Start a Ann Arbor LLC for $89 total.
Ann Arbor's thriving tech and medical startup scene means new LLCs form every day. Let us handle your Washtenaw County filing while you focus on building. Michigan LARA state filing fee included. No hidden charges.
Start My Ann Arbor LLC →Articles of Organization filed
We file your Ann Arbor LLC with LARA through the MiBusiness Registry Portal. Standard processing: 2–5 business days.
Registered agent available
Michigan law requires a registered agent with a physical Michigan address. With Standard and Pro we serve as yours — your home address stays off public Washtenaw County records.
Operating agreement template
Every Michigan LLC needs an operating agreement. We provide a Michigan-compliant template you can customize for your business.
Annual statement reminders
Michigan LLCs must file by February 15 each year. We remind you every January so your Ann Arbor LLC never loses good standing.
Forming an LLC in Ann Arbor: what is different here
The filing is the standard $50 LARA Articles of Organization — and unlike Detroit or Lansing, Ann Arbor has no city income tax, which makes the after-formation tax picture simpler. What is different here is the startup layer: Ann Arbor founders are disproportionately forming around software, research spinouts, and professional services, where the real questions are ownership splits with co-founders, university IP assignments for UM-affiliated founders, and whether a licensed profession requires a PLLC instead of a standard LLC.
Where Ann Arbor founders get stuck
First, the PLLC trap: physicians, dentists, engineers, architects, attorneys, and several other licensed professions cannot use a standard LLC in Michigan for their professional practice — it must be a PLLC, and filing the wrong one means starting over. Second, UM-affiliated founders: if your startup grows out of university research, sort the IP assignment with the Office of Tech Transfer before you capitalize the company, not after. Third, multi-founder splits: Ann Arbor startups usually have co-founders, and the operating agreement — not the Articles — is where ownership, vesting, and exits live. Our Standard package includes a Michigan operating agreement template; put real thought into it.
Industries we form most in Ann Arbor
Software and SaaS startups, research and biotech spinouts, consultancies and agencies, restaurants and food businesses on the Washtenaw corridor, and real estate LLCs for student rentals. Student-rental landlords should know Ann Arbor enforces rental licensing and inspections per property — the LLC holds the asset, but the city licenses the rental.
Ann Arbor LLC questions
Does Ann Arbor have a city income tax?
No. Ann Arbor has no city income tax, so Ann Arbor LLC owners file only federal and Michigan state returns on business income (plus any county/local permits for their activity).
I’m a licensed professional. Can I use a regular LLC?
Usually not for the professional practice itself. Michigan requires licensed professions — medicine, dentistry, law, engineering, architecture, and others — to organize as a PLLC. We flag this at intake so the correct entity is filed the first time.
Do I file anything with the City of Ann Arbor?
Not to form the LLC — that is LARA, at the state level. City-level requirements only apply to specific activities, such as rental licensing for landlords or health permits for food businesses.
How fast can an Ann Arbor LLC be formed?
LARA typically approves online filings in 2 to 5 business days. We file same or next business day after your intake form, and your stamped Articles arrive by email automatically on approval.
Ready to form your Ann Arbor LLC?
$89 total, Washtenaw County. State fee included. Registered agent included with Standard and Pro.
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