How much is the Alabama corporation annual report?

$10, filed every year. It is filed as the Secretary of State corporate annual report (Schedule AL-CAR, Ala. Code § 10A-2-16.22), $10 fee, collected by the Dept. of Revenue and filed as part of the Business Privilege Tax return — Form CPT for C corporations, Form PPT for S corporations and other pass-through entities.

Does an Alabama LLC file on the same schedule as a corporation?

No. An Alabama corporation files every year, while an Alabama LLC files no report at all. The two entity types are on different cycles in this state, which is a common reason owners of both miss one of the deadlines.

Corporation compliance · AL

Alabama Corporation Annual Report

By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

An Alabama corporation files the Secretary of State corporate annual report every year and pays $10. Filed with the Alabama Business Privilege Tax return: the C-corporation return (Form CPT) is due the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end (April 15 for calendar-year filers, matching the federal deadline); the S-corporation/pass-through return (Form PPT) is due the 15th day of the 3rd month (March 15 for calendar-year filers).

Filing cadenceEvery year

Report fee$10

Corporate income taxYes

What Alabama requires

Secretary of State corporate annual report

Frequency	every year
Due	Filed with the Alabama Business Privilege Tax return: the C-corporation return (Form CPT) is due the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end (April 15 for calendar-year filers, matching the federal deadline); the S-corporation/pass-through return (Form PPT) is due the 15th day of the 3rd month (March 15 for calendar-year filers).
Fee	$10
Form	Secretary of State corporate annual report (Schedule AL-CAR, Ala. Code § 10A-2-16.22), $10 fee, collected by the Dept. of Revenue and filed as part of the Business Privilege Tax return — Form CPT for C corporations, Form PPT for S corporations and other pass-through entities

Alabama is one of 41 states on an annual corporate reporting cycle. Nationally, 41 states require an annual corporate report, 7 require one every two years, and 2 require none.

What the filings cost over five years

State filing charges only — incorporation plus five years of reporting, annualized. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded, because both depend on income or net worth.

Period	State filing charges
Incorporation	$200
Each year after (report, annualized)	$10
Five-year equivalent (annualized)	$250

That ranks Alabama 26th cheapest of 49 states on five-year corporate filing charges.

Alabama corporation vs Alabama LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

	Corporation	LLC
Formation filing fee	$200	$200
Report cadence	Every year	Not required
Report fee	$10	No report required
Entity-level tax on the LLC side	—	Alabama Business Privilege Tax

Both entities cost $200 to file in Alabama, so the filing fee is not a reason to pick one over the other.

Full Alabama LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

State taxes a Alabama corporation pays

Corporate income tax

Applies	Yes
Rate	6.5% of Alabama net income, with a deduction allowed for federal income tax paid/accrued; applies to all net income (there is no $25,000 exemption). Filed on Form 20C.

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

Alabama levies a separate Business Privilege Tax (a net-worth privilege tax, Ala. Code § 40-14A) on corporations and LLEs. Rate is graduated from $0.25 to $1.75 per $1,000 of net worth apportioned to Alabama (rate tier set by federal taxable income). Historic minimum was $100; reduced to $50 for taxable years beginning after 12/31/2022 — the ADOR Business Privilege Tax page still states this $50 minimum and makes no mention of any elimination to $0. Maximum is $15,000 (higher caps apply to financial institutions/insurance companies — $3,000,000; electing Family Limited Liability Entities capped at $500). Corporations also pay the $10 Secretary of State annual report fee with the return (Form CPT for C corps, Form PPT for S corps/pass-through entities).

What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Alabamalevies — or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.

C-corp return: Form 20C (Alabama Corporation Income Tax Return)

Frequently Asked Questions

: $10, filed every year. It is filed as the Secretary of State corporate annual report (Schedule AL-CAR, Ala. Code § 10A-2-16.22), $10 fee, collected by the Dept. of Revenue and filed as part of the Business Privilege Tax return — Form CPT for C corporations, Form PPT for S corporations and other pass-through entities.
: Filed with the Alabama Business Privilege Tax return: the C-corporation return (Form CPT) is due the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end (April 15 for calendar-year filers, matching the federal deadline); the S-corporation/pass-through return (Form PPT) is due the 15th day of the 3rd month (March 15 for calendar-year filers).
: No. An Alabama corporation files every year, while an Alabama LLC files no report at all. The two entity types are on different cycles in this state, which is a common reason owners of both miss one of the deadlines.

Where these numbers come from

This page covers the recurring report a for-profit corporation files with Alabama. Every figure was checked against Alabama's own published sources on July 29, 2026— the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.

Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.

Primary sources: