In Illinois, the mandatory annual filing is simply called the Illinois annual report, though the specific form names vary by entity type. LLCs file the LLC Annual Report (Form LLC-50.1), limited partnerships file Form LP 210, and corporations file Form BCA 14.05D (domestic) or 14.05F (foreign). These reports must be filed annually with the Illinois Secretary of State to maintain your entity's legal standing in the state.
The Illinois annual report keeps the state's records current with your business information, maintains your entity's good standing status, and provides public transparency for stakeholders, creditors, and regulatory bodies.
For corporations, the report also calculates the Illinois franchise tax. Under 805 ILCS 5/15.35(d), the first $10,000 in franchise tax liability is exempt on and after January 1, 2025. As currently written, that exemption carries no sunset date, though pending legislation covered in Filing fees below could change the tax's future. As of August 2026, the tax has not been repealed and the $10,000 exemption remains in effect.
Who must file?
Most business entities registered with the Illinois Secretary of State file some form of annual report or renewal statement each year, though the exact obligation varies by entity type. The requirement covers domestic entities formed in Illinois and foreign entities authorized to do business here, including:
Domestic corporations (profit C corps and S corps)
Foreign corporations authorized to do business in Illinois
Domestic LLCs that meet the requirements for Illinois LLCs
Foreign LLCs registered in Illinois
Limited partnerships (LPs) and limited liability limited partnerships (LLLPs), both of which file Form LP 210
Nonprofit corporations (domestic and foreign)
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) do not file annual reports. Under 805 ILCS 206/1003, they file renewal statements instead (Form UPA 1003(D) for domestic LLPs, Form UPA 1003(F) for foreign LLPs).
Exempted organizations include:
Sole proprietorships and general partnerships (not registered as entities with the Secretary of State)
Business entities that have formally completed dissolution or withdrawal from Illinois with Secretary of State confirmation
Administratively dissolved entities are not exempt. They remain delinquent until they file every past-due report and reinstate, at which point their annual report obligation resumes.
How to file
Illinois offers both online and mail filing options, and the core steps stay consistent across business structures. The online process runs through the ILSOS portal:
Access the ILSOS annual reports page
Select the annual report filing option for your entity type
Look up your entity in the ILSOS records
Review all current information and update permitted changes to addresses, officers, directors, or managers
Complete the franchise tax calculation section (corporations only)
Submit payment using a credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express); ILSOS assesses a payment processor fee on all online transactions, with the amount disclosed at checkout
Some filings must go by mail. Per ILSOS's LLC filing instructions, an LLC must file Form LLC-50.1 by mail when it has more than eight managers, when any manager is not qualified to transact business in Illinois, when the report changes the entity's name, duration, purpose, registered agent name, or registered office address, or when the report requires layered signatures or execution by power of attorney. The threshold counts managers only; members without manager authority do not push an LLC to paper filing. Confirm the current thresholds directly with ILSOS, since form instructions are updated periodically.
Per the corporation filing instructions, corporations must file by mail when they have more than six officers or six directors, own property or transact business outside Illinois, or have changes in authorized shares, issued shares, or paid-in capital. In that last case, Form BCA 14.30 must also be filed with the annual report, with its own $5 filing fee. Both corporations and LLCs may file for reinstatement electronically, though a corporation that is voluntarily dissolved, expired, more than six years delinquent, or under a Department of Revenue hold cannot use the electronic reinstatement portal, per the corporation reinstatement page.
ILSOS does not publish a guaranteed processing timeline for online or mail filings; check your entity's current status through ILSOS Business Services (217-782-6961 in Springfield, 312-793-3380 in Chicago, or 217-524-8008 for the Limited Liability Division) before assuming a report has posted.
Due dates and deadlines
Illinois ties your annual report deadline to your entity's anniversary month rather than a uniform statewide date. Under 805 ILCS 180/50-1(b) for LLCs, 805 ILCS 5/14.10 for corporations, 805 ILCS 215/210(c) for limited partnerships, and 805 ILCS 105/114.10 for nonprofits, the report must be delivered within the 60 days immediately preceding the first day of the anniversary month.
For example, an LLC with a July anniversary month files during the 60-day window that runs from roughly May 2 through June 30, since June 30 is the last day before the first day of July.
Illinois law does not provide a general grace period or extension tied to the anniversary-month deadline itself, though several entity-specific mechanisms exist and are easy to confuse with one another. For LLCs, 805 ILCS 180/50-15 gives 60 days from the original due date to return a corrected report and avoid the late penalty.
