Vermont LLC Annual Report: Due Date, Fee and What Happens If You Miss It

How the Annual Report works in Vermont

Vermont LLCs file an annual report with the Secretary of State's Business Services Division, and the deadline is set by the company's fiscal year rather than its formation date. The report is due within three months after the fiscal year end on record, so a calendar-year LLC files by March 31. Owners who chose a different fiscal year end during formation often forget it, so it is worth looking up the business record to see which date the state has. The fee is $45 for a Vermont LLC and $170 for a foreign LLC, and all filings go through the Online Business Service Center. The report itself is short: company name, home jurisdiction, designated office, and the registered agent's name, email, and address. Separate from this filing, the Department of Taxes expects a $250 minimum business entity tax from most multi-member and S corporation LLCs, and simply being registered triggers it.

First report: The first report is due within three months after the end of the first fiscal year that closes after the LLC is formed.

If you miss the deadline

• No separate late fee while the LLC is still active; once its articles are terminated, a $35 reinstatement fee applies for each year a report was missed.
• Under 11 V.S.A. 4034, an LLC that fails to file its annual report has its articles of organization terminated, and the online record shows Terminated (or Inactive after a longer lapse); the LLC loses the right to its name if the report is not filed within five years of its due date.
• Fixing a dissolved or forfeited LLC is covered in our Vermont LLC reinstatement guide.

How to file the Vermont Annual Report

• File online only through the Online Business Service Center at bizfilings.vermont.gov: sign in or create a user account, choose File your Annual/Biennial Report, and confirm or update the information; a paper check can be mailed by choosing the print-and-mail option at payment.
• What becomes public: The report lists the LLC's name, the jurisdiction it was formed in, its designated office address, and the name, email, and address of its registered agent.
• Filed or paid alongside it: Separately from the report, an LLC taxed as a partnership or S corporation owes Vermont's $250 minimum business entity tax on Form BI-471 (or BI-476) to the Vermont Department of Taxes; registration with the Secretary of State alone triggers it.
• Official filing page: file with the state

What Vermont charges over five years

Counts only the formation fee and the Annual Report fee. Separately from the report, an LLC taxed as a partnership or S corporation owes Vermont's $250 minimum business entity tax on Form BI-471 (or BI-476) to the Vermont Department of Taxes; registration with the Secretary of State alone triggers it. Registered agent service, if you use one, typically adds $100 to $300 a year.

Vermont compared with nearby states

Mistakes Vermont owners make

• Assuming the report is due on the formation anniversary, when Vermont uses the fiscal year end on record plus three months.
• Forgetting that a non-December fiscal year chosen at formation moves the deadline to a different month.
• Mailing a paper report, when Vermont requires the filing itself to be submitted online.
• Treating the $45 report as the only yearly cost and missing the separate $250 minimum business entity tax owed to the Department of Taxes.