North Carolina LLC Annual Report Filing Made Simple
Everything you need to know about the $200 NC LLC annual report, due April 15 of each year after the year your LLC was created, including fees and step-by-step instructions.
Collect your LLC's registered agent information, principal office address, member and manager details, and any changes since your last filing. You'll need your North Carolina LLC file number, the number the Secretary of State assigned when it accepted your Articles of Organization.
2
Access the NC Secretary of State Portal
Visit the North Carolina Secretary of State website at sosnc.gov and navigate to the business registration section at https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration. Create an account or log into your existing account to access the annual report forms.
3
Complete the Annual Report Form
Fill out the LLC annual report with current information about your business, including any address changes, registered agent updates, or management structure modifications. Review all information carefully for accuracy.
4
Pay the $200 Filing Fee
The annual report fee is $200. A paper report costs exactly $200; filing online costs $203 by credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds its payment-processing charge. If filing by mail, include a check or money order payable to the NC Secretary of State.
5
Submit and Keep Confirmation
File your annual report online or mail the completed form to the NC Secretary of State. Save your confirmation receipt and any correspondence. Your LLC remains in good standing once the report is successfully filed.
Ready to file your annual report?
Go directly to the North Carolina Secretary of State portal.
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
North Carolina charges no statutory late fee on a delinquent LLC annual report, so filing after April 15 does not add a dollar penalty. The $200 fee is still owed, and the real risk is administrative dissolution: once the report is more than 60 days past due the Secretary of State can begin dissolution, and it sends a 60-day cure notice before acting. An administratively dissolved LLC loses its authority to carry on business in North Carolina other than winding up, which puts contracts and liability protection at risk. Bringing the company back costs $100 for the Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution, and every delinquent $200 annual report must be brought current at the same time. File through the North Carolina Secretary of State's online portal at https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration as soon as you realize you have missed the deadline.
You can file your North Carolina LLC annual report online through the NC Secretary of State at sosnc.gov, or on paper by mail. The filing asks for your LLC name, file number, registered agent information, principal office address, and the names and addresses of your members or managers. A paper report costs exactly $200; the online filing costs $203 by credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds a payment-processing charge on top of the $200 fee. The report is due April 15 of each year after the year your LLC was created, so an LLC created in 2026 files its first report by April 15, 2027 and nothing in 2026. North Carolina charges no statutory late fee, but a report left unfiled leads to administrative dissolution. Filing online takes only a few minutes and gives you immediate electronic confirmation. Visit https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration to start.
The North Carolina LLC annual report fee is $200, payable to the North Carolina Secretary of State. That is the exact cost of a paper report; online filers pay $203 by credit card or $202 by ACH because the state adds its payment-processing charge. North Carolina charges no statutory late fee, so a late report costs the same $200 as an on-time one, but leaving it unfiled leads to administrative dissolution and a $100 reinstatement filing. There are no exemptions, discounts, or reduced rates: every LLC pays the same $200 regardless of revenue or employee count, which makes the cost predictable. Budget $200 a year into your LLC's operating expenses and set a calendar reminder for April 15. File through the Secretary of State's online portal at https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration or send the paper report by mail.
North Carolina LLCs file their annual report with the Secretary of State by April 15 of each year after the year the LLC was created. The first-year rule matters: an LLC created in 2026 owes nothing in 2026 and files its first annual report by April 15, 2027. After that the April 15 date is the same for every LLC no matter what month it was formed. The fee is $200, which is $203 online by credit card or $202 by ACH once the state's payment-processing charge is added.
Missing April 15 does not trigger a state late fee, because North Carolina charges none. What it does trigger is administrative dissolution: the Secretary of State can dissolve an LLC whose report is more than 60 days past due, after a 60-day cure notice. Dissolution ends the company's authority to do business in the state other than winding up.
Set a reminder for early April to gather your current registered agent, principal office, and member or manager details.
Your next step: file electronically through the Business Registration section of the Secretary of State's site at https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration, or mail the paper report to the same division.
No. Every active North Carolina LLC files an annual report with the Secretary of State, and there are no exemptions based on size, revenue, or activity level. An LLC that earned nothing and did no business during the year still files to stay in good standing.
The only way to stop the obligation is to formally dissolve the LLC by filing Articles of Dissolution with the Secretary of State. Simply ignoring the report leads to administrative dissolution, which ends the company's authority to do business in North Carolina other than winding up, and reinstating it costs $100 plus every delinquent $200 report.
To stay compliant, file the annual report by April 15 of each year after the year your LLC was created and pay the $200 fee. If you are unsure whether your LLC is still active, look it up in the business registration search at https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/business_registration before the deadline.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified North Carolina 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.
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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.
