Colorado — statewide
Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division
In short
Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division issues 4 permits we publish for Colorado — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division | $50 one-time filing, online only | perpetual, but a periodic report is due every year | 2026-09-03 |
| General Business License — Colorado position (issued locally)only if it applies to you | Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division | No fee | set by the city or county | 2026-09-03 |
| Articles of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division | $50 one-time filing, online only | perpetual, but a periodic report is due every year | 2026-09-03 |
| Periodic Reportonly if it applies to you | Colorado Secretary of State, Business Division | $25 a year; $50 more if filed late | annual — due in the entity's own periodic report month | 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
Articles of Incorporation
The same $50 as an LLC, with no share-based component, so Colorado gives no filing-cost reason to prefer either structure. Amending the articles later costs $25 and dissolving $10. A corporation sole is the one exception that must be filed on paper, at $125.
General Business License — Colorado position (issued locally)
Colorado Senate Bill 22-032 uses the term general business license for a license issued by a local taxing jurisdiction, and the Secretary of State's starting-a-business FAQ says some licenses are issued by the regulatory agencies department depending on the type of business and others through local city or county offices. The 2022 act forbids a local taxing jurisdiction to charge a general business license fee to a retailer that holds a state standard retail license and has no more than incidental physical presence there, and from 1 July 2023 forbids requiring a separate application from that retailer, which the jurisdiction must instead license automatically. No state fee is shown here; any general business license fee is the one set by the city or county where the business operates.
Articles of Organization (LLC)
$50, and formation is online only — there is no paper option for an LLC or a corporation at all. Colorado genuinely did charge a dollar for a time: a 2022 fee-relief act funded a credit from a general fund transfer, and the Secretary of State's own announcement said the fee would return to $50 once the money was exhausted, which it has. Anything quoting $1 is describing a programme that has ended. A corporation costs the same $50, and so does a nonprofit. Expedited service costs $150 and applies only to paper filings, which these are not.
Periodic Report
The fee went from $10 to $25 on 1 July 2024, having sat at $10 since online filing began in 2006, so older guidance understates it by more than half. The window is generous — two months either side of your periodic report month, penalty-free — and the escalation after that is worth knowing: miss the due date and the entity becomes noncompliant, miss the further two-month window and it becomes delinquent, at which point curing costs $100. A delinquent entity's name is released for anyone else to use on the four hundred and first day. Filing must be electronic.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Colorado — statewide
- Phone
- (303) 894-2200
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.
- Colorado Secretary of State — business filing fee schedule, revised 1 July 2024Colorado Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Secretary of State — how an entity moves from good standing to noncompliant to delinquentColorado Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Secretary of State — periodic report FAQ and filing windowColorado Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Secretary of State — press release confirming the $1 business fee relief programme ends and fees return to $50Colorado Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Secretary of State — starting a business FAQ, on where business licenses come fromColorado Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Colorado Senate Bill 22-032 — the statute that uses the term general business license only of local taxing jurisdictionsColorado General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other Colorado statewide offices
- Colorado Department of Early Childhood, Division of Early Learning Licensing and Administration
- Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability
- Colorado State Electrical Board, Division of Professions and Occupations
- Colorado Auto Industry Division, Department of Revenue
- Colorado Department of Revenue, Taxation Division
- Colorado Office of Barber and Cosmetology Licensure, Division of Professions and Occupations
- Colorado State Board of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Professions and Occupations
Colorado jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.