How much does a Corporation cost in Tennessee?
Forming a corporation in Tennessee costs $100 in state filing fees, then $20/year in state annual fees. File.Business charges No state-fee markup.
Tennessee corporation cost summary
| Year 1 with File.Business | $120 |
|---|---|
| Tennessee state filing fee | $100 |
| Tennessee annual fee | $20/year |
| Registered agent | $149/year, flat |
| File.Business service fee | $0 |
C-Corp vs S-Corp cost in Tennessee
The Tennessee state filing fee is the same whether you elect S-Corp tax treatment or not. The S-Corp election is filed with the IRS (Form 2553), which is free. S-Corp election in Tennessee walks you through it.
Form your Tennessee corporation for $100 total
State filing fee only. No state-fee markup. Registered agent $149/yr, flat. Start my Tennessee corporation
FAQ
How much does it cost to start a corporation in Tennessee?
The base cost is the Tennessee state filing fee for your Articles of Incorporation, and our formation service is free on top of it. Corporations carry more setup than an LLC, such as bylaws, an organizational meeting, and issuing stock, but those are documents we include rather than extra state fees. See Tennessee's current figure on the pricing page, and weigh the ongoing formality before choosing a corporation over an LLC.
Are S-corps cheaper than C-corps to form in Tennessee?
No, because they are the same Tennessee corporation with a different tax election, not two filings. You form the corporation once and pay the Tennessee state fee once; the S-corp election is a separate IRS form with no state formation cost of its own. The election can lower self-employment tax once profit is steady, but it adds payroll and a return, so the saving is a tax question, not a formation-cost one.
What does the corporation price include?
Our formation covers preparing and filing your Articles of Incorporation, a specialist review, a bylaws template, and an EIN walkthrough, with the Tennessee state fee passed through at cost. What is not bundled, and should never be sold as mandatory, are optional extras like expedited processing or certified copies. The pricing page shows exactly what is included and what each option costs.
What happens if a Tennessee corporation misses a filing?
Miss the Tennessee annual report or franchise tax and the state moves you out of good standing, which can freeze financing and contracts, then eventually dissolve the corporation. Recovering means a reinstatement filing plus back fees, so a skipped filing becomes far more expensive than the report itself. That is why the recurring calendar matters as much as the formation.
Is a corporation more expensive than an LLC in Tennessee?
The Tennessee formation fee is often similar for both, so the difference is mostly ongoing. Corporations carry more recurring obligations, annual meetings, minutes, and in some states a share-based franchise tax, so they usually cost more to maintain than an LLC. Choose a corporation for its ability to raise capital and issue equity, not to save money.
Can a non-US founder afford to form a Tennessee corporation?
Yes, and the cost matches a US founder's: the Tennessee state fee plus our free formation. The one extra step is the EIN, which we obtain from the IRS for you when you have no Social Security Number, at no added state cost. A C-corp is often the structure non-US founders use to raise money, so plan the tax side early; our EIN guide is the place to start.
What is the realistic first-year cost of a Tennessee corporation?
Add the Tennessee filing fee, our formation service (free), any options you select, and the first-year recurring items: the annual report, a registered agent, and any franchise tax, plus the soft cost of running required meetings and records. Because Tennessee's amounts vary, the pricing page shows current figures so your first-year budget reflects reality, not a padded bundle.
What is different about what a corporation costs in Tennessee.
Every state runs its own filing office, its own fee schedule and its own ongoing obligations. These are the ones that apply in Tennessee.
| Item | Amount | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Corporation filing fee | $100 | Paid to the state, at cost. File.Business charges $0 to prepare and file it. |
| LLC, for comparison | $300 | |
| Nonprofit | $100 | |
| Ongoing state report for a corporation | $20 | Annual Report, annual, due on or before the first day of the fourth month following the close of the entity's fiscal year |
| Registering an out-of-state Corporation here | $600 | A certificate of good standing from your home state is required. Filed on the Application for Certificate of Authority (SS-4233 for an LLC, SS-4431 for a for profit corporation). |
What the Tennessee fee schedule actually says
The LLC annual report is 50 dollars per member with a minimum of 300 dollars and a maximum of 3,000 dollars, so a six member LLC pays the 300 dollar minimum and each member above six adds 50 dollars. For profit and nonprofit corporations pay 20 dollars. Any change to the registered agent or registered office made on the report adds another 20 dollars. Limited partnerships and LLPs must also file under T.C.A. 61-3-211 and T.C.A. 61-1-1001, but their report fees were not confirmed.
Verified 2026-08-17 · against the Tennessee Secretary of State business forms and fees page, forms SS-4270, SS-4470, SS-4482, SS-4418, SS-4233 and SS-4431, and the SOS business FAQ
What it actually costs to form your business
Pick your state. We show our service price, the state's filing fee, and your year-one total. No hidden costs.
How we deliver, end-to-end.
Four-step path from request to confirmation. State and IRS turnaround varies; our steps run in parallel where possible to compress the timeline.
Intake + scope
You tell us what you need through a short intake form (or a call for complex matters). We confirm scope, surface any gating issues (deadlines, missing documents, entity status), and quote any state fees that pass through at cost.
Prepare + verify
Our specialists draft the filing, verify entity details against state databases, run internal QA, and route any items needing your sign-off. You see drafts before anything gets submitted.
File with the authority
We submit directly to the state Secretary of State, FinCEN, IRS, USPTO, or whichever authority your filing requires. We pay state fees at cost and track the submission identifier in your account.
Confirmation + vault
Stamped certificate, IRS notice, or filing receipt arrives in your encrypted document vault the moment we receive it. Next filing deadline auto-added to your compliance calendar where applicable.
Built on the same infrastructure used by 220,000+ businesses.
Security-first, encrypted
Independent annual security audit covering access control, change management, incident response, and data handling. Current report on request.
All 51 US jurisdictions
Every state plus DC plus Puerto Rico - direct filings, not third-party reseller. We hold registered-agent qualifications in every state we operate.
Deadline guarantee
If we miss a filing deadline on a service you pay us to manage, we pay the state penalty. Specific to each plan and the filings it includes.
4.9 from 8,200+ verified reviews
Independently verified by Trustpilot + Google + our own NPS infrastructure. Customer success team within reach by email, chat, or phone.
60-day money-back promise
Change your mind in the first 60 days and we refund our service fee in full. State filing fees pass through at cost and are non-refundable once paid to the state.
E&O insured
Errors and omissions coverage protects you from service errors. Carrier and certificate available on request for enterprise clients.
Up a level, or across to the neighbors.
Corporation cost by state
The national explainer above this page: what changes between jurisdictions, and why.
Open the hub → SectionWhat it costs
What each filing involves, broken down state by state.
Open the section → StateTennessee business filings
Every filing a business makes in Tennessee, gathered on one page.
Open Tennessee → In TennesseeAnnual report cost in Tennessee
Annual report cost, state by state
Read the guide → In TennesseeLLC cost in Tennessee
What an LLC costs, state by state
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Trademark cost, state by state
Read the guide → In TennesseeLLC cost in Tennessee
What an LLC costs, state by state
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