North Dakota LLC Annual Report Due November 15: the $50 Fee, the Late Fee, Automatic Termination and the Letters to Ignore
· RKube Services
North Dakota LLC annual reports are due November 15. The $50 fee, the late fee, automatic termination after six months, reinstatement, and the letters to ignore, for Fargo and Bismarck owners.
If you own an LLC registered in North Dakota, you have one state filing coming up fast. The annual report is due by November 15, the fee is $50, and it takes about ten minutes online. It's also the filing that quietly ends LLCs. North Dakota law terminates an LLC automatically if the report still isn't filed six months after the deadline, with no court case and no separate warning period.
This guide covers who files, when your first report is due, what the form asks, the late fee, how termination and reinstatement work, the separate April 15 date for farm and ranch LLCs, a new 2027 rule for professional LLCs, and the official-looking letters you should throw away. It's written for owners in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot, and for out-of-state LLCs registered to do business in North Dakota.
The basics at a glance
| Item | Rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Who files | Domestic North Dakota LLCs and foreign LLCs registered in ND | ND Secretary of State |
| Deadline | Before November 16 each year, so file by November 15 | NDCC 10-32.1-89 |
| First report | November 15 of the year after the LLC was formed or registered | NDCC 10-32.1-89 |
| Fee | $50 (domestic and foreign) | NDCC 10-32.1-92 |
| Late fee | additional $50 after the deadline | NDCC 10-32.1-92 |
| Automatic termination | if not filed within six months after the deadline | NDCC 10-32.1-90 |
| Reinstatement | past-due report + fees + $135 reinstatement fee, within one year of termination | NDCC 10-32.1-91 and -92 |
| Farm/ranch LLCs | due April 15 instead | ND Secretary of State |
| Where to file | FirstStop portal | sos.nd.gov |
The rules come from the Secretary of State LLC page and North Dakota Century Code chapter 10-32.1.
Step 1: Figure out if this is your first year
The statute is specific about the first report. A North Dakota LLC files its first annual report by November 15 of the year after the calendar year in which it was formed. A foreign LLC files its first one by November 15 of the year after the calendar year its certificate of authority was issued.
So an LLC formed in Bismarck in March 2026 doesn't owe a report this fall. Its first one is due November 15, 2027. An LLC formed anytime in 2025 owes its first report now, by November 15, 2026. This trips up owners in both directions: some file early and pay for nothing, and some assume they have another year when they don't.
Step 2: Gather what the report asks for
The annual report is a short form that keeps the state's record of your LLC current. Before you log in, have these ready:
- The LLC's exact legal name and North Dakota ID number (on your formation documents or the business search).
- Your principal executive office address.
- Your registered agent's name and address in North Dakota. If you've changed agents and never filed the change, fix that first, because notices from the Secretary of State go to the registered agent.
- The names and addresses of the people who manage the LLC (managers or governors, depending on how it's set up).
- A card or bank account for the $50 fee.
Step 3: File in FirstStop
Log into FirstStop, the Secretary of State's online business portal, and choose the annual report for your LLC. Review every prefilled field rather than clicking through. An out-of-date address on the annual report is how owners end up missing the next year's reminder.
Pay the $50 and save the filing confirmation as a PDF, with the date, in the same place you keep your formation documents. Banks, lenders and some customers ask for a certificate of good standing, and you'll want to be able to show the report was filed on time.
If the Secretary of State sends the report back for corrections, the statute gives you 30 days to fix and return it. As long as you filed before the deadline and return the corrected report within those 30 days, the late penalty doesn't apply.
What happens if you're late
North Dakota's late process is quick and has hard edges.
November 16: the report is late. The fee becomes $100, which is the $50 filing fee plus a $50 late fee. The Secretary of State notifies LLCs that haven't filed that they are not in good standing and may be terminated.
Six months after the deadline (around mid-May): an LLC that still hasn't filed, with its fees, ceases to exist and is considered involuntarily terminated by operation of law. The Secretary of State records the termination and mails a notice to the registered agent. There is no extra 60-day warning for this kind of termination; that longer notice applies to other reasons, such as failing to keep a registered agent.
