Kentucky LLC Annual Report: $15, Due June 30 (2026)

A Kentucky LLC Annual Report is required every year, filed with the Kentucky Secretary of State for a $15 fee, with a fixed June 30 deadline. As of 2026, this guide covers the rule, the filing steps, the penalties, and what most state guides get wrong about the cure window.

Does Kentucky Require an Annual Report for LLCs?

Every domestic Kentucky LLC and every foreign LLC qualified to transact business in the Commonwealth must file an Annual Report with the Kentucky Secretary of State. Two statutes split the work: KRS 275.190 of the Kentucky Limited Liability Company Act routes LLCs into KRS 14A.6-010, which spells out the report's content and timing.

Owners still working through their formation paperwork can pair this guide with the Kentucky LLC formation steps to keep both checklists aligned.

The filing authority is the Office of the Kentucky Secretary of State, specifically the Filings Branch. Annual reports do not go to the Department of Revenue. Because Kentucky's separate LLET tax obligation lives at a different agency, that distinction trips up first-time filers.

When the Kentucky Annual Report Is Due (and Why Anniversary Dates Don't Matter)

Kentucky uses a fixed annual deadline, not an anniversary-date rule. Regardless of when it was formed, every LLC files between January 1 and June 30. The deadline is June 30. There's no fiscal-year alternative and no biennial cycle.

The first-report rule trips up new owners. A Kentucky LLC organized at any point during a calendar year files its first Annual Report the following year, not the year of formation. For foreign LLCs newly authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth, the same rule applies.

Three concrete examples make the math obvious:

• LLC formed February 10, 2026: first Annual Report due January 1 to June 30, 2027
• LLC formed December 10, 2026: first Annual Report due January 1 to June 30, 2027
• Foreign LLC authorized in Kentucky in 2026: first Annual Report due January 1 to June 30, 2027

How to Confirm a Kentucky LLC's Filing Status

Current status can be checked online through the Kentucky Secretary of State's business entity search. Boost Suite's Kentucky business entity search guide walks through pulling up an entity by name or organization ID.

The search returns the most recent filed Annual Report image, the current registered agent on file, and the principal office address of record. Mismatches between what owners think they filed and what the state shows are surprisingly common.

The $15 Kentucky Annual Report Fee (and Who Qualifies for the Veteran Exemption)

The Kentucky LLC Annual Report filing fee is $15. The same fee applies to foreign LLCs qualified to transact business in Kentucky. Under KRS 14A.2-060, the statutory amount has not changed since the July 15, 2020 effective date of the current version of the statute.

The fee is flat. It doesn't scale by revenue, member count, profit, or entity size. Compared to other states that charge several hundred dollars per year, Kentucky sits near the bottom of the national range.

That's a relief for small operators, but the modest fee is exactly why founders treat the deadline casually. The catch: cheap doesn't mean optional.

A veteran-owned business exemption applies under KRS 14A.2-060. The veteran-owned business exemption removes the annual report fee for qualifying veteran-owned businesses during the applicable four-year period, but it does not remove the annual report filing requirement or the June 30 deadline.

Worth flagging: the exemption removes the fee, not the filing requirement. The report itself is still due by June 30 each year.

Payment by mail goes to the Kentucky State Treasurer; the online portal accepts credit and debit cards. Boost Suite's Kentucky LLC cost breakdown places the $15 figure inside Kentucky LLC's recurring compliance costs.

Filing the Kentucky Annual Report Online via FastTrack or by Mail

Most Kentucky filers complete the online filing in under ten minutes. The state runs two parallel methods: online through the FastTrack portal, and paper through the Annual Report postcard the state mails each year. In practice, both methods are accepted; the choice usually comes down to access and habit.

Filing Online via FastTrack

The Kentucky Secretary of State FastTrack Annual Report page is the primary online entry point. Filers search by entity name or organization ID, review the pre-populated principal office, registered agent, and member or manager details, then confirm or update the editable fields.

Signature is electronic. Payment is $15 by credit card or debit card. After filing online, verify acceptance through the Kentucky Secretary of State's business entity record or the filed annual report image. The entity record remains the most reliable acceptance check.

If the annual report is incomplete and the Secretary of State returns it for correction, it is not treated as delivered until the corrected report is returned and accepted. Filing early gives the LLC time to fix rejections before the June 30 deadline.

Filing by Mail Using the Annual Report Postcard

Kentucky mails each entity an Annual Report postcard addressed to the principal office on file. The postcard can be completed, signed, and returned with payment. Alternatively, filers can print a generated Annual Report from the FastTrack portal and mail that instead.

The mailing address on the Kentucky Secretary of State Annual Reports page is:

Checks should be payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer. Kentucky doesn't publish a guaranteed paper-filing processing time, so mailers should send well before June 30 and verify acceptance through the entity record afterward.

Information Kentucky Requires on Every LLC Annual Report

KRS 14A.6-010 spells out the statutory fields every Kentucky LLC Annual Report must contain. For manager-managed LLCs, KRS 14A.6-010 requires the names and business addresses of each manager. The Secretary of State's annual report workflow may also require or allow confirmation or update of member and manager information depending on the entity record. Gathering the data upfront cuts filing time to a few minutes.

