Stay compliant in Indiana

Indiana’s recurring Secretary of State date is the business entity report, every other year, in the anniversary month of formation¹. Income tax is in the spring. Sales tax follows the schedule the department assigns. Employer accounts start when you have people on the payroll.

What’s different in Indiana

• The business entity report is every other year, not every year. An LLC and a corporation both file it. It is $31² online and $50¹ by mail.
• Missing it can lead to administrative dissolution, after notice and a chance to fix it. There is no late-fee line on the report form.
• Workers’ compensation is the employer’s insurance, with exemptions the statute lists. The minimum wage the state FAQ prints is $7.25¹⁷ an hour.
• Individual income tax is a state rate of 2.95%⁹ plus a county rate. A C corporation’s return is due the 15th day of the 5th month after the taxable year ends¹¹.

Do this

1. File the business entity report on the INBiz date. INBiz shows when your report is due. The form says the report is due every other year, in the anniversary month of formation¹. The small-business handbook says every other year, at the end of the month of formation. The Secretary of State may accept the report during the 90 days before the month it is due³. The Secretary of State sends a reminder to the address on record, in the month the report is due¹². If the notice never comes, the report is still due.
2. Pay the report fee. For a for-profit LLC or corporation, the Secretary of State’s business entity reports page prints $31 online and $50 by mail. Online, that is the statute’s $20⁵ plus an enhanced access fee of $11¹⁸. A nonprofit’s report is $21 online and $20 by mail. The statute treats a nonprofit like any other entity: the report is due every two calendar years, on a schedule the Secretary of State sets³. The business entity reports page says nonprofits file every year, in the anniversary month², but the statute and the report form say every two years. INBiz shows your due date. A series does not file a business entity report¹.
3. If the report is late, do not wait for a penalty bill that the form does not print. The Secretary of State may start a dissolution proceeding if the biennial report is not delivered within 60 days after it is due. After written notice, the business has 60 days to fix the problem. If it does not, the Secretary of State administratively dissolves it. An administratively dissolved entity still exists, but it may only apply for reinstatement or wind up. To come back, file for reinstatement. The statute is $20 electronic and $30⁵ on paper, and the fee analysis adds $11¹⁸ online. The Department of Revenue clearance normally takes 20 to 30 business days and is valid for 60 days from the date of issue⁷. If that window closes, you start the clearance again. A dissolved entity can apply for reinstatement within five years after the dissolution takes effect. Since January 1, 2026, an entity dissolved longer than that can still apply under the statute. The application then also states why the entity wants reinstatement and what it plans to do if reinstated. Before or after five years, an applicant who is not listed as a governing person also files a notarized affidavit, signed by a governing person or the entity's attorney, saying a governing person gave permission⁴. The Secretary of State’s page on the change says an entity dissolved more than five years also provides a notarized affidavit, and that there is no state form for it, so the person seeking reinstatement drafts it⁶. Its business entity reports page still says a business dissolved for more than five years cannot be revived². The statute now allows it.
4. File income tax. People: April 15⁷, at 2.95% for 2026, plus the county rate. County income tax rates may change in January and October. Departmental Notice #1 is the withholding chart⁹. C corporations: 4.9%¹⁹, with the return due the 15th day of the 5th month after the taxable year ends¹¹, under the income tax statute. A federal extension is recognized, and the Indiana return is timely if postmarked within one month after the federal extended date. The late-payment penalty for the extension period is waived if at least 90 percent of the tax is paid by the original due date and the rest, plus interest, is paid by the extended due date. Interest still runs from the original due date. An S corporation files Form IT-20S¹², due the 15th day of the 4th month after the taxable year ends. A partnership-taxed LLC files IT-65, due the 15th day of the 4th month after the taxable year ends¹⁰. The pass-through entity tax, if elected, has estimated payments on April 20, June 20, September 20, and December 20 for a 2026 calendar-year filer²⁰.
5. File sales tax on the assigned rhythm if you are registered. Sales tax returns are primarily monthly. A business that collects less than 1,000 dollars a year files once a year. Early filers have average monthly sales tax of 1,000 dollars or more for the prior fiscal year ending June 30. Monthly filers have average monthly sales tax under 1,000 dollars for the prior fiscal year ending June 30. An early filer's December return is due January 20. A monthly filer's December return is due January 30. Some months shift: a monthly filer's January return is due March 2, or March 1 in a leap year⁸. Use the deadlines page for the month. A registered business still files a return for a period with no tax. A late return can cost 20%, with a minimum of $5⁷. If you collect and pay all taxes on time, you can keep a collection allowance. The amount depends on your sales tax liability for the 12 months ending June 30 of the previous year¹². Rates are on Get your tax IDs.
6. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding follows the schedule the department assigns. The rules are on Get your tax IDs. Form WH-3 is due January 31¹². A late WH-3 costs $10⁷ per withholding document, according to the business FAQ. Unemployment tax is on the first $9,500²¹ of gross wages, at 2.5%²² for most new employers. Quarterly reports are due the last day of the month after the quarter ends²³. Quarterly wage reports are filed electronically unless the department grants a waiver, and unemployment payments must be electronic¹³. Report new employees within 20 days. A miss can cost $25¹⁴.
7. Renew the local license and any trade license on their own dates. A plumber’s license, a home-food practice, and an alcohol permit each follow the agency’s schedule. Licenses and permits has the rules.
8. Keep the registered agent current. The agent has to stay an individual, a general partnership, a domestic filing entity, or a registered foreign entity, at a street address in Indiana²⁴. Changing the agent has no fee⁵ in the statute. The online fee analysis lists $1¹⁸ for a change of registered agent address. Going 60 consecutive days without a registered agent in Indiana is also a ground for administrative dissolution⁴.

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation, from the statute: Every employer and employee must follow the workers' compensation law, except the people the statute leaves out. Coverage is insurance from an insurer authorized to write workers' compensation in Indiana, or proof the employer can pay the compensation directly. Self-insurance starts with an application fee of $500¹⁵, and the board can require security. The law does not apply to casual laborers, farm or agricultural employees, or household employees²⁵. The same section names one more group, so read it, or ask the board, before you skip the insurance. The state business guide says every Indiana employer must buy coverage from a private carrier. That sentence is broader than the statute. The statute is the list that includes the exemptions and the self-insurance path.

Minimum wage: the state FAQ prints $7.25¹⁷ an hour as of July 24, 2009. The state minimum-wage chapter covers an employer with two or more employees in a work week, and it does not cover an employer who is subject to the federal minimum-wage law. The statute sets the state rate at whatever the federal minimum is, rather than printing the dollar amount itself. A tipped employee’s cash wage is $2.13 an hour under the state statute, and tips have to make up the rest. The employer has to be able to show the tips. Overtime is one and a half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a work week, for an employer the state chapter covers¹⁶.

Unemployment: liable at the first dollar of pay to a covered worker, unless the business is agricultural, a 501(c)(3), or household domestic service¹³. Other thresholds are on Get your tax IDs. A new employer’s usual rate is 2.5%²². Experienced rates run from 0.5% to 7.4%, or 9.4%²¹ if the account is delinquent.

What you get back

A filed business entity report, filed tax returns, and current employer accounts. If the report is missed long enough for the Secretary of State to dissolve the company, ordinary business activity stops until you reinstate or wind up. The INBiz date is the one to trust.