Florida is having a moment. Founders are flocking here from New York and California, and not just for the weather. The Sunshine State ranks 5th overall on the Tax Foundation's 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index, has no personal income tax, and lets you go from idea to legally-formed company for about $125 and an afternoon of work.
But "easy to start" doesn't mean "no wrong moves." Plenty of first-time founders trip over the same handful of things. Here's how to do it right.
First, the only question that actually matters at the start
Before you file anything, decide what you're forming. For the vast majority of Florida small businesses and bootstrapped startups, the answer is an LLC. It gives you personal liability protection, pass-through taxation, and minimal paperwork. You don't have to hold board meetings or keep corporate minutes to stay in good standing.
When does it make sense to form a corporation instead?
- You're raising venture capital. VCs almost always want a C-corp (often a Delaware C-corp).
- You want to use the QSBS exclusion — Qualified Small Business Stock under IRC Section 1202, which can let founders exclude up to $10M in capital gains from federal tax on a sale. For a Florida resident with no state income tax, that's a zero-tax exit on a qualifying gain. Worth knowing if you're building something with a big exit in mind.
- You plan to reinvest profits heavily and the 21% federal corporate rate beats your personal rate.
If you're not sure, start as an LLC. You can elect corporate tax treatment later, or convert. Don't over-engineer your cap table on day one.
The actual filing: Sunbiz in an afternoon
Everything official runs through Sunbiz (sunbiz.org), the Florida Division of Corporations portal. Here's the path:
1. Pick and check your name. It has to be distinguishable from every other entity on record, and it must include a designator — "LLC," "L.L.C.," etc. "Sunrise Consulting" gets rejected; "Sunrise Consulting LLC" goes through. Run a free preliminary search on Sunbiz before you file.
2. Designate a registered agent. This is required, and the agent must have a physical Florida street address (no P.O. boxes). You can be your own registered agent to save money — just know your name and address become public record.
3. File your Articles of Organization. This is the document that legally creates your LLC. File online — it's faster, catches errors, and confirms immediately. The total is $125 ($100 for the Articles + $25 registered agent designation fee). Skip the optional add-ons at checkout (a $5 certificate of status, a $30 certified copy) unless a bank specifically asks for them.
4. Wait for the queue. Florida doesn't promise a fixed turnaround and currently offers no expedited option — online filings tend to run roughly 7–10 days, paper filings around three weeks. Check Sunbiz's "Document Processing Dates" page for the current reality.
One rejection trap worth flagging: when the form asks member-managed vs. manager-managed, read both before clicking. Most solo and small-team founders want member-managed.
The stuff that happens right after you're approved
Get your EIN — free. You'll need a federal Employer Identification Number to open a business bank account, hire, and handle taxes. Get it directly from the IRS at no cost. Any service charging you for "EIN filing" is selling you something you can get free in ten minutes.
Write an operating agreement. Florida doesn't require you to file one, but you want one. It spells out ownership percentages, how decisions get made, how profits split, and what happens if a partner leaves. Even solo founders benefit — it reinforces the liability separation that's the whole point of an LLC. Free templates exist; use one.
Open a dedicated business bank account. Commingling personal and business money is the fastest way to pierce your own liability protection. Separate accounts from day one.
Check your local licenses. This is where Florida surprises people. There is no single "state business license." Instead, many counties and cities require a Local Business Tax Receipt (LBTR), and certain professions must register with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Budget roughly $50–150 for local licensing on top of the state fee, and confirm your city and county rules before you operate.
The tax picture (the good news, and the asterisks)
This is Florida's real draw:
- No personal income tax. It's written into the state constitution. Pass-through income from your LLC isn't taxed at the state level. Wages, capital gains, investment income — none of it taxed by Florida.
- No estate or inheritance tax.
- 5.5% corporate income tax — but only if you're a C-corp or an LLC that elected corporate taxation. Default LLCs and S-corps don't pay it.
The asterisks you can't ignore:
- Federal taxes still apply. No-income-tax is a state thing. The IRS still wants its share.
- Self-employment tax. Pass-through owners pay 15.3% self-employment tax (Social Security + Medicare) on net earnings. This is the one that catches new founders off guard — set money aside quarterly.
- Sales and use tax. Florida's state sales tax is 6%, with county surtaxes pushing the average combined rate to about 7%. If you sell taxable goods or services, you register with the Department of Revenue and file Form DR-15.
- Reemployment tax if you have employees, plus standard federal payroll filings.
An S-corp election is worth a conversation with a CPA once you're profitable — it can reduce self-employment tax by letting you split income between a reasonable salary and distributions.
The one deadline that will cost you $400 if you blow it
Every Florida LLC files an annual report through Sunbiz between January 1 and May 1. It's not a financial filing — it just confirms your contact info, registered agent, and members are current. The fee is $138.75 if you file on time.
Miss May 1, and Florida tacks on an automatic $400 late fee, turning a $138.75 obligation into $538.75. There are no hardship waivers. And if you still haven't filed by the third Friday in September, the state administratively dissolves your LLC — your company legally ceases to exist and you lose your liability protection.
The fix is embarrassingly simple: set a calendar reminder for early in the year and file in January. This is the single biggest avoidable cost a Florida founder faces, and people pay it every year out of pure forgetfulness.
Your realistic year-one budget
For a solo founder doing it the smart way — filing through Sunbiz yourself, serving as your own registered agent, getting your EIN free, drafting your own operating agreement:
- State filing fee: $125 (one-time)
- Local Business Tax Receipt: ~$50–150
- Year-one total: roughly $175–275
- Year two and beyond minimum: $138.75 (the on-time annual report)
That's it. No mandatory franchise tax, no minimum capital requirement, no annual income tax for a default LLC.
The bottom line
Florida makes the mechanics of starting a company genuinely cheap and fast. Where founders actually lose money is on the avoidable stuff — the $400 late fee, paying a service for a free EIN, skipping the local license, or commingling funds and gutting their own liability shield.
Get the entity right, calendar the annual report, keep your money separate, and you've cleared the bar that trips up most first-timers. Then you can spend your energy on the part that actually matters: finding customers who'll pay you.
This guide is for informational purposes and isn't legal, tax, or accounting advice. Fees and rules current as of 2026 — verify against Sunbiz and the Florida Department of Revenue before filing, and loop in a CPA or attorney for anything specific to your situation.