Yes, in nearly every state you have to renew your LLC, though states don’t usually call it that. What they require is a periodic filing with the Secretary of State, almost always paired with a fee, to keep your LLC on the active rolls. Skip it and the state can strip away the legal status that gave you liability protection in the first place.
The filing goes by different names depending on the state: Annual Report, Statement of Information, Biennial Statement. The purpose is the same everywhere. The state wants current information on who runs the company, where it operates, and who to serve with legal papers. These filings are not tax returns and they do not go to the tax department. They go to the Secretary of State or equivalent business registry office.
How Often You Have to File
Most states run on an annual cycle. A handful use a two-year cycle instead. Deadlines fall into two patterns: some states tie your due date to the anniversary of your LLC’s formation, while others set a universal deadline for every entity in the state, often early in the calendar year or on a fixed spring date.
Check your state’s Secretary of State website for the exact date. A single day late can trigger penalties. Some states send email or mail reminders; many don’t. Treat the deadline like a tax due date and put it on your calendar.
Filing Fees and Franchise Taxes
Costs vary a lot. Annual report filing fees range from nothing in some states to over $800 in others. A few states charge no fee at all but still require the report to be submitted.
The bigger surprise for many owners is that the annual report fee and the state franchise tax are usually two separate obligations. The report fee pays for updating the public record. A franchise tax is a charge for the privilege of existing as a business entity in that state, and it is owed whether or not your LLC earned any revenue. One state, for example, charges an $800 franchise tax on top of a separate $20 filing fee for the informational statement. Several states impose a flat annual franchise tax on every LLC; a few others charge a franchise or margin tax tied to revenue.
Some states flip the arrangement: they require a flat annual entity tax but no annual report. A few require both filings, going to different agencies. Before you assume you’ve handled everything, confirm with both the Secretary of State and the state tax or revenue department. Missing one because you took care of the other is a common mistake.
What Information Goes on the Filing
Annual reports are short compared to tax returns, but the information becomes part of the public record, so accuracy matters. You’ll typically need:
- Your LLC’s exact legal name as it appears on the formation documents. A missing comma or “LLC” versus “L.L.C.” can cause a rejection.
- The name and physical street address of your registered agent. P.O. boxes don’t work because a process server needs somewhere to physically deliver papers.
- The principal office address where the LLC conducts business. A home address is legal but becomes public. Virtual office addresses are accepted in some states, rejected in others.
- The names and business addresses of the members or managers.
Most state portals pre-fill the form with last year’s information, so often you’re just confirming nothing has changed. Review every field anyway. If your registered agent’s address is wrong, you might never receive notice of a lawsuit, and a default judgment could be entered against you before you know anything is happening.
Nearly every state now accepts filings online. Log in to the Secretary of State’s business portal, review the pre-filled fields, correct what needs correcting, pay by card or electronic check, and download the confirmation. Keep every receipt. If a dispute later arises over whether your LLC was in good standing on a given date, that confirmation is your proof.
If Your LLC Operates in More Than One State
If you do business in states beyond where your LLC was formed, you likely registered as a “foreign LLC” in each of those states. Foreign qualified businesses typically owe taxes and annual report fees in both the home state and every state where they’re foreign qualified.1U.S. Small Business Administration. Register Your Business Each state has its own deadline, fee, and form.
Miss a filing in a state where you’re foreign qualified and that state can revoke your authority to do business there, which can block you from enforcing contracts or filing lawsuits in its courts. An LLC formed in one state and registered in three others has four separate filings to track.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
A missed deadline doesn’t dissolve your LLC overnight, but the consequences build quickly.
- Delinquent or “Not in Good Standing” status appears in the public record almost immediately. Lenders, partners, and opposing counsel can all look it up.
- Many states then send a delinquency notice with a grace period of roughly 60 to 90 days to file and pay late fees.
- If you still haven’t filed after the grace period expires, the state administratively dissolves or revokes your LLC. The business is no longer a recognized legal entity in that state.
The practical damage is worse than most owners expect. In many states, an LLC not in good standing cannot file a lawsuit until it fixes the problem. You could be unable to enforce a contract or collect a debt because of an unfiled $50 report. Lenders and investors routinely walk away from deals with companies that aren’t in good standing.
The most serious consequence is the potential loss of limited liability. The whole point of an LLC is the legal wall between your personal assets and business debts. When the state dissolves your LLC, that wall develops cracks. If someone sues the business during a period when it’s dissolved, a court may look past the LLC structure and hold you personally responsible, especially if the dissolution is combined with other factors like mixing personal and business funds. Courts call this piercing the veil. Creditors and plaintiffs specifically look for dissolved or delinquent status because it opens a path to the owner’s personal accounts and property.
There’s also the name itself. Once your LLC is administratively dissolved, the business name may become available in the state registry, and another entity can register it. If your brand, domain, and client relationships are built around that name, losing it creates problems far bigger than the filing fee you skipped.
Reinstating a Dissolved LLC
Most states offer a reinstatement process, but it costs more and takes more effort than simply filing on time. Reinstatement typically requires:
- Filing every delinquent annual report, with the fee for each one.
- Paying all back franchise or entity taxes for every year the LLC was delinquent.
- Paying late penalties on top of the base amounts.
- Filing a separate reinstatement application with its own fee.
Totals add up fast. Between missed reports, unpaid taxes, penalties, and the reinstatement fee, the bill can run from several hundred to several thousand dollars depending on how long you waited and which state you’re in.
States also impose a time limit on reinstatement, commonly one to five years from the date of dissolution. Miss that window and reinstatement is no longer an option. You’d have to form a brand-new LLC and potentially lose your original business name, EIN history, and any contracts tied to the old entity. A $50 to $300 report filed on time costs a fraction of reinstatement after even one year of neglect. If your LLC is currently delinquent, fix it now.
What About Federal BOI Reporting?
You may have seen warnings about Beneficial Ownership Information reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act. As of March 2025, an interim final rule exempts all LLCs formed in the United States from BOI reporting to FinCEN.2FinCEN.gov. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting The rule redefines “reporting company” to include only entities formed under foreign law that have registered to do business in a U.S. state.3Federal Register. Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Requirement Revision and Deadline Extension If your LLC was created by filing with a Secretary of State in any U.S. state, you currently have no BOI filing obligation. A future rulemaking could reverse the exemption, so it’s worth watching, but for now domestic LLCs can set this one aside and focus on the state-level filings that keep the entity alive.