For corporations electing an extended filing month, 805 ILCS 5/14.01 provides a separate 30-day window to correct and resubmit a report the Secretary of State has returned. Administrative dissolution runs on its own timeline again, starting only after a Notice of Delinquency and giving 90 to 120 days to cure depending on the default (see Consequences of not filing below). None of these is an extension of the original filing deadline.
The table below summarizes the filing window by entity type.
Entity type | Due date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Domestic/foreign corporations | Within 60 days before the first day of the anniversary month (or an elected extended filing month) | Must include franchise tax calculation |
Domestic/foreign LLCs | Within 60 days before the first day of the anniversary month | No franchise tax required |
Limited partnerships | Within 60 days before the first day of the anniversary month | Form LP 210; LLLPs use the same form |
Nonprofit corporations | Within 60 days before the first day of the anniversary month | Reduced filing fee |
Filing fees
Illinois annual report fees are standardized by entity type, with additional costs for expedited processing, and for corporations the franchise tax comes on top of the filing fee. Corporations report authorized shares, issued shares, and paid-in capital on the annual report, and the franchise tax is figured from those numbers.
The exemption threshold has moved with each recent session: $1,000 from January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023 under Public Act 102-16, $5,000 for 2024 under Public Act 103-8, and $10,000 from 2025 under Public Act 103-592, so the threshold in effect when you file can differ from the prior year's.
HB 2846 and SB 2276 in the 104th General Assembly propose phasing out or eliminating the corporate franchise tax; HB 5526 would raise the exemption threshold to $100,000 in 2027 and eliminate the tax for domestic corporations by 2028 to 2029. None of the three had been enacted as of August 2026, and Ahlbeck & Cook reported that HB 5526 and similar proposals remain in the Rules Committee with no clear path to a floor vote.
A Secretary of State franchise tax and license fee amnesty program, created by Public Act 104-0006, ran from October 1 through November 15, 2025, covering liabilities for tax periods ending after June 30, 2019 and on or before June 30, 2025; that window is now closed, and no successor Secretary of State amnesty had been announced as of August 2026. The same act also created the Illinois Remote Retailer Amnesty Program, run by the Illinois Department of Revenue from August 1 through October 31, 2026, which addresses remote retailers' sales tax liabilities and has no bearing on franchise tax or annual report obligations.
Entity type | Annual report fee | Expedited fee | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Corporations | $75 + franchise tax | $50 | $75 base fee applies regardless of franchise tax owed; first $10,000 of liability exempt under current law |
LLCs | $75 | $50 (mail filings only) | Expedited service available on mail filings only, per 805 ILCS 180/50-10(f) |
Nonprofits | $10 | $25 | Reduced fee; $3 late penalty if filed after the due date |
Limited partnerships | $100 | $50 | Applies to LPs and LLLPs; confirm current expedited availability and fee directly with ILSOS, as this figure was not independently confirmed |
Required information
Gather these before you start. The first two are practical prerequisites for locating your entity; the rest are statutory content items.
Illinois state file number (assigned when the entity was formed or registered)
State or country of formation and original formation date
Complete legal entity name as registered with the state
Current registered agent in Illinois with name and Illinois street address (a P.O. box alone is unacceptable)
Street address of the principal place of business
Entity-specific requirements include the following:
Corporations: Names and addresses of all officers and directors, authorized shares, issued shares, and paid-in capital for the franchise tax calculation. Reports filed on or after January 1, 2023 must also include EEO-1 employment data under 805 ILCS 5/14.05. The Secretary of State publishes the gender, race, and ethnicity data on its website within 90 days of receiving a properly filed report.
LLCs: Names and business addresses of all managers and any member with the authority of a manager. Non-managing members do not need to be listed.
Nonprofits: Names and addresses of officers and directors. Illinois nonprofit boards must have at least three directors under 805 ILCS 105/108.10(a); that minimum applies only to nonprofits, not to for-profit corporations or LLCs.
Consequences of not filing
Illinois imposes escalating penalties for annual report non-compliance, starting with financial penalties and progressing to administrative dissolution. The specifics vary by entity type and, for corporations, the filing bar and the dissolution process run on two separate tracks rather than one:
LLCs: A $100 penalty applies if the report is not filed within 60 days after the due date, plus $100 for each year or fraction thereof beginning with the second year of delinquency, under 805 ILCS 180/50-15. The same section also restricts the Secretary of State from accepting additional filings for the LLC until the delinquency is resolved.
