How to dissolve an LLC in Louisiana

What does it cost to dissolve an LLC in Louisiana?

There are two numbers. The first is the Louisiana Secretary of State's filing fee for the dissolution paperwork, which has generally sat in the range of about $75 to $100. Fee schedules change, so treat that as a planning figure and confirm the current amount on the Secretary of State site, or through the geauxBIZ portal, before filing. The second is on the tax side: any final Louisiana return and balance due for the year you close.

For an idle LLC that never traded, the filing fee is essentially the whole cost. For one that operated, the larger figure is usually the final state tax and any open Department of Revenue accounts, not the dissolution fee. The table below sets Louisiana beside a few states people often compare it to.

Fees and form names change; we confirm the current figures with the Secretary of State before we file. Compare states on the main dissolution guide.

How do you dissolve an LLC in Louisiana, step by step?

The order is what keeps a Louisiana dissolution clean. Filing the paperwork while your Department of Revenue accounts are still open is the most common way people leave a loose end behind.

1. Vote to dissolve and record it. Approve the dissolution the way your operating agreement requires, usually a member vote, and put the decision in a short written resolution.
2. Wind up the business. Notify known creditors, settle or set aside money for debts, collect receivables, and distribute anything left to members. Handle debts before distributionsnot after.
3. File Articles of Dissolution. Submit them to the Louisiana Secretary of State, often through geauxBIZ, and pay the fee. This is the core filing that ends the entity at the state level.
4. Handle the tax side. File final Louisiana returns marked final and confirm the Department of Revenue accounts are settled, Louisiana may look for this before completing the dissolution.
5. Close the IRS account. File final federal returns and send the IRS a letter to close the business account attached to your EIN.
6. Cancel everything else. Local occupational licenses, sales tax accounts, DBAs, and any registrations in other states.

Which form do you file in Louisiana?

A Louisiana LLC ends its existence by filing Articles of Dissolution with the Louisiana Secretary of Statetypically through the geauxBIZ online portal. Louisiana also offers an affidavit-style dissolution in some situations, where the members attest that the LLC has no debts and has wound up its affairs. Confirm which route fits your situation on the Secretary of State site before you submit, since the requirements differ.

Either way, the document does the same job as the generic articles of dissolution used in most states, it records that the LLC is dissolving and ends the entity at the state level.

Does Louisiana require tax clearance first?

Louisiana is one of the states where the tax side can be checked as part of dissolving. Historically the Secretary of State has looked for confirmation from the Department of Revenue that the LLC's tax accounts are in order before completing the dissolution. Requirements change, so confirm the current process before you file. The practical rule holds regardless: file your final Louisiana returns marked final and settle any balance so nothing stays open.

The Louisiana annual report clock

Louisiana LLCs owe an annual report to keep the registration active. That obligation is the quiet cost of leaving a business open after you have stopped using it. Until you file the dissolution, the annual report keeps coming due each year, and missing it eventually pushes the LLC toward revocation or administrative termination.

A revoked or administratively terminated status is not the same as a clean voluntary dissolution. It can complicate any later reinstatement and does nothing to close your IRS account. Filing your own Articles of Dissolution is the deliberate way to stop the annual report cycle and end the entity on your terms. If several reports have already lapsed, a specialist can help you sort out what the state expects before you file.

How long does it take in Louisiana?

The paperwork itself is quick, a day or two to prepare correctly once winding-up is done. Processing at the Louisiana Secretary of State depends on their queue and on whether tax confirmation is part of your route. Online filings through geauxBIZ are generally faster than mail. Because the state controls its own timing, we confirm the realistic current window before filing rather than promising a date the state owns.

Confirm the current processing and any tax-confirmation steps with the Secretary of State before relying on a date, the queue moves.

What about your EIN and final taxes?

Filing the Articles of Dissolution closes the Louisiana entity. It does not touch your federal tax life. The IRS does not cancel an EIN, the number is permanent and never reassigned, so what you actually do is close the IRS business account behind it. The IRS will not close that account while final returns are outstanding, and the Louisiana filing gives the IRS no signal at all.

On the state side, file your final Louisiana return marked final, close any Department of Revenue accounts, and file the relevant final federal return for how your LLC is taxed. Getting those “final” markers right is what ends the annual cycle with the state and the IRS together.

What if you never used the Louisiana LLC?

This is the simpler case. If the LLC never conducted business, never obtained an EIN, and registered no Department of Revenue accounts, a state-only dissolution is usually the whole job, and Louisiana's affidavit route can fit an LLC with no debts. See cancelling an LLC you never used for how that lighter path works.

If the LLC did get an EIN, even without trading, you still have that IRS account to close. The honest answer depends on those facts, and a specialist can confirm which route your situation puts you in before you pay for anything you do not need.

Rather have it handled?

We prepare and file the dissolution paperwork, guide the final Louisiana returns and Department of Revenue close-outs, and, if your LLC ever had an EIN, close the IRS business account too. Two situations, two prices, a specialist call in both. If you are not sure which is yours, a specialist is on WhatsApp 24/7 and will tell you straight, even when the honest answer is the $99 or nothing at all.