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Five LLC myths that quietly cost real money
These come up in every Reddit thread and every “free LLC” landing page. Each one is corrected with the official state fee schedule — not opinion.
“Forming in Delaware saves me money.”
Delaware charges a $400 annual LLC tax (raised from $300 in 2025) — and your home state taxes you anyway if you actually do business there. A freelancer in Texas who forms a Delaware LLC pays Texas fees AND Delaware fees. Delaware makes sense for venture-backed C-corps, not for a bootstrapped LLC.
“An LLC means I pay less tax.”
A single-member LLC is a “disregarded entity” — it changes zero about your taxes by default. What changes taxes is electing S-corp status, and that only starts to pay off around $40,000–$70,000 in profit (the exact threshold is one of the most argued-about numbers in r/tax). Below that, S-corp payroll costs eat the savings.
“The $300 filing fee is the total cost.”
The filing fee is the floor. Registered agent, publication (New York), annual reports, franchise taxes (California’s $800 minimum), and operating agreement templates all stack on top. Our calculator shows the real first-year number for your state.
“I need a lawyer to form my LLC.”
For a standard single-member LLC with no investors, formation is a form filing. The lawyer’s $500–$2,000 fee mostly covers work you can do in an afternoon. Spend the lawyer money on an operating agreement review if you have partners — not on the filing itself.
“A registered agent service is mandatory.”
A registered agent is mandatory in every state. A paid service is not. You can be your own agent for $0 in nearly every state if you have a physical in-state address and can receive mail during business hours. Pay for a service when you want privacy (your address stays off public records) or you are never home during business hours.
Now check what your state actually charges
51 jurisdictions, one table, verified monthly against the official fee schedules.