Annual Compliance for a US LLC: The Whole Calendar (2026)

The 4 Things On Every LLC's Calendar

Whether you formed in Delaware, Texas or your home state, these four categories apply. What differs is the amount, the frequency and who you send it to:

1. Your State Annual or Biennial Report

This is the filing most owners mean when they say "LLC compliance," and it is entirely a state-level obligation — there is no federal equivalent. It confirms your LLC's principal address, registered agent, and management information are still accurate, and most states charge a fee to process it. The spread is wide: Texas's Public Information Report carries no fee and is due May 15 (Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, comptroller.texas.gov, read September 16, 2026), Delaware charges a flat $300 with no separate report, due June 1 (Delaware Division of Corporations, corp.delaware.gov, read September 16, 2026), and California layers a $20 biennial Statement of Information (sos.ca.gov) on top of an $800 minimum franchise tax (California Franchise Tax Board, ftb.ca.gov, both read September 16, 2026). A handful of states — Ohio and Arizona among them — require no annual report from a standard LLC at all (ohiosos.gov; azcc.gov, read September 16, 2026).

Because both the due date and the fee are set by your specific state, the only way to get your real number is to check it directly — our annual report deadlines by state hub lists every state's 2026 figure in one table, sourced from each Secretary of State (or equivalent agency, since a few states — Maryland is one — route this filing through their tax and assessments department instead).

2. Your Registered Agent (Every Day, Not Once a Year)

Every state requires an LLC to name and continuously maintain a registered agent — the person or company at a physical, in-state address who is legally authorized to receive lawsuits, subpoenas, and official state mail. This is the one item on the calendar that is not really a "date" at all: it is a standing requirement you must satisfy 365 days a year, because a lapse — an old address, a resigned agent with no replacement named — is graded on the same fee-then-dissolution ladder as a missed report.

Most single-owner LLCs can serve as their own agent for $0 if they have a physical street address in the formation state and are reliably available during business hours. Our full registered agent decision guide walks through the four qualifying rules and verified change-of-agent fees by state.

3. State Taxes and Business Licenses

Beyond the report itself, many states layer on a separate tax obligation — a franchise tax, a privilege tax, or state income tax on the members' pass-through share — plus any local business license your city or county requires for your specific trade. These follow their own calendars, separate from the report deadline: California's $800 minimum franchise tax (California Franchise Tax Board, ftb.ca.gov, read September 16, 2026) and its $20 Statement of Information (California Secretary of State, sos.ca.gov, read September 16, 2026) are two different filings with two different rhythms (annual tax, biennial statement), which is exactly the kind of stacking that catches owners off guard.

There is no way to generalize this category nationally — it depends on your state, your city, and your industry. Treat it as a standing line item to confirm on your own state's tax-agency site each year rather than something this calendar can price for you.

4. Federal Tax Returns — and the BOI Report Is Gone

Separate from anything your state requires, the IRS classifies your LLC by default based on how many members it has. A single-member LLC is a "disregarded entity" — business income is reported on Schedule C as part of your personal Form 1040. An LLC with two or more members is classified as a partnership by default, filing Form 1065, unless you elect otherwise (irs.gov, read September 16, 2026).

One item that used to sit on this list no longer belongs there. The federal Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report to FinCEN, created under the Corporate Transparency Act, caused years of confusion for small-LLC owners. That is now resolved for anyone reading this in the U.S.:

If your LLC was formed under the law of any U.S. state or D.C., this line is off your calendar. It is worth double-checking directly at fincen.gov before you rely on it for a specific filing decision, since this rule has already changed more than once in its short life — but as of today it does not apply to a domestic LLC.

Building Your Own Compliance Calendar

With the four categories above and the BOI report removed, building your actual calendar is four lookups, not four mysteries:

1. Look up your state's report due date and fee on the annual report deadlines hub and put it on a calendar with a reminder a few weeks ahead, not the day of.
2. Confirm your registered agent's address is current at the same time — it is the single most common reason owners miss the next two steps, because a stale address means the notice never reaches them.
3. Check your state's tax agency and your city/county for any franchise tax, sales tax, or license renewal specific to your business.
4. Mark March 15 (partnership) or April 15 (single-member) for your federal return, separate from the state dates above — and remember these shift for a fiscal-year LLC.

If tracking four dates across multiple offices is more than you want to manage yourself — especially with LLCs in more than one state — our review of 7 annual report filing services breaks down what a service actually buys you versus filing yourself.

What Happens If You Miss a Deadline

The dollar amounts differ by state, but the sequence does not: first a late fee where the state charges one, then loss of good standing, then — if the filing stays outstanding long enough — administrative dissolution. A dissolved LLC loses its legal authority to transact business, which can disrupt banking, contracts, and its ability to defend itself in court under its own name.

A few real examples show how differently the penalty can bite: a late Florida report adds a non-waivable $400 fee on top of the $138.75 due (Florida Division of Corporations, dos.fl.gov/sunbiz, read September 16, 2026), while a state like Ohio charges no separate report fee at all (Ohio Secretary of State, ohiosos.gov, read September 16, 2026) and instead moves straight toward dissolution risk on a longer clock. Because the consequences are state-specific, check your own state's guide for the exact numbers rather than assuming a national figure — the pattern (fee, then standing, then dissolution) is universal; the dollars are not.