When is my North Dakota LLC annual report due and what happens if I'm late?

Your North Dakota LLC annual report must be delivered to the Secretary of State before November 16 each year, so treat November 15 as the deadline, and it costs $50. The first one comes later than owners expect: it is due before November 16 of the year following the calendar year of the effective date in your articles, so an LLC formed in 2026 files first by November 15, 2027. File late and North Dakota adds a separate $50 late fee, taking the report to $100. The Secretary of State also notifies you that your certificate of organization is no longer in good standing. The serious consequence is automatic rather than discretionary. Under North Dakota law, an LLC that has not filed the report and fees within six months after the November 16 deadline ceases to exist and is involuntarily terminated by operation of law. The Secretary of State's decision that the LLC has been terminated is final, but North Dakota law still allows reinstatement: within one year after the termination, by filing the past-due annual report and paying the report fee, the late fee and a $135 reinstatement fee, and after one year only by petitioning the district court for the judicial district serving Burleigh County. Set a reminder for the start of November and file online through the Secretary of State's site at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.

How do I file my North Dakota LLC annual report?

You file your North Dakota LLC annual report through the North Dakota Secretary of State's online portal at sos.nd.gov. Sign in with your LLC's file number and entity name, then complete the annual report, which asks for your registered agent's name and address, your principal office address, and current member or manager information. The fee is $50, and the report is due before November 16 each year. Filing after November 15 adds a statutory $50 late fee, so the report costs $100, and an LLC left unfiled for six months after the deadline is terminated by operation of law, which ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up. Start from the limited liability company page at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc and follow the annual report link to your LLC's record.

What does it cost to start and maintain an LLC in North Dakota?

A North Dakota LLC costs $185 in its first year, which is among the more affordable in the country and about $47 below the national average. The North Dakota Secretary of State charges $135 to file the Articles of Organization, the same whether you file online or on paper. After that the LLC owes a $50 annual report, due before November 16 each year, starting with the year after the calendar year your articles took effect. Later years cost only that $50, because North Dakota imposes no franchise or privilege tax on LLCs. Optional charges are $10 for a name reservation and $20 for a certificate of good standing, which is a $15 certificate fee plus a $5 records-search charge. A report filed after November 15 costs $100 because of the statutory $50 late fee. Your next step: prepare your Articles of Organization with your registered agent information and file them with the $135 fee through the Secretary of State at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.

Do I need a registered agent for my North Dakota LLC?

Yes. North Dakota requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical address in the state to receive service of process and official correspondence. You can serve as your own registered agent if you have a North Dakota street address, not a PO box, and are available there during business hours, or you can hire a commercial registered agent service, commonly around $100 to $150 a year. Your agent's name and address go on the Articles of Organization filed with the North Dakota Secretary of State, and you must update them with the state whenever they change. The annual report is also where the state confirms your current agent information each year. If you have no North Dakota address or cannot be reliably available during business hours, appoint a commercial agent. You can review the requirements at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.

Compliance · ND

North Dakota LLC Annual Compliance Requirements (2026)

Everything your North Dakota LLC must do to stay in good standing, annual report deadlines, registered agent rules, and state-specific obligations.

First-Year Total$185

Annual Ongoing$50/yr

vs National Avg- $47.13

By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 5, 2026

North Dakota keeps LLC compliance cheap and simple, with one report a year and no entity-level tax. Articles of Organization cost $135, the same on paper or online, and after that the only recurring Secretary of State charge is a $50 annual report. That puts first-year cost at $185, about $47 below the national average, and $50 a year after that. The deadline is the unusual part: the report must be delivered before November 16, so November 15 is the practical date, rather than the spring deadline most states use. Your first report is not due in your formation year. It is due before November 16 of the year following the calendar year of the effective date in your articles, so an LLC formed in 2026 files first by November 15, 2027. Miss the date and North Dakota adds a $50 late fee, doubling the report to $100, and an LLC still unfiled six months after the deadline is terminated by operation of law, with reinstatement through the Secretary of State at $135 plus the past-due fees within one year after termination. The state's economy runs on agriculture, energy production, and the technology built around them, and its filings are handled through the Secretary of State's online portal, so the administrative side of running a North Dakota LLC stays light as long as the November date is on the calendar.

Stat card for North Dakota LLC compliance costs: $185 in unavoidable first-year charges and $50 a year after that, −$47.13 against the $232.13 national first-year average. Its annual report costs $50. — First-year total bundles the state filing fee with any report or entity tax due in year one; the recurring figure is what North Dakota costs every year after that. Source: North Dakota's published filing requirements and fee schedule, verified July 2026; national average from MyStateLLC's 50-state compliance dataset.

Annual Report Requirements

Due: November 15

Fee: $50

Frequency: annual

How: Online through Secretary of State website

Full North Dakota Annual Report Guide →

Registered Agent Requirements

What North Dakota requires of an LLC registered agent, what the role costs, and how to keep the appointment current with the Secretary of State.

Before you compare paid services: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one way to meet the requirement and not the only one. The North Dakota registered agent requirements set out what North Dakota itself asks.

