Form an LLC · RI

How to form an LLC in Rhode Island

Rhode Island LLCs are formed by filing Articles of Organization with the Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division — the official filing fee is $150. Corpus prepares and files it for $276 all-in, including your first year of registered-agent service.

Form your Rhode Island LLC

What Rhode Island requires

Formation document
Articles of Organization verified 2026-09-24
Filing office
Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division verified 2026-09-24
Rhode Island filing fee for the Articles of Organization
$150 Articles of Organization filing fee. verified 2026-09-30
Online filing
Yes — Rhode Island accepts LLC Articles of Organization online through the Department of State's business portal. verified 2026-09-24
Standard processing time
Department of State processing: within two business days. verified 2026-09-30
Expedited options
None listed by the state. verified 2026-09-30
  • The filing guide states that all filings are processed within two business days. No opened official page states an expedited fee. source
Name requirement
The name must end with “limited liability company,” “L.L.C.,” or “LLC.” verified 2026-09-24
Registered agent
Required — A Rhode Island LLC must maintain a resident agent in the state. verified 2026-09-24
LLC statute
Rhode Island Limited Liability Company Act, R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 7-16 verified 2026-09-24

What you’ll need

The Corpus intake collects this information to prepare the filing. Some questions are asked only when they apply — for example, the management question is asked only when the company has more than one owner.

  • What do you want to name the company?
  • In a sentence, what will the business actually do?
  • Where should official mail go — street, city, state, ZIP?
  • What email should we use for this order?
  • Which industry code fits this business?
  • Besides you, will anyone else have authority to make decisions for the business?
  • Who owns this company?

Rhode Island asks nothing beyond the standard questions.

What it costs with Corpus

State fees (filing fee + the state's processing charges)
$156
Registered agent, year one
$100
Corpus service
$20
Total at checkout
$276

$156 = Rhode Island’s $150 in formation fees for an online filing + $6 of other state processing charges for the way Corpus files (expedite, card or online-portal fees).

Registered agent renews at $99/yr after the included first year — cancel anytime. Itemized pricing for every state is on the price grid; how Corpus compares to other formation services is on the comparison page.

After you form: staying in good standing

Annual report
Annual report — february 1 through May 1, beginning the calendar year after registration. verified 2026-09-30
  • RI-05 lists $3.00 to file online inside the LLC Late Filing Penalty cell, beneath "$25 applied June 1"; it does not show a $3.00 surcharge on timely reports. source · source 2 · source 3
Report fee
$50 verified 2026-09-30
  • Conditional: $2.50 enhanced access online fee (online filing). source
  • Conditional: $3 online increment to late filing penalty (only for a late annual report; RI-05 lists $3.00 to file online in the LLC late-filing-penalty cell below the $25 applied June 1). source
  • Conditional: $25 late filing penalty (applied June 1). source
Franchise or privilege tax
$400 minimum annual tax, owed by every LLC. verified 2026-09-30
  • Rates, caps, thresholds, apportionment and exemptions: see Rhode Island Division of Taxation. The $400 minimum applies under both default classifications whether or not the LLC conducted business or made a profit, and is not prorated. source · source 2 · source 3

Comparing what registered-agent service costs after year one across providers? The comparison page publishes renewal prices.

Form it with your AI agent

You don’t have to do the intake here. Any agent that can open a link can run the whole thing — Corpus’s formation tools give it Rhode Island’s requirements and live price, it asks you the questions above, and it hands back a prefilled link you review and pay. Paste this into your assistant:

Form an LLC in Rhode Island for me with Corpus (corpuslaw.us). Use its formation tools to get Rhode Island's requirements and price, ask me what you need, and give me the prefilled link.

The guide is on /agents, the protocol reference is /docs/mcp, and the installable skill for this state is the Rhode Island SKILL.md.

Sources

Every verified fact above names where Corpus read it and the date it was last verified. Sources marked secondary are third-party write-ups used only where an official page did not publish the answer.

Corpus is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Fees and rules change — each verified fact above shows the date Corpus last verified it; anything marked “not yet verified” should be confirmed with the filing office.