convenient;
Your application will be reviewed really fast.

In fact, the statute will be checked and approved once you fill in an online form and pay a filing fee.

Pay attention to the fact that under House Bill 22-1001, the Colorado LLC filing fee was reduced by $49. The bill will remain valid till June 30, 2023, ensuring the cost of LLC in Colorado at $1 only.

Registered Agent in Colorado: $0 - $150

A registered agent is one of the law requirements you can’t skip. The main function of this role is to safeguard your company’s compliance status by receiving your legal mail, keeping an eye on your essential notifications, and timely informing you about that.

When it comes to appointing a registered agent, in Colorado, you can:

Be your own agent;
Ask some of your friends, relatives, colleagues, or even neighbors to perform this function;
Hire a dedicated service to do the job since an agent could be either an adult person (over 18 years of age) or a legal entity.

Serving your own agent or delegating the task to some of your acquaintances might save some money. Meanwhile, whether you hire an attorney or choose to designate an agent service, this will come at a cost.

However, with one of the best registered agent services in Colorado, you’ll get the following benefits:

Your vital correspondence is properly organized and consistently under control;
Your LLC’s good standing status is secured;
Quality service is offered at an affordable price. Average agent service fees vary from $50 to $150 per year against a few thousand USD you’ll have to pay to a lawyer;
By ordering the service for several states or several years in advance, in most cases, you’ll get a 10%-25% discount that will save you some funds in the long run.

Periodic Report Fee in Colorado: $10

A reporting requirement is one of the most important you need to observe after your company’s formation. By filing a state report, you update your basic company info with the state registry to prove that your business is operable and nothing has changed.

With some states having biennial and decimal reporting requirements, most jurisdictions call for informational reports to be sent on an annual basis. Colorado is among the latter. A periodic report is to be provided to the Secretary of State.

An annual LLC fee in Colorado is only $10. The report should be sent within a 5-month period, including two months before and after the month of your LLC formation. Reporting delays will entail a $50 penalty.

Foreign LLC Cost in Colorado: $100

At some point, your venture might outgrow your domestic state and you might decide to expand your business to other states. To do that legally and lawfully, you’ll have to get a foreign qualification in each jurisdiction beyond your formation state.

Extending your entrepreneurial activity to Colorado, you should foreign qualify there. A foreign LLC filing fee in Colorado is $100. To pass registration, you should file a Statement of Foreign Entity with the Secretary of State.

Professional LLC Price in Colorado: $50 + Licensing Fees

Planning to establish a vet clinic, open a consulting agency, or set up a law practice in Colorado? If so, you need to form a professional LLC to adequately and eligibly maintain your future entrepreneurial activity.

To register a PLLC, you will have to pass pretty much the same formation procedure as with a common limited liability company. Yet, you should also have an appropriate license in place to verify your professional qualification accordingly.

Professions that call for licensing to run business embrace:

Doctors, physicians, and nurses;
Veterinarians;
Psychologists;
Manual therapists and chiropractors;
Engineers and constructors;
Lawyers and attorneys;
Plumbers and electricians;
Public accountants, etc.

Hence, a professional LLC cost in Colorado comprises a $50 filing fee and a licensing fee that might vary from $20 to $500 and more. Yet, given the law that cuts down the formation fee to $1, you will only have to pay for the license till the end of June 2023.

Business License Cost in Colorado: Fees Vary by Locality

Licensing is a complex and, at times, an intimidating issue for beginner entrepreneurs. Most entities are required to get some sort of license or permit to eligibly operate in the jurisdiction of registration.

Colorado is among the states that have no statutory requirements for a general state license, thus saving you some time and funds. At the same time, though, sales taxpayers across industries should have a sales permit in place.

Besides, most likely than not, you’ll need some sort of local license issued at the county or municipal level. To find out which type of permissive document you need, contact:

Your county or clerk's office for local permits;
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies for statewide licenses.

The pricing will vary by locality accordingly and might fall anywhere from $20 to a few hundred USD per registration.

LLC Taxes in Colorado

By default, LLCs use pass-through taxation and are free from paying corporate income tax. Yet, should you choose to tax your LLC as a C-Corp, the entity will be exposed to this tax similar to corporations.

To understand the upcoming levies your business will be exposed to, take a look at the list of the most common Colorado LLC taxes:

LLC members will pay an income tax over their part of the LLC profit at a flat rate of 4.63%;
Since LLC members are considered self-employed (unless you elect a corporate tax status), they will have to pay a 15.3% self-employment tax;
Those LLCs that are involved in sales and commercial activities will be levied a sales and use tax at a 2.9% rate (which is among the lowest in the US);
As an employer using hired workforce, your entity will be open to FICA taxes embracing a 6% Social Security rate and a 1.45% rate for Medicare.

Other Colorado LLC Costs

Regular and obligatory state payments aside, you might face a number of fees related to some specific services. Most often, those are one-time charges you’ll have to cover only when paying for the service.