Within one year after termination: the LLC can be reinstated by filing the past-due report and paying the filing fee, the late fee and a $135 reinstatement fee. That's $235 for a single missed year. Reinstatement returns the LLC to active status and validates contracts made in the gap, so the business is treated as if it never stopped.
More than one year after termination: the statute's route is an appeal to the district court serving Burleigh County. At that point you're paying a lawyer, and forming a new LLC can be simpler, though you'd lose the old one's history and name protection.
A terminated LLC can cause real trouble beyond the fee: lenders or banks asking questions when they check good standing, contracts signed in the company name questioned, and the liability protection you formed the LLC for put in doubt for that period. A foreign LLC whose authority is revoked has the same kinds of problems doing business in North Dakota.
Farm and ranch LLCs: April 15, not November 15
North Dakota has a separate structure for farming or ranching LLCs, which have limits on membership (related individuals and certain trusts and estates, up to 15 members) and on what they can do with land. Their annual report is due April 15, not November 15. The Secretary of State notes that this form isn't available in FirstStop; you contact the office to request it.
If you're running a family farm through an LLC near Jamestown or Devils Lake, check which kind of LLC it actually is before assuming the November date applies.
Professional LLCs: a new requirement from January 1, 2027
Professional LLCs (PLLCs), such as dental practices, law firms, CPA firms and engineering firms, file their annual report on the same November 15 schedule. Starting January 1, 2027, the Secretary of State says each PLLC's annual report must include a Certificate of Professional License (SFN 13610), completed by the licensing board, showing that every governor and member who practices the profession is licensed in North Dakota. A copy of the filed report also goes to the regulatory board.
That doesn't change this November's filing, but it does mean your November 2027 report depends on a licensing board responding in time. Ask the board in the summer, not the week of the deadline.
The letters you should ignore
Every fall, North Dakota LLC owners get letters that look like official annual report notices: a seal, a deadline, a "compliance fee" well above $50, a return envelope. They come from private companies, not the state. The Secretary of State has publicly warned about misleading annual report letters from third parties.
The tells:
- The fee is higher than $50.
- The return address isn't the Secretary of State in Bismarck.
- Small print says the sender is "not affiliated with any government agency."
- It offers a certificate or other extras you didn't ask for.
The real annual report is filed through FirstStop for $50. If in doubt, go to sos.nd.gov directly instead of using any link or phone number in a letter.
A worked example: two Fargo LLCs
A Fargo home-services LLC formed in June 2025. Its first report is due November 15, 2026. The owner files on November 3 through FirstStop and pays $50. Done until next November.
A Fargo consulting LLC formed in 2022 whose owner moved to Moorhead and forgot. The 2026 report isn't filed. On November 16 the fee becomes $100. By about mid-May 2027 the LLC is terminated by operation of law. The owner finds out in June when a client's vendor portal flags the LLC as inactive. Filing in June 2027 costs $235 ($50 + $50 + $135), and the LLC is reinstated. Waiting until after May 2028 would have meant a court petition.
Common questions about the ND annual report
Is there a franchise tax or income tax due with the report? No. The $50 report is a Secretary of State filing. Any North Dakota income tax for an LLC's owners goes to the Office of State Tax Commissioner separately, on its own schedule.
Does a single-member LLC have to file? Yes. The annual report requirement applies to every LLC registered in North Dakota, regardless of how many members it has or how it's taxed.
We're a Minnesota LLC registered in North Dakota. Do we file in both states? Yes. You file North Dakota's report for your foreign registration, and Minnesota's annual renewal for the home LLC.
Can I file next year's report early? Each report covers the current year's filing cycle. If you want to get ahead, set a reminder for early October each year rather than looking for a way to prepay.
What if the LLC is winding down? File the termination paperwork with the Secretary of State instead of letting the LLC lapse. A $20 dissolution and termination filing is cleaner than an involuntary termination on your record.
Keep the small filings from becoming big problems
RKube Services handles bookkeeping and tax prep for small businesses across the US and Canada, including LLCs in Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks. We track filing dates like the North Dakota annual report alongside your books and tax deadlines, so nothing lapses because a reminder went to an old address. Start with a free scoping call and a 30-day trial: call (984) 234-7030 or reach us through rkubeservices.com.