LLC dissolution · all 50 states + DC

How to dissolve an LLC: the 7 steps, what it costs and how long it takes

To dissolve an LLC you vote to close it, wind up the business, notify creditors and settle debts, file a dissolution form with your state, close your federal and state tax accounts, cancel licenses and registrations, and close the bank accounts. The state filing fee runs from $0 in 7 states to $220 in Delaware, 47 of 51 jurisdictions accept the filing online, and most online filings are processed within a few business days. Until you file, the LLC stays legally alive and keeps billing you annual fees.

State filing fee	$0 to $220; median $25. Free in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Montana, Utah and Washington. Every state's fee and its source.
How you file	Online in 47 of 51 jurisdictions; by mail only in Alabama, Delaware, Maine and South Dakota.
Processing time	Same day to about a week online; roughly 2 to 3 weeks by mail; a few states publish 4 to 6 weeks for standard handling.
Extra state rules	Tax clearance certificate before filing in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Texas; newspaper notice in Nebraska; annual reports must be current first in 9 states.
What it is not	Just stopping. An LLC that is never dissolved keeps owing annual reports, franchise taxes and registered-agent fees. What happens if you don't dissolve.

What does it mean to dissolve an LLC?

Dissolution is the legal act that ends an LLC's existence with the state that created it. There are three kinds. Voluntary dissolution is the one this guide covers: the members decide to close, wind up the affairs and file the form. Administrative dissolution is what the state does to you when annual reports or franchise taxes go unfiled; the company is struck off, but the debts, penalties and the personal exposure do not go away, and reinstating it later costs more than dissolving it properly would have. Judicial dissolution is ordered by a court, usually when members are deadlocked or a creditor asks for it.

The practical difference matters. Only voluntary dissolution lets you control the order of events, pay creditors before members, and close every tax account so nothing keeps accruing. That is why the paperwork comes near the end of the process, not the beginning.

How do you dissolve an LLC? The 7 steps in detail

Every state follows the same shape. Only the form name, the fee and a few tax steps differ, and your state guide below has those.

1. Vote to dissolveHold a member vote (or follow your operating agreement) and record the decision in writing. This is the legal trigger for winding up.

   Check your operating agreement first: most require a majority or unanimous vote, and some name a specific procedure. If there is no agreement, your state LLC act sets the default, which is usually a majority of members. Write the resolution down with the date and signatures, even for a single-member LLC, because banks, buyers of assets and the IRS may ask for it later.

2. Wind up the businessStop taking new business, finish existing obligations, collect receivables, and make a list of every asset and debt.

   Winding up is the part owners skip and regret. Send final invoices, cancel subscriptions and vendor contracts in writing, return leased equipment, and sell or transfer what the LLC owns. Make one list with two columns, assets and debts, and keep it. It is the basis for creditor notices and for the final distribution to members.

3. Notify creditors & settle debtsTell known creditors, pay what you owe, and resolve claims. Do this before distributing anything to members, otherwise members can become personally exposed.

   Send written notice to every known creditor with a deadline to submit claims and an address to send them to. Many states let you cut off unknown claims by publishing a notice, and a few require it. Pay or settle what is owed, then distribute what is left to members in the proportions your operating agreement sets. Members who take distributions before creditors are paid can be held personally liable for the shortfall.

4. File the state dissolution formFile your state's dissolution form with the Secretary of State. The exact name varies by state: Articles of Dissolution, Articles of Termination, or a Certificate of Cancellation (your state guide below shows the precise form, fee, and filing method). A few states (Texas, Pennsylvania, and others) require tax clearance before they'll accept this filing: check your state's notes first.

   This is the filing that legally ends the company. The state guide for your LLC below has the exact form name, the fee, whether you can file online and how long processing takes. File it only after the wind-up is done: some states ask you to confirm on the form that debts are settled and assets distributed, and a handful reject the filing until you show tax clearance or current annual reports.

5. Close federal & state taxesFile a final federal return (check the "final return" box), file final state returns, and handle final payroll/1099s. Cancel your EIN with the IRS by letter once done.

   Federal: file the final Form 1065 or Schedule C (or 1120-S if you elected S-corp status) with the final-return box checked, issue final W-2s and 1099s, and send the IRS a letter closing the business account tied to your EIN. State: file the final income, franchise and sales-tax returns and close each tax account, because an open sales-tax account keeps generating zero-return obligations and penalties even after dissolution.

6. Cancel licenses, permits & registrationsCancel business licenses, seller's permits, DBAs, and any foreign-state registrations so fees and filings stop accruing.

   Cancel the business license with your city or county, any professional or industry permits, seller or resale permits, DBA or fictitious-name registrations, and every foreign qualification in other states. A foreign registration you forget keeps billing annual report fees and registered-agent fees in that state, usually the most expensive loose end owners discover a year later.

7. Close accounts & keep recordsClose business bank accounts and credit lines after final payments clear. Keep dissolution records and final returns for at least several years.

   Close bank accounts and credit lines only after the last checks and refunds have cleared, then cancel the registered-agent service. Keep the dissolution certificate, the final returns, the creditor list and the member resolution for at least the period your state and the IRS require, commonly three to seven years, because a former customer or agency can still write to you.

How much does it cost to dissolve an LLC?

The state filing fee is the only mandatory cost and it is small: $0 in 7 states, $5 to $220 everywhere else, with a median of $25 across all 51 jurisdictions. Delaware is the most expensive at $220. What actually costs money is getting into good standing first: overdue annual reports, unpaid franchise tax and late penalties all have to be settled before some states will accept the filing. Optional costs are expedited handling, a filing service, and an accountant for the final returns. Every fee on this site is linked to the agency page that publishes it, and 15 of 51 have been re-read at source by us this year; the rest are widely reported values, so confirm yours on the agency page before you pay.

Two pages go deeper: the LLC dissolution fees by state table lists all 51 fees with the form name and the average across states, and what an unused LLC costs to keep open shows the yearly charges that keep running until you file.

How long does it take to dissolve an LLC?

The state filing itself is fast. Online portals in many states process a dissolution the same or next business day, and most published standard times fall between two and seven business days. Mail filings run about one to three weeks, and a few states publish four to six weeks for standard handling with a paid expedite option. The slow part is everything before the filing: giving creditors a claims deadline, waiting for a tax clearance certificate where one is required, and letting the final bank transactions clear. Plan on four to eight weeks from the member vote to a closed bank account for a small LLC with no disputes, and longer if a state tax authority has to issue clearance first.

Which states add extra requirements?

Most states want one form and one fee. These are the exceptions, read from each state's own filing instructions and listed in full on the state guides.

Which three mistakes keep a "dissolved" LLC alive?

• Paying members before creditors. Distributing assets while debts are unpaid is the one step that can pierce the liability shield after the fact. Creditors first, members last, and keep the record of both.
• Filing the state form and stopping there. The state closes the entity; it does not close your IRS account, your sales-tax account or your foreign registrations. Each of those keeps generating filing duties until you close it separately.
• Letting the state do it for you. Administrative dissolution for unpaid reports looks free. It is not: penalties accrue until the strike-off, the name can be lost, and a court can treat the members as personally responsible for what was left undone.