--- title: "Setting Up an Entity in Illinois" description: "Illinois entity setup costs, corporate tax, and compliance steps, plus how Teamed lets you hire there without forming a company first." canonical: https://www.teamed.global/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/entity-setup --- ![Illinois business district.](/cluster-assets/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/entity-setup/images/hero.webp) # How do you set upa company in Illinois. Teamed forms your Illinois LLC or corporation, files with the Secretary of State, and keeps you compliant, or hires your team now through its own entity. Served by Teamed US Inc., Delaware · Payroll via SUNA Solutions Last reviewed 22 September 2026 · Illinois guide At a glance ## Illinois entity setup at a glance Illinois charges a formation fee of $150 to register an LLC with the Secretary of State, and once you're incorporated, the state taxes corporate income at 7.0%. Neither figure tells you the whole story, since registered agents, annual reports, and payroll tax registrations all add real cost and admin. Many companies hire their first Illinois employees through Teamed's entity and form their own only once headcount and salary justify it. Corporate income tax7.0% Formation / registration fee$150 Formation ## How you register an entity in Illinois Most companies hiring in Illinois form either an LLC or a corporation, filing articles of organization or incorporation with the Illinois Secretary of State. The state charges a formation fee of $150 for this filing, and you'll also need a registered agent with an Illinois address to receive legal and state correspondence on your behalf. Once the entity exists on paper, it isn't ready to run payroll. You still need an EIN from the IRS, state tax registrations, and a bank account, and each of those steps has its own paperwork and its own waiting period. Teamed handles this sequence for companies that decide an entity is the right route, so nothing gets filed out of order. Tax ## What you'll owe once you're incorporated Illinois taxes corporate income at 7.0%, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue, on top of whatever federal corporate tax applies. That rate sits alongside payroll tax obligations, since once you have employees on Illinois soil, you're registering for state withholding and unemployment insurance as a separate, ongoing task. None of this is optional once you have a legal entity with employees attached to it. An EOR structure removes this layer entirely, because Teamed's entity carries the tax and payroll registrations, and you simply pay one predictable invoice for each employee. Compliance ## Staying compliant after you file Forming the entity is the easy part. Illinois expects ongoing filings, a maintained registered agent, and accurate payroll tax remittance, and Illinois law requires employers to carry workers' compensation insurance for their staff. Miss a filing or a renewal and you're looking at penalties, not just a warning letter. This is where a lot of companies underestimate the workload. An HR person or a finance lead ends up tracking state deadlines alongside their actual job, and that's before you add a second or third state. Teamed's entity setup service keeps these obligations on a calendar someone actually owns. Timeline ## How long entity setup actually takes There's no single fixed timeline you can bank on, because Secretary of State processing times shift, and how fast your registered agent, EIN, and tax registrations line up depends on how cleanly each step is filed. Plan for it to take real weeks, not days, and build your hiring plan around that reality rather than an assumption. If you need someone working in Illinois before your entity is ready, that's exactly the gap an EOR is built to close. Teamed can have your first hire employed and paid while your own entity is still being processed, so the timeline for your business doesn't hold the timeline for your hire hostage. Before you commit ## Sometimes an employer of record is the better fit For a small team, a pilot hire, or a market you're still testing, an EOR is a fair, deliberate choice, not a stopgap you're stuck with. Talk to a member of the team about what your Illinois plans actually need, or run the numbers yourself in the crossover calculator, since the right answer depends on salaries and how long you intend to stay. Contractors, employer of record and your own entity all run on one platform at Teamed, so moving between them later does not mean changing provider or re-onboarding anybody. Real HR and legal experts handle the work rather than a ticket queue. Talk to a member of the team and we will tell you plainly which one suits where you are. If you would rather look at the numbers yourself first, the crossover calculator models it on local salaries and employer costs rather than on a headcount rule of thumb. Talk to a member of the team Model the crossover for the United States Who carries it ## Your own entity, when it's time. We set it up, migrate you in, and hand it back intact. Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, is how Teamed forms your company, registers it for tax and payroll, runs it month to month and keeps its filings current, across 100+ countries. You stay the employer. We do the work behind it. For Illinois, that means Teamed can form your LLC or corporation, complete the Secretary of State filing, set up your tax and payroll registrations, and then transfer the finished entity, employees and all, into your name. It's Global Entity and Employment Operations, which we call GEMO, and it works the same way across 100+ countries, not just Illinois. Entity Management (GEMO) The Graduation Model Employer cost calculator > They set up our EU entity and moved hires across without missing a payroll. *Helene Dubois, COO* Talk to an expert about Illinois Questions ## Illinois entity setup questions How much does it cost to register an LLC in Illinois? The Illinois Secretary of State charges a formation fee of $150 to file your LLC's articles of organization. On top of that, expect ongoing costs for a registered agent and any professional help you use to file correctly. What is Illinois's corporate income tax rate? Illinois taxes corporate income at 7.0%, according to the Illinois Department of Revenue. That's separate from federal corporate tax and from any payroll taxes tied to employing staff in the state. Do I need separate payroll tax registrations once my entity is formed? Yes. Forming the entity with the Secretary of State doesn't automatically register you for state withholding or unemployment insurance, so you'll need to complete those registrations before you run payroll. How long does setting up an Illinois entity take? There's no fixed number of days you can rely on, since it depends on Secretary of State processing and how quickly your EIN and tax registrations come through. Build in real time rather than assuming a fast turnaround. Can I hire someone in Illinois before my entity exists? Yes. Teamed can employ your Illinois hire through its own entity right away, so you're not waiting on formation and registration before someone starts work. Where these figures come from ## Sources These figures are drawn from the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Secretary of State. ## More on entities in Illinois - [Hiring in Illinois, overview](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois)parent - [Illinois running costs](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/entity-running-costs-and-filings)sibling - [Illinois tax presence](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/permanent-establishment-risk)sibling - [Illinois entity or eor](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/eor-vs-entity)sibling - [Illinois moving from an eor](/country-hiring-guides/united-states/illinois/moving-from-eor-to-your-own-entity)sibling - [Set up an entity, by country](/entity-setup-by-country)hub - [Entity Management (GEMO)](/entity-management)core - [Talk to an expert about Illinois](https://www.teamed.global/contact?from=entity-setup)CTA