Virginia LLC Annual Registration Fee: $50 a Year in Place of an Annual Report

Virginia Annual Report Rules Cover Corporations, Not LLCs

Corporations file an annual report with the SCC Clerk’s Office. For an LLC, the yearly obligation in Code of Virginia § 13.1‑1062 is a payment with no form attached, so there is nothing to update or sign each year.

The statute charges the fee “irrespective of any specific license tax or other tax or fee,” so it is owed even when the LLC also pays a local license tax, and the notice comes from the Virginia SCC, not from a Secretary of State.

The Assessment Notice Reaches the Registered Agent Two Months Early

Two months ahead, on the 1st (November 1 for a January due date), the SCC assesses the fee and mails the notice of assessment to the registered agent’s office address on file. The SCC’s FAQ puts the duty to forward it on the agent, and states that a fee cannot be paid before it is assessed.

Example: an LLC organized on March 10, 2025

1. Jan 1, 2026Fee assessed, payment opens in CIS
2. Mar 31, 2026$50 due
3. Apr 1, 2026$25 penalty added: $75
4. Jun 30, 2026Existence canceled if still unpaid

Its first fee falls in March 2026, the twelfth month after the month of organization, then every March after that.

If the notice shows another month, that month governs. Under § 13.1‑1062 C the SCC can move a due date by 1 to 11 months, at the registered agent’s request or to spread due dates across the year. A lost Notice of Assessment for the Annual Registration Fee can be requested again through the SCC’s online forms request page.

Ending the LLC Before Its Next $50 Comes Due

Section 13.1‑1062 A charges every domestic LLC, protected series and registered foreign LLC alike, with no reduced rate. The only way to owe nothing for a year is articles of cancellation on Form LLC1050 (a $25 filing fee, no extra charge online) that take effect no later than the due date itself, as § 13.1‑1062 E and the form’s instructions state.

Paying the $50 in the Clerk’s Information System

The Clerk’s Information System (CIS) takes the payment by credit card with no processing fee, and the guide the SCC publishes for it runs through these screens:

1. On cis.scc.virginia.gov, choose Pay Registration Fees at the top left to pay the annual registration fee.
2. Search by entity name or by the entity ID, then press Select next to the LLC. Clicking the green entity name opens its record instead.
3. Add an entity email address and phone number so payment messages reach you, review the Registration Fee List, then Add To Shopping Cart to start the registration fee payment.
4. Go To Payment, accept the terms and pay on the LexisNexis payment page, which asks for a billing address and a Captcha before Pay Now.

Online, CIS takes only the full balance, penalty included. A check or money order sent by mail may cover less, but § 13.1‑1061 applies every payment to the oldest unpaid assessment first. Cash is accepted only in person at the Clerk’s Office in Richmond.

A paid assessment is never refunded (§ 13.1‑1062 F). A penalty can be contested by letter to the Clerk of the Commission, but the SCC’s FAQ says one already paid cannot be refunded.

The SCC’s FAQ Leaves Out the § 1‑210 Weekend Rule

The SCC’s FAQ applies the $25 penalty to any payment not received by the due date “regardless of weekends or holidays.” Virginia’s general rule on deadlines, § 1‑210 E, moves an act due on a day the state office is closed to the following business day, yet the same FAQ words its own examples as due “on or before the last business day” of the month.

The tiles below mark the next twelve due months, with the last business day before any month end that falls on a weekend or a § 2.2‑3300 holiday:

• October 2026Due Sat 31Pay by Fri 30
• November 2026Due Mon 30Business day
• December 2026Due Thu 31Business day
• January 2027Due Sun 31Pay by Fri 29
• February 2027Due Sun 28Pay by Fri 26
• March 2027Due Wed 31Business day
• April 2027Due Fri 30Business day
• May 2027Due Mon 31 (Memorial Day)Pay by Fri 28
• June 2027Due Wed 30Business day
• July 2027Due Sat 31Pay by Fri 30
• August 2027Due Tue 31Business day
• September 2027Due Thu 30Business day

When New Year’s Day falls on a Saturday, as in 2028, December 31 becomes a state holiday. Days the Governor closes state offices count as legal holidays too, and cannot be listed in advance.

$75 the Day After, Canceled When the Third Month Closes

Under § 13.1‑1064, the $25 penalty attaches as soon as the due date passes, and the SCC mails a notice of the penalty and of the impending cancellation. A Virginia business entity search then shows the LLC as Pending Inactive, with a Reason for Status that explains how to avoid cancellation.

Section 13.1‑1050.2 cancels the LLC’s existence automatically when the fee remains unpaid “on or before the last day of the third month immediately following” the due date, “whether or not the notice” was mailed. No hearing or order comes first.

Property and affairs

Pass to the managers, or to the members of a member-managed LLC, as trustees in liquidation.

Personal liability

None for members or managers solely because of the cancellation (§ 13.1‑1050.2 D).

Earlier claims

Rights and liabilities that existed before the cancellation survive, and actions on them can still be brought or defended in the LLC’s name (§ 13.1‑1050.5).

Foreign LLC

Its authority to transact business in Virginia ends and its certificate of registration is canceled that same day (§ 13.1‑1056.1). The Clerk of the Commission then receives service of process for claims arising while it was registered.

Other SCC filings

Amendments, certificates and other documents wait until every fee and penalty is paid (§ 13.1‑1065). Exceptions: a statement of change or resignation of the registered agent, and a document effective on or before the due date.

The SCC issues good standing certificates to corporations only; an LLC’s proof is a Certificate of Fact of Existence (of Registration, for a foreign LLC), $6 each. Under § 13.1‑1065 it is generally held back until the registration fee is paid with any penalty.

The Reinstatement Bill for an LLC Canceled in June 2026

Section 13.1‑1050.4 opens reinstatement for five years after cancellation. The application can be a letter with the SCC identification number, and CIS takes it online. The amount owed includes all annual registration fees and penalties that would have come due had the LLC never been canceled.

If the LLC’s name no longer meets § 13.1‑1012 at that point, the application also needs articles of amendment that change it. If the registered agent resigned, a statement of change naming a new agent goes with it.

Once the order of reinstatement is entered, § 13.1‑1050.4 C deems the LLC to have existed without interruption since the cancellation, and liability incurred in between is judged on that basis. From June 30, 2031, five years on, this LLC could no longer apply.