Alabama — statewide
Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services
In short
Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services issues 3 permits we publish for Alabama — statewide, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Formation (LLC)only if it applies to you | Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services | $200 one-time filing | perpetual — Alabama abolished the annual report in 2024 | 2026-09-03 |
| Certificate of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services | $200 one-time filing | perpetual — Alabama abolished the annual report in 2024 | 2026-09-03 |
| Corporation Annual Report (abolished)only if it applies to you | Alabama Secretary of State, Business Services | No fee | not applicable — the filing no longer exists | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Certificate of Formation (LLC)
Two hundred dollars, of which the Secretary of State passes $100 to the treasurer of the county where the registered agent sits — which is why older material describes a two-stage filing. Since 1 January 2021 you file directly with the Secretary of State and pay nothing separately to the probate judge. Watch for stale forms: two older PDFs are still live on the Secretary of State's own site and both instruct filers to mail the document to the probate judge with a $100 fee. A name reservation is a prerequisite and costs $25 by post or $28 online. A corporation costs the same $200.
Certificate of Incorporation
The same $200 as an LLC, with the same $100 passed to the county treasurer. Alabama calls this a certificate of incorporation rather than articles, following the title 10A-2A recodification, and calls the LLC equivalent a certificate of formation. Amendments and dissolutions are $100 each; registering a foreign entity is $150.
Corporation Annual Report (abolished)
No fee, because the filing was abolished — the Secretary of State states plainly that corporations authorised to transact business in Alabama are no longer required by law to file an annual report. It cost $10 and disappeared on 1 October 2024. The history is worth knowing because it explains the confusion: the report used to ride along with the business privilege tax return, was detached into a standalone $10 filing at the start of 2024 when the minimum tax went, and was then repealed outright nine months later. One live trap remains — the revenue department's forms CPT and PPT are still titled business privilege tax return and annual report, and that internal annual report is a different thing that has not been abolished.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Alabama — statewide
- Phone
- (334) 242-5324
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Alabama Secretary of State — business entities page, stating corporations no longer file an annual reportAlabama Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Alabama Secretary of State — domestic business corporation certificate of incorporationAlabama Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Alabama Secretary of State — domestic entity name reservation request formAlabama Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Alabama Secretary of State — domestic LLC certificate of formation, showing the $200 fee and the $100 remitted to the countyAlabama Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Alabama Secretary of State — filing fee schedule, revised 23 August 2023Alabama Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other Alabama statewide offices
- Alabama Department of Revenue, Business and License Tax Division
- Alabama Department of Public Health, Division of Food, Milk and Lodging
- Alabama Department of Revenue, Sales and Use Tax Division
- Alabama Board of Cosmetology and Barbering
- Alabama Department of Human Resources, Child Care Services Division
- Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board
- Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners
- Alabama State Licensing Board for General Contractors
Alabama jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.