Kentucky Foreign Registration›Delaware
Taking a Delaware LLC into Kentucky: two states, one budget
Put a Delaware LLC into Kentucky and three bills arrive: $90 for the Kentucky certificate, $400 for Delaware's yearly tax, due June 1, and $15 for the first Kentucky annual report. Together that is $505. Kentucky never asks for a Delaware certificate, which saves a fee, but the Kentucky form still carries the signer's certification that the LLC validly exists, and for a Delaware company that certification rests on the Delaware tax.
Delaware beside Kentucky
| Point | Delaware | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | The LLC exists already | Form FBE, $90 |
| Home paper | Not required for Kentucky | Item 10 certification on the form |
| Yearly payment | $400 tax by June 1 | Annual report, $15 |
| Window | One fixed day | January 1 to June 30 |
| If missed | $200 added to the tax | Revocation may begin, with 60 days to cure |
What the Kentucky signature stands for
A signature on Form FBE represents that the entity is validly in existence under Delaware law. In Delaware, existence follows the tax. An LLC that has not paid it finds other Delaware filings refused, and an LLC that never pays can fall off the register. Settle Delaware first, then sign for Kentucky.
A certificate you can skip
Delaware sells good standing certificates, starting at $50. Kentucky does not want one, which is a genuine saving next to states that do. Buy one only if you want proof of your own status on file.
The cost of a late Delaware payment
Pay after June 1 and Delaware adds $200, plus interest at 1.5 percent monthly. The larger risk is cascading: if the LLC lapses at home, the Kentucky certification stops being accurate, and an authenticated home-state record of dissolution is itself a listed ground for Kentucky revocation.
What delay would cost a Delaware LLC
A Delaware LLC that keeps working in Kentucky for a quarter without a certificate accrues $180 in daily charges, on top of $90 when it finally files. That is small beside the Delaware tax, but unlike the tax it buys nothing, and the lawsuit bar applies throughout. Fixing the Delaware tax and filing in Kentucky can run in parallel.
Moving Delaware facts onto the Kentucky form
Item 2 takes the Delaware name with its ending. Item 4 is Delaware, and item 5 the Delaware formation date. Item 6 is the principal office mailing address, wherever the company is run from. Item 7 needs a Kentucky street office and a Kentucky agent, because the Delaware agent does not reach this far. Tick item 12 if managers run the LLC.
Who signs
An officer, chairman, member, manager, trustee or partner may sign for the entity. For a Delaware LLC that is a manager or a member, who adds a printed name, title and date. Choose a person who has seen the most recent Delaware tax confirmation.
Two agents, two records
Delaware has its own agent requirement, and Kentucky imposes another with a street office in the Commonwealth. One commercial provider can fill both roles, yet each state keeps its own record. A $10 Kentucky statement changes only the Kentucky agent, and the agent's resignation filing has no fee.
The year in months
| Month | Delaware | Kentucky |
|---|---|---|
| January to May | Prepare the tax payment | Annual report window open |
| By June 1 | Pay the $400 tax | Window open until June 30 |
| June 30 | Tax already past due | Annual report deadline |
| July to December | Nothing due | Nothing due once the report is filed |
Registration can happen in any month. The first Kentucky report then waits for the January after approval.
First-year arithmetic
Add $90, $400 and $15 and the total is $505. The Kentucky report can land in a later calendar year than the other two payments. Without the Delaware tax, Kentucky alone costs $105 through the first report.
Example: software support for a Louisville hospital group
A Delaware LLC supports software for a Louisville hospital group and keeps one employee in the city, so it registers. In May it pays its Delaware tax, names a Louisville firm as agent and collects the consent. A manager signs Form FBE and files it on FastTrack. The record shows in the state's search, the clerk copy is printed, and the first Kentucky report follows the next January.
Registering a Delaware LLC in Kentucky
Check Delaware standing
The $400 tax is due June 1.
Choose a Kentucky agent
A street office and a signed consent.
Complete Form FBE
Delaware name, jurisdiction, formation date and managers.
File on FastTrack
$90.
Diary both states
Kentucky January to June; Delaware June 1.
Delaware questions
Will Kentucky ask for a Delaware good standing certificate?
No. The signer certifies existence on the form.
Does Kentucky registration change my Delaware tax?
No. The $400 is still due June 1.
Is a second agent really needed?
Yes. Kentucky requires an agent with its own street office in the state.
Our fee and Kentucky's
Start my Kentucky filing
KY+ $90 Kentucky fee
$199
- Form FBE, the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity), completed from your answers
- The signed statements Kentucky wants from your agent and your authorized signer, collected for you
- A Kentucky registered office and agent: ours, or the ones you already use
- Online submission through FastTrack, the file-stamped record, and the county clerk copy prepared
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Kentucky's $90 is its own line at checkout. The county clerk bills separately for its copy. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Kentucky Secretary of State, business filing fees
- Kentucky FastTrack, apply for a certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.6-010, annual report
- Kentucky Form FBE, certificate of authority for a foreign business entity
- Delaware Division of Corporations, LLC/LP/GP annual tax
- Kentucky Secretary of State, annual reports
- KRS 14A.9-080, procedure for revocation
- KRS 14A.9-030, application for a certificate of authority
- Delaware Code Title 6, chapter 18, subchapter XI (fees and annual tax)
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Division of Corporations, certificates of status and entity status online
- Division of Corporations, pay taxes and file annual reports
- KRS 14A.9-070, grounds for revocation
- KRS 14A.9-020, consequences of transacting business without authority
- Kentucky Form RAC, changing a registered agent or registered office
- KRS 14A.4-010, the duty to keep a registered office and agent
Working in Kentucky already?
Every day without a certificate adds to the penalty meter. Start the filing today.