Before opening the portal or filling out the postcard, have the following ready:

• Entity name as it appears on the Articles of Organization
• Organization ID issued by the Kentucky Secretary of State
• State or country under whose law the LLC is organized
• Address of the registered office in Kentucky
• Name of the registered agent at that office
• Address of the principal office (which may be outside Kentucky)
• For manager-managed LLCs: name and business address of each manager (statutorily required under KRS 14A.6-010)
• For member-managed LLCs: names and addresses of members per Secretary of State portal practice
• Signature and title of the person filing
• Email address of the filer (online portal field only)
• Payment method (credit card, debit card, or check)

Do not rely on state reminders. Calendar the June 30 deadline internally and verify that the principal office address on file is current. That makes the annual filing a useful touchpoint for confirming who's actually in the LLC and where mail will land.

Registered agent and principal office changes are the exception. Those can't be made on the postcard. For agent changes, Boost Suite's Kentucky registered agent guide covers the options before filing a RAC.

What Happens After June 30: The 60-Day Cure Window and Administrative Dissolution

The Kentucky Secretary of State fee schedule does not list a separate monetary late fee for an overdue annual report. The financial consequence appears at reinstatement, including the $100 reinstatement penalty and delinquent annual report fees.

Kentucky's Secretary of State describes nonfiling by June 30 as leading to inactive status, bad standing, and administrative dissolution. Statutorily, KRS 14A.7-020 provides a notice-and-cure procedure: the entity has 60 days from the date the notice was mailed to correct the ground before administrative dissolution is completed.

Here's the statutory sequence. KRS 14A.7-010 lists the grounds for administrative dissolution, including failure to deliver the Annual Report by its due date. Under KRS 14A.7-020, the Secretary of State sends a notice to the entity.

The LLC has 60 days from the date the notice was mailed to correct the ground or prove it doesn't exist. After 60 days uncorrected, the Secretary of State administratively dissolves the entity.

A note on the August 31 myth. Several competitor pages describe a flat August 31 dissolution cutoff. The statute doesn't say that. According to KRS 14A.7-020, the 60-day clock starts when the Secretary of State mails the notice, typically (though not always) shortly after July 1. In practice, August 31 is a useful approximation but not the statutory trigger.

An administratively dissolved Kentucky LLC continues to exist for the limited purpose of winding up and liquidating. It cannot carry on regular business. While the registered agent's authority survives dissolution, which keeps service of process intact, good standing is gone until reinstatement clears.

Reinstating a Dissolved Kentucky LLC

Reinstatement runs through a Reinstatement Application, started online via FastTrack and then mailed or hand-delivered to the Secretary of State's office. The application requires a $100 reinstatement penalty plus the $15 filing fee for each delinquent Annual Report.

Under KRS 14A.7-030, the Secretary of State's reinstatement workflow may require clearance from the Kentucky Department of Revenue and, where applicable, the Division of Unemployment Insurance. KRS 14A.7-030 specifically references an unemployment insurance certificate for a business corporation. LLC owners should follow the Secretary of State's reinstatement workflow and verify which agency clearances apply to their entity. KRS 14A.3-010 also matters: the entity's name must still be available, or a name change is required as part of reinstatement.

When reinstatement is granted, it relates back to the effective date of dissolution. Reinstatement may be unavailable if the entity has already taken steps to wind up and liquidate and notify claimants.

Kentucky Annual Report vs Limited Liability Entity Tax (LLET)

The $15 Annual Report and the Kentucky Limited Liability Entity Tax are different obligations owed to different agencies. The Annual Report is an entity-information filing with the Secretary of State. By contrast, the LLET is a tax filing with the Kentucky Department of Revenue, generally tied to the entity's tax year.

The LLET minimum is $175. The LLET small-business exemption may reduce the calculation to the $175 minimum; it does not automatically eliminate the LLET filing or payment obligation unless a separate statutory exemption applies. A Kentucky single-member LLC whose single member is an individual, estate, trust, or general partnership generally uses Form 725 under Kentucky Department of Revenue instructions; multi-member LLCs typically integrate the LLET into the partnership return. For current forms and instructions, the Kentucky Department of Revenue's Corporation Income and LLET page is the official reference.

For Form 725 filers, the return and payment are generally due by the 15th day of the fourth month after the close of the taxable year, subject to weekend and holiday rules.

Bottom line: budgeting only $15 for annual Kentucky compliance is the most common founder mistake, and it's not a small one. The LLET deserves its own calendar entry, and the operating agreement often dictates the tax classification that drives it. Boost Suite's Kentucky operating agreement guide covers that choice, since it isn't always obvious which classification fits.

Avoid Third-Party Solicitation Traps

Kentucky LLC owners may receive third-party mailers or solicitations offering to file an annual report for a much higher price than the official state fee. The official Kentucky LLC Annual Report filing fee is $15. File directly through the Kentucky Secretary of State's official website or verify any third-party service carefully before paying.

Kentucky LLC Annual Report Questions Owners Ask Most

These come up most often from Kentucky LLC owners getting ready to file. Short, specific answers below.