What business types have to make state filings and pay state fees?

Sole proprietorships and partnerships generally do not have to make any state filings or pay any filing fees. However, some localities or states do require partnerships to make some filing, and if either business is going to be using a fictitious business name, they will typically have to make a filing in connection with that.

LLCs, however, generally do have to make state filings and pay certain state fees, and corporations always do. In addition to filing with the Secretary of State or some similar government entity in the state where the corporation or LLC is organized, many states require corporations and LLCs to obtain business licenses if they are going to do business in that state - for companies doing nationwide business, this can often be very costly, and saving this cost is one of the advantages of organizing your business as a sole proprietorship or partnership instead.