Rhode Island — statewide
Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division
In short
Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division issues 4 permits we publish for Rhode Island — statewide, last verified 2026-09-04. 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 Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division | $150 one-time filing | perpetual, but an annual report is due every year | 2026-09-04 |
| General Business License — Rhode Island Department of State Guidanceonly if it applies to you | Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division | No fee | not applicable | 2026-09-04 |
| Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division | $50 a year; missing 31 May adds a further $25 | annual — filed between 1 February and 1 May, excluding the year of formation | 2026-09-04 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division | $230 minimum one-time filing, for up to 75 million authorised shares | perpetual, but an annual report is due every year | 2026-09-04 |
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 Organization (LLC)
A hundred and fifty dollars, considerably cheaper than a corporation's minimum $230 to form.
General Business License — Rhode Island Department of State Guidance
No fee is listed for this record. The Department of State's 'Start Your Rhode Island Business' page sets out the registration steps — choose a structure, file the entity registration (with its filing fee), obtain an EIN, and register with the Division of Taxation if the business has employees or makes retail sales — and the fees it lists are entity filing fees. For licenses, its Business Basics pages point to the Start Business Assistant, which 'will ask you questions about your business and provide you with a list of licenses, regulations, and fees needed to get started' for the specific business type. Check that tool and the industry records below.
Annual Report
Fifty dollars, the identical figure for an LLC and a corporation, on a shared window running from 1 February through 1 May every year. Filing past 31 May adds a $25 penalty on top. This filing is separate from a further obligation owed to the Division of Taxation rather than the Secretary of State — every registered entity also owes a $400 minimum annual tax to that agency, which is a tax filing rather than a corporate report and is not covered by this record.
Articles of Incorporation
The $230 figure is a floor, not a flat fee — it covers any corporation authorising up to seventy-five million shares, with the fee rising above that threshold for a very large corporation. Almost every small business incorporating here pays exactly the minimum.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Rhode Island — statewide
- Phone
- (401) 222-3040
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.
- Rhode Island Department of State — LLC and corporation annual report forms, fee and filing windowRhode Island Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Rhode Island Department of State — Start Your Rhode Island Business (registration steps and entity filing fees)Rhode Island Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Rhode Island Department of State form 100 — corporation articles of incorporation, $230 minimum feeRhode Island Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
- Rhode Island Department of State form 400 — LLC articles of organization, $150 feeRhode Island Department of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-04
Other Rhode Island statewide offices
- Rhode Island Department of Health, Center for Food Protection
- Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training, Division of Professional Regulation
- Rhode Island Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board
- Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation, Division of Commercial Licensing
- Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Hairdressing and Barbering
- Rhode Island Department of Health, Board of Veterinary Medicine
- Rhode Island Department of Human Services, Office of Child Care Licensing
- Rhode Island Division of Taxation
Rhode Island jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.