New Hampshire LLC vs Virginia LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in New Hampshire.
Based in Virginia? Read Virginia LLC vs New Hampshire LLC →
Compare New Hampshire LLC vs Virginia 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
Virginia matches the $100 New Hampshire formation fee and halves the recurring one, charging a $50 annual registration fee rather than requiring an annual report at all. The mechanics are unusual. The State Corporation Commission assesses that fee two months before it falls due and you may not pay before being assessed, so there is no settling it early and forgetting it, and three months unpaid cancels the company rather than merely penalising it. Virginia also keeps members off the public record, and a $100 filing brings the LLC into New Hampshire.
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| Factor | New Hampshire | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $100 | $100 |
| Processing Time | Within 30 days (paper) | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $100 | $50 |
| Annual Report Due | April 1 | Last day of anniversary month |
| State Income Tax | No | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | Yes |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $100 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: New Hampshire LLC cost and Virginia LLC cost.
Business Climate: New Hampshire vs Virginia
| Factor | New Hampshire | Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 47.7% (#40 of 51) | 48.8% (#35 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +26.1% YoY (#42 of 51 by volume) | +12.6% YoY (#14 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: New Hampshire vs Virginia
New Hampshire
Virginia
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
New Hampshire charges $100 to form an LLC, while Virginia charges $100. The upfront filing fees are identical. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Virginia but operate in New Hampshire, you must also register as a foreign LLC in New Hampshire (a $100 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Virginia (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Virginia route at roughly $350, versus $100 for simply forming in New Hampshire. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: New Hampshire publishes a standard turnaround (within 30 days (paper)), while Virginia publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: New Hampshire vs Virginia
New Hampshire has no personal income tax, while Virginia taxes individual income. Since pass-through LLC profits are taxed where you live and operate, a New Hampshire-based owner keeps New Hampshire's no-income-tax benefit either way. Forming in Virginia adds no tax advantage. Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Virginia allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. Virginia's Articles of Organization require only a registered agent (no members or managers), and Virginia LLCs file no information-bearing annual report (just a $50 annual registration fee), so owner names stay off public filings. One avoidable exposure: Va. Code s.13.1-1011(A)(3) requires the articles to state the registered agent's qualification, and one permitted qualification is that the agent is a member or manager of the LLC, selecting it names that person. Using a commercial agent or a Virginia State Bar member avoids it. New Hampshire doesn't offer that same privacy. The Certificate of Formation (RSA 304-C:31) doesn't require member/manager names, but the annual report (RSA 304-C:194) must set forth the names and business addresses of the LLC's managers or, if there are no managers, at least one member, so ownership/management can't stay off all 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. One important caveat: if you register your Virginia LLC as a foreign LLC in New Hampshire, that New Hampshire registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in New Hampshire.
Annual Maintenance Costs
New Hampshire LLCs file an annual report ($100, due April 1), and Virginia LLCs file an annual report ($50, due in the anniversary month). If you form in Virginia while operating in New Hampshire, you maintain filings in both states, Virginia's report plus New Hampshire's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Virginia registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Virginia route to roughly $300 a year, versus about $100 to keep a domestic New Hampshire LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.
When Virginia Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Virginia makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. New Hampshire puts owner or manager information on public filings and Virginia doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in New Hampshire still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Virginia, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Virginia in the near future and accept taking on Virginia's personal income tax, which New Hampshire doesn't levy. For a typical small business based in New Hampshire, none of these usually apply. Registering a Virginia LLC to do business back home means $100 in New Hampshire foreign-registration fees, on top of Virginia's $100 formation fee, while New Hampshire's own annual report runs $100 a year and is due April 1. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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