Corporations, filing bar: A penalty of 10% of any delinquent franchise tax applies under 805 ILCS 5/16.05(a), plus interest of 2% per month or $1, whichever is greater, under 805 ILCS 5/16.05(f). Under 805 ILCS 5/15.85(a), the Secretary of State will not accept other filings from a corporation while franchise taxes, fees, penalties, or interest remain unpaid.
Corporations, dissolution: Administrative dissolution is a separate process from the filing bar above. Under 805 ILCS 5/12.40, the Secretary of State must first send a Notice of Delinquency, and the corporation generally has 90 days from that notice to correct the default before dissolution follows.
Nonprofits: A $3 late penalty under 805 ILCS 105/116.05(a).
Loss of good standing, which appears in public records and can affect how creditors, lenders, and business partners view the entity.
LLC administrative dissolution: LLCs have 120 days from the Secretary of State's notice date to correct a default under Section 35-25(1) or (2) of 805 ILCS 180/35-30 (annual report defaults typically fall here), and 60 days to correct defaults under the section's other paragraphs, such as failure to maintain a registered agent. Both periods run from the notice date, not from the original missed deadline.
LLC and corporation reinstatement both carry a $200 fee; nonprofit reinstatement costs $25. All three require filing every past-due annual report and paying the fees and penalties owed. Confirm the current look-back period and any cap on the number of past-due reports directly with ILSOS Business Services, since that detail was not consistently documented in the sources reviewed for this article.
Track your Illinois annual report deadlines with Discern
Managing an Illinois annual report alongside filings in every other state where your entities operate means tracking a different anniversary-month deadline for each one, a job that gets harder with every entity you add. Discern's automated annual report filing handles the Illinois LLC, corporation, LP, and nonprofit report itself, pre-filling the correct form from your centralized entity data and submitting it before the statutory window closes. For the Illinois corporate franchise tax component, Discern provides deadline tracking and notifications; Delaware is the only state where Discern automates franchise tax calculation and filing.
Whether you manage two entities or two hundred, Discern handles Illinois annual report compliance alongside your obligations across all 51 jurisdictions from a single dashboard, with registered agent services in every jurisdiction and staggered deadlines tracked automatically for portfolios with entities formed in different months.
FAQs about Illinois annual reports
These are the questions multi-entity filers ask most often about the Illinois annual report.
Can I file early or get extensions?
You can file at any point during the 60-day window before your anniversary month, but Illinois statutes provide no extension for any entity type. Corporations reporting less than 100% of paid-in capital in Illinois may make a one-time, irrevocable election of an extended filing month under 805 ILCS 5/14.01. The election carries a $25 fee and is unavailable to corporations whose fiscal year ends within the two months immediately preceding the anniversary month; it permanently changes the filing calendar rather than granting a temporary extension. Under 805 ILCS 5/15.80, all reports, fees, and franchise taxes remain due before the first day of the anniversary month or extended filing month.
What if I need to amend information after filing?
Neither the corporation nor the LLC statutes provide a filer-initiated amended annual report. A registered agent change is not made on the annual report itself; Illinois provides separate registered-agent and registered-office change forms for corporations (Form BCA 5.10/5.20) and LLCs (Form LLC-1.36/1.37), each carrying a $25 fee. For misstatements, typographical errors, or defective execution, a statement of correction is available ($50 on Form BCA 1.15 for corporations, $25 on Form LLC 5.47 for LLCs); it takes effect as of the original filing date and cannot make changes that would not have complied with the law at the time of the original filing. Confirm current form numbers and fees directly with ILSOS before filing, as these were not independently verified against the current ILSOS forms library.
Is multi-year filing available?
No. Illinois requires a separate filing each year: 805 ILCS 5/14.10 for corporations and 805 ILCS 180/50-1(b) for LLCs both require the report within the 60 days preceding the anniversary month annually. No provision in the statutes or ILSOS guidance reviewed for this article authorizes paying for multiple years in advance.
How does a Series LLC handle its annual report?
Illinois's LLC Annual Report form (Form LLC-50.1) includes a "Series Fee, if required" line in addition to the $75 base filing fee, so a series LLC's total due can run higher than the base fee. Confirm the applicable series fee and any per-series filing detail with ILSOS Business Services before filing.
Updated on
2026-08-14