Name Reservation Cost in Colorado: $25

If you hit the spot with a memorable and outstanding business name that is not occupied, you can put it on hold in Colorado for a period of 120 days. Just file a Name Reservation Form with the Secretary of State and pay a $25 fee.

Note that for foreign LLCs, a name reservation fee is $40 and the reservation period is much longer. It’s 12 months.

Trade Name Registration in Colorado: $20

To run your Colorado venture under a different name that is more marketable and appropriate for your current activity, you can register a so-called DBA (doing business as) or trade name with the state office.

You can register multiple trade names for a single LLC by filing the Trade Name Statement and paying a $20 registration fee for a single moniker.

Also applicable to a Colorado LLC filing fee, House Bill 22-1001 has reduced the trade name filing fee to only $1. So, till June 30, 2023, you can file nearly for free and get as many DBAs for your Colorado LLC as you need.

Colorado Certificate of Good Standing and Certified Document Copies: Free

You might need this document to verify your LLC’s compliance and legitimacy when applying for a business loan or setting up a credit line for your company.

While most states issue this at a fixed cost payable to the Secretary of State, Colorado will provide it for free. The same is true for certified copies of LLC documents you might need.

Colorado Articles of Amendment: $25

Once you register your LLC statute with the state, any changes in it could be made only via official amendments. Thus, to change a legal address, company name, or registered agent, you need to file the Articles of Amendment in Colorado.

The document is to be submitted to the Secretary of State. Only online filing is available. Yet, it will be processed immediately after you pay a $25 filing fee.

Colorado Certificate of Reinstatement: $100

If you’ve dissolved your LLC for some reason and want to revive it, you can file the Articles of Reinstatement with the state and pay a $100 fee.

However, if your entity was given a delinquent status due to:

Failure to file a periodic report;
Lack of a registered agent;
Non-paid penalties and fines

you should first resolve the problems that lead to delinquency and regain good standing status for your LLC. Then, you need to file a Statement Curing Delinquency and pay a $100 processing fee to the state.

Statement of Dissolution for a Colorado LLC: $25

Similar to a formation process, to deactivate your Colorado LLC, you need to formalize the dissolution procedure. Colorado LLCs are dissolved by filing the Statement of Dissolution with the state via a unified online filing system. The filing fee is only $25.

FAQ

Is the Colorado LLC registration worth its cost?

The benefits you’ll get with the LLC structure are certainly worth the money you’ll pay to complete the formation process. The values of liability protection, flexible taxation, and hassle-free business control are hard to underestimate.

With that, LLC fees in Colorado are much lower than those in many other states. So, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to set up a legal entity.

How fast will a Colorado LLC be registered?

Colorado accepts only online filings and offers immediate documents approval. Thus, your Colorado LLC will be registered as soon as you fill in the digital application form and pay a state filing fee.

Is a business license required for a Colorado LLC?

There is no single general business license requirement at a state level, unlike in some other jurisdictions. However, local licensing laws greatly vary. So, you should check with your local government to be 100% sure you have all the required permissive documents in place.

Will my Colorado LLC have to pay an income tax?

No, it won’t unless you elect a C-Corp tax status for your entity. Otherwise, taxed as pass-through entities, LLCs in Colorado are free from corporate income tax payments.

Do I have to renew my Colorado LLC annually?

You will have to file a periodic report once a year simply to maintain your company info updated with the state. No other specific renewal requirements are applied.

What is the cheapest way to start an LLC in Colorado?

Casting a quick look at the table of LLC-related costs above, you will notice that formation fees are quite affordable. Hence, to get a cheap Colorado LLC, it’s enough to handle the formation process on your own.

This way, you’ll avoid any added expenses and will have only compulsory fees to cover.

Can a Colorado LLC get tax refunds?

An LLC is only entitled to tax refunds when taxed as a C-Corp. To legalize that status for your entity, you need to file Form 8832 with the Internal Revenue Service.

Can I pay myself a salary from my Colorado LLC?

LLC members are self-employed and get paid by their LLCs via income draws i.e. profit distributions made pro rata with their equity shares.

That said, LLCs taxed as corporations can hire their owners as common employees and pay wages to them.

Can I pay for my cell phone from my Colorado LLC?

Yes, you can to the extent you use your cell phone for business. In other words, you can refer to business expenses only as the costs related to work. More than that, business use should exceed 50% to make those costs deductible.

Can I deduct my Internet expenses from my Colorado LLC when working from home?

If you use your home Internet for business most of the time, you can write off the cost from LLC. Yet, if the business usage is below 50%, the cost is non-deductible.

Can I deduct my car expenses from my Colorado LLC?

Using your vehicle for business is a normal thing, and any associated costs are deductible. You can even write off entire car-related costs if you drive your car for business purposes only.

Can I write off fuel receipts from my Colorado LLC?

Basically, you can. The best and easiest way would be to write off driving costs as a part of common vehicle expenses. Otherwise, you should somehow count the miles driven for business.