Registered agent services for North Dakota LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

North Dakota Registered Agent Requirements →

Late Filing Penalties

Penalty: $50 late fee for an annual report filed after November 15, making a late report $100 total

North Dakota Late Fee Guide →

North Dakota-Specific Compliance Considerations

A November Deadline, Not a Spring One

North Dakota law requires the annual report before November 16, so November 15 is the working deadline for business LLCs and PLLCs. Farm or Ranch LLCs and ALF LLCs use April 15 instead, so the correct date depends on which LLC type you registered. Your first report is due before November 16 of the year after the calendar year your articles took effect.

The $50 Late Fee Doubles the Report

North Dakota charges an additional $50 for an annual report filed after November 15, so the report goes from $50 to $100 the day after the deadline.

Termination Happens by Operation of Law

Under North Dakota law, an LLC that has not filed its report and fees within six months after the November 16 deadline, roughly mid-May of the following year, ceases to exist and is involuntarily terminated automatically, and the Secretary of State's determination is final. Reinstatement then costs $135.

No Franchise or Privilege Tax

North Dakota's LLC Act imposes only Secretary of State filing fees on LLCs. There is no franchise, privilege, or minimum entity tax, and a default-classified LLC is a pass-through whose income is taxed to its members. The $50 report is the full ongoing state cost of a compliant LLC.

Below-Average Total Compliance Costs

First-year cost is $185: $135 to file the Articles of Organization plus the $50 annual report. That is roughly $47 below the national average, and the $50 report is the only recurring Secretary of State charge. Optional items are a $10 name reservation and a $20 certificate of good standing, which is a $15 certificate fee plus a $5 records-search charge.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Your North Dakota LLC annual report must be delivered to the Secretary of State before November 16 each year, so treat November 15 as the deadline, and it costs $50. The first one comes later than owners expect: it is due before November 16 of the year following the calendar year of the effective date in your articles, so an LLC formed in 2026 files first by November 15, 2027. File late and North Dakota adds a separate $50 late fee, taking the report to $100. The Secretary of State also notifies you that your certificate of organization is no longer in good standing. The serious consequence is automatic rather than discretionary. Under North Dakota law, an LLC that has not filed the report and fees within six months after the November 16 deadline ceases to exist and is involuntarily terminated by operation of law. The Secretary of State's decision that the LLC has been terminated is final, but North Dakota law still allows reinstatement: within one year after the termination, by filing the past-due annual report and paying the report fee, the late fee and a $135 reinstatement fee, and after one year only by petitioning the district court for the judicial district serving Burleigh County. Set a reminder for the start of November and file online through the Secretary of State's site at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.
: You file your North Dakota LLC annual report through the North Dakota Secretary of State's online portal at sos.nd.gov. Sign in with your LLC's file number and entity name, then complete the annual report, which asks for your registered agent's name and address, your principal office address, and current member or manager information. The fee is $50, and the report is due before November 16 each year. Filing after November 15 adds a statutory $50 late fee, so the report costs $100, and an LLC left unfiled for six months after the deadline is terminated by operation of law, which ends the entity's authority to carry on business other than winding up. Start from the limited liability company page at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc and follow the annual report link to your LLC's record.
: A North Dakota LLC costs $185 in its first year, which is among the more affordable in the country and about $47 below the national average. The North Dakota Secretary of State charges $135 to file the Articles of Organization, the same whether you file online or on paper. After that the LLC owes a $50 annual report, due before November 16 each year, starting with the year after the calendar year your articles took effect. Later years cost only that $50, because North Dakota imposes no franchise or privilege tax on LLCs. Optional charges are $10 for a name reservation and $20 for a certificate of good standing, which is a $15 certificate fee plus a $5 records-search charge. A report filed after November 15 costs $100 because of the statutory $50 late fee. Your next step: prepare your Articles of Organization with your registered agent information and file them with the $135 fee through the Secretary of State at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.
: Yes. North Dakota requires every LLC to maintain a registered agent with a physical address in the state to receive service of process and official correspondence. You can serve as your own registered agent if you have a North Dakota street address, not a PO box, and are available there during business hours, or you can hire a commercial registered agent service, commonly around $100 to $150 a year. Your agent's name and address go on the Articles of Organization filed with the North Dakota Secretary of State, and you must update them with the state whenever they change. The annual report is also where the state confirms your current agent information each year. If you have no North Dakota address or cannot be reliably available during business hours, appoint a commercial agent. You can review the requirements at https://www.sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llc.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified North Dakota sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

North Dakota statute: NDCC 10-32.1-92(25)(a)(1) (annual report late fee)
North Dakota statute: NDCC 10-32.1-92(1) (articles of organization fee)
North Dakota statute: NDCC 10-32.1-89(3) (annual report due date)
North Dakota statute: NDCC 10-32.1-90(1)(b) (automatic termination)
North Dakota statute: NDCC chapter 10-32.1 (LLC Act)
North Dakota statute: NDCC 10-32.1-91 (reinstatement after termination)
sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llcNorth Dakota Secretary of State: business entity filings
ndlegis.gov/cencode/t10c32-1.pdfNorth Dakota statute: Annual Report
sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/maintain-registrationNorth Dakota Secretary of State: file the Annual Report

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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.