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Register Your Florida LLC in Kentucky
Step-by-step foreign qualification requirements, fees, and filing instructions for Florida LLCs expanding into Kentucky.
Cost Summary
- Kentucky filing fee
- $90
- Florida Certificate of Status
- $5
- Annual obligation in Kentucky
- $15/year + $175/year entity tax
- Estimated year 1 total
- $285
Note: Year 1 total includes the $90 filing fee in Kentucky, the $5 Certificate of Status fee from Florida, and $190 in first-year Kentucky state charges. Registered agent fees (typically $100-$200/year) are not included.
Florida data last reviewed Aug 15, 2026 · dos.fl.gov
Kentucky data last reviewed Aug 15, 2026 · sos.ky.gov
How to register your Florida LLC in Kentucky
1
Check name availability in Kentucky
Before filing, verify that your LLC name (or a distinguishable variation) is available in Kentucky. If your exact name is already taken, you may need to register under a fictitious or assumed name.
Search the business name register on the Kentucky Secretary of State website before you file.
2
Get a Certificate of Status from Florida
Kentucky requires a Certificate of Status from Florida to prove your LLC is in good standing. The fee is $5. Available to order online. No expiration; third parties typically require certificate dated within 30-90 days.
Order from Florida ↗
3
File the Application for Certificate of Authority in Kentucky
Submit your application along with the Certificate of Status and the $90 filing fee. Processing time is Usually same day received; up to 3 business days. Expedited processing available for $50. Online filing is available.
Kentucky filing portal ↗
4
Appoint a registered agent in Kentucky
You must designate a registered agent with a physical address in Kentucky to accept legal documents on behalf of your LLC. This is required as part of the foreign qualification application.
Ongoing compliance in Kentucky
- Annual report
- $15/year + $175/year entity tax
- Report due
- June 30
- Processing time
- Usually same day received; up to 3 business days
- Expedite
- $50
Important to know about Kentucky
- The $175 Limited Liability Entity Tax is owed to the Department of Revenue and is separate from the $15 annual report, with a different deadline and a different agency. A single-member LLC owned by an individual files Form 725 and owes it in its own right.
Registering after you already started doing business in Kentucky? See the Kentucky late-registration penalties for the back fees and fines that can apply.
Activities that do NOT require registration in Kentucky
- Maintaining, defending, or settling any proceeding
- Holding meetings of directors, shareholders, partners, members, managers, beneficial owners, or trustees, or carrying on internal affairs
- Maintaining bank accounts
- Maintaining offices or agencies for transfer, exchange, and registration of the entity's own securities, or maintaining trustees or depositaries for them
- Selling through independent contractors
- Soliciting or obtaining orders, by mail or through employees or agents, if the orders require acceptance outside the state
- Creating or acquiring indebtedness, mortgages, and security interests in real, personal, or intangible property
- Securing or collecting debts, or enforcing mortgages and security interests in the property securing them
- Owning real or personal property, and nothing more
- Conducting an isolated transaction completed within 30 days that is not one of repeated transactions of a like nature
- Transacting business in interstate commerce
Under KRS 14A.9-010(2). The isolated-transaction carve-out carries a 30-day limit. Note subsection (6): a certificate of authority is required for award of a state contract regardless of these safe harbors.
Need a registered agent in Kentucky?
A registered agent is required for foreign qualification. These services operate in all 50 states.
Get Northwest Registered Agent ↗
Recommended · $125/year · Privacy included
Registered Agents Inc
$200/year · Report filing included, state fees extra
Harbor Compliance
$99 first year, then $149/year · Full-service compliance option
Not sure which service fits? Our full Northwest Registered Agent review and Harbor Compliance review cover pricing, renewal terms, and where each one fits.
Need a business address in Kentucky?
A virtual mailbox gives your LLC a professional address in Kentucky for mail forwarding, public filings, and banking, without leasing office space.
Independent mailbox providers
This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify all fees and requirements with the Kentucky Secretary of State before filing.