One or more person can form a limited liability company in the State of Arkansas by signing or causing to be signed articles of organization and delivering the signed articles.

To start an LLC in Arkansas, you must file Articles of Organization on form LLC-LL-01 with the Arkansas Secretary of State. This can be filed online or by mail. Your Arkansas LLC come into existence once this document has been filed with the Secretary of state. However, in addition to filing with the State, you also need to provide below mentioned formalities on the articles of organization.

1. Complete name of your business with an indicator after the propsed name, such as LLC, L.L.C or a Limited Liability Company. You can check the availability of your desired name with secretary of state by searching oit in name database.
2. Complete name and mailing address of the registered agent. A registered agent is a person or a company that is authorized to receive any mail from the departments on behalf of the company. A person must be a resident of the state of Arkansas, whereas the company must be registered with the Arkansas secretary of state to serve a registered agent. A company member or a manager can also serve a registered agent instead of using a service company a registered agent.
3. Details of the management of the LLC if it is manager managed. Please leave the column blank if your LLC is managed by members. A manager is a person who is appointed to manage company affairs.
4. Complete name and signature of the person who is filing the preparing and filing the articles to incorporate the LLC.
5. In case of an individual agent, complete mailing address of agent should also be mentioned. Whereas in case of a company, enter the complete business name along-with the address.

How much is the Arkansas state filing fee to register an LLC in Arkansas?

The filing fee for articles of organization is $ 45 for online and $ 50 for hard copy filing.

How long will the processing time take?

Online filings usually take around 2 to 3 days, whereas hard copy filings through the mail takes around 7 to 14 days.

What is the additional document you submit with articles of organizations?

Franchise tax registration form is also filed along with articles of organization. Franchise tax report also known as the LLC annual report is required to be filed by the Arkansas LLC to the Secretary of State either online or by mail. Online filing options and pdf form is available on secretary of state website. After initial filing, this report is filed every year on first day of May as franchise tax is mandatory in the State of Arkansas. Following details are required in the Franchise tax report:

1. Name of the LLC as filed with the Arkansas.
2. Complete mailing address of LLC in Arkansas.
3. Name and signature of the contact person.
4. Phone number and email address of the LLC.

What are the requirements to appoint a registered agent?

LLCs in Arkansas need to appoint registered agent. A registered agent can be an individual who is a resident of the Arkansas or a corporation registered in the state. Further, it is not necessary to appoint one as you can also be a registered agent for your LLC. The functions and responsibilities of a registered agent include acting on behalf of the LLC in dealing with legal matters and receiving, signing and endorsing legal documents on behalf of your LLC.

Is operating agreement requirement mandatory for my LLC in Arkansas?

If you run a single member limited liability company, there is no mandatory requirement for you to make an operating agreement. There is also no mandatory requirement of operating agreement for more than one member LLC but it is advised to have one as it contains details about your business activities, contributions made by each member, profit and loss sharing among members and liabilities of members in case of winding up of the business. You can always consult a professional to advise upon whether you need one or not.

What information do I need to provide on operating agreement?

1. Date of forming the agreement
2. Information regarding management of the LLC, whether it’s a single member LLC or multi member LLC.
3. Purpose of forming the LLC.
4. Name and principal place of business.
5. Details of members contributions.
6. Certificates of memberships.
7. Details of books, records and tax returns.
8. Distribution of the profit and loss of the LLC.

What are the registration requirement for a Foreign LLC:

A limited liability company formed and registered outside the state of Arkansas is called a foreign LLC. A foreign LLC can apply for registration in the State of Arkansas provided it conduct business in the state. For registration, you can file a Certificate of Registration Form-FL01with the Secretary of State. The Application for the same can be filed online or downloaded in pdf format. The filing fee is $270 if filed online, $300 if a paper application is filed by mail.

What are the particulars of Certificate of Registration for a Foreign LLC?

The following information are needed on Certificate of registration form:

1. Name of the LLC.
2. DBA or fictitious name of LLC, if any
3. Name of the State where LLC was originally formed.
4. Date of organization and termination of the LLC.
5. Details of the registered agent.
6. Complete address of the Principal office of the LLC.

What are the different taxes in the State of Arkansas?

Income taxes: Tax charged on the personal income. It ranges from 0.9% to 6.9% on income slabs ranging from $ 4,299 to $ 35,100 plus.

Sales Tax: Sales tax rate in the Arkansas is 6.5% however it could be increased due to additional city and county sales taxes.

If my LLC is in business of buying and selling products, what laws and regulations I have to follow?

If you are in selling goods or products business through your LLC, you are required to register for a seller permit on the Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point website. Further, if you have employees for the same, and you hire staff for your business and withhold tax on their behalf and collecting sales tax for selling goods, you will need to register with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

You can make tax payment by online using on the Arkansas Taxpayer Access Point website or by using form AR-1R, combined business tax registration form.