Delaware LLC vs Missouri LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Delaware.
Based in Missouri? Read Missouri LLC vs Delaware LLC →
Compare Delaware LLC vs Missouri LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
Last updated: September 23, 2026
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Missouri has no annual report and no franchise tax, so after a $50 online filing the state asks for nothing recurring at all. Mail the same form and it costs $105, a $55 premium for using paper that the Secretary of State advertises in reverse as an online saving. Delaware has no annual report either, but it does have the $400 LLC tax, which is the whole of the $400 recurring gap. Both states keep members off the formation record. A Missouri LLC operated from Delaware still pays $200 to register and then the $400.
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| Factor | Delaware | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $110 | $50 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Usually instant (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | None ($400/yr entity tax instead) | None |
| Annual Report Due | None required | None required |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | Yes | Yes |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $200 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Delaware LLC cost and Missouri LLC cost.
Business Climate: Delaware vs Missouri
| Factor | Delaware | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 48.1% (#37 of 51) | 42.9% (#49 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +2.5% YoY (#33 of 51 by volume) | +24.6% YoY (#17 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Delaware vs Missouri
Delaware
Missouri
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Delaware charges $110 to form an LLC, while Missouri charges $50. Missouri is $60 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Missouri but operate in Delaware, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Delaware (a $200 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Missouri (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Missouri route at roughly $400, versus $110 for simply forming in Delaware. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Missouri publishes usually instant (online), while Delaware publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: Delaware vs Missouri
Both Delaware and Missouri levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Missouri doesn't change what a Delaware-based owner pays. Missouri levies a graduated individual income tax with a top rate of 4.7% for 2026, confirmed by the Department of Revenue's 2026 withholding tax formula. Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).
Privacy & Asset Protection
Both Delaware and Missouri allow anonymous LLC formation. Neither state requires member or manager names on routine public filings. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Delaware LLCs file no annual report at all, and Missouri LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Missouri while operating in Delaware, you maintain filings in both states, though neither state asks for a recurring report, and pay a Missouri registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Missouri route to roughly $150 a year, versus about $400 to keep a domestic Delaware LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Delaware LLCs owe a flat $400 annual LLC tax (no report required).
When Missouri Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Missouri makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Missouri, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Missouri in the near future. For a typical small business based in Delaware, none of these usually apply. Registering a Missouri LLC to do business back home means $200 in Delaware foreign-registration fees, on top of Missouri's $50 formation fee, while Delaware itself never asks for an annual report at all. Delaware already allows anonymous formation, so the privacy argument for Missouri doesn't apply to a Delaware-based owner. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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