Stay compliant in Mississippi

Mississippi’s recurring dates are the annual report in April, income and franchise tax in the spring, sales tax on the 20th⁵, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. A zero-dollar LLC report is still a filing.

What’s different in Mississippi

• The LLC annual report is $0¹⁷, and it is still due April 15¹. A mailer that charges a fee for it is not the Secretary of State.
• Franchise tax is scheduled to end. A 2026 tax year still has a tax. The instructions say 2028 does not.
• A dissolved corporation needs a tax clearance letter to come back. The law requires it with a corporation’s reinstatement application. The LLC reinstatement section does not list one.
• Workers’ compensation starts at five people regularly employed, and there is no state minimum wage.

Do this

1. File the annual report every year. Every for-profit corporation, nonprofit corporation, and limited liability company operating in Mississippi must file an annual report. A profit corporation or an LLC can file any time on or after January 1, and the report is due by April 15. A nonprofit's report is due by May 15. All annual reports must be filed online¹. An LLC pays $0. A corporation pays $25¹⁷. A domestic LLC files the annual report on the Secretary of State's website at no cost. A mailer that asks for a fee is not from the office⁴.
2. Do not ignore a missed report. Failure to file may result in administrative dissolution. A corporation that does not file will be administratively dissolved¹. For an LLC, the act text says the Secretary of State may act 60 days after the annual report is due, and then another 60 days after the Secretary of State serves written notice, unless you correct the ground³. Reinstatement of a domestic LLC is $50. A domestic corporation’s reinstatement application is $50¹⁷.
3. If a corporation is reinstating, get the tax clearance letter first. The law says a corporation’s reinstatement application must contain a certificate from the Department of Revenue that all taxes the corporation owes have been paid¹⁶. The Department of Revenue’s tax clearance page says a tax clearance letter certifies a corporate entity, not an LLC or an individual, and the business must already have a corporate tax account⁶. For an LLC, the law instead asks for the LLC's name and the date it was dissolved, a statement that the grounds for dissolution did not exist or have been fixed, and a statement that the name meets the LLC name rules¹⁵, without listing a tax certificate. The Secretary of State’s filings FAQ nevertheless says all corporations and certain LLCs need a tax clearance letter from the Department of Revenue to be reinstated².* If the reinstatement portal asks your LLC for a tax letter, ask the Secretary of State which document is required and confirm with the Department of Revenue how to satisfy it before filing.
4. File franchise tax while it still exists. For a tax year that begins in 2026, it is $0.50 per $1,000 of capital employed over $100,000, or over the assessed value of property in the state if that is greater, and not less than $25. The minimum is $25. It is phased out over a nine-year period ending with tax year 2027. The instructions say it is repealed effective January 1, 2028⁷. An S corporation files as a pass-through entity. Shareholders pay the income tax. The S corporation still pays franchise tax. An LLC taxed as a partnership federally files as a pass-through entity in Mississippi. The Department of Revenue notifies the Secretary of State when a taxable entity does not file or pay a franchise tax return⁵. This page does not calculate the tax.
5. File income tax. People: 0% on the first $10,000, then 4%¹⁸ for tax year 2026. The later years are on Get your tax IDs. C corporations: 0% on the first $5,000, 4% on the next $5,000, and 5% on taxable income over $10,000, due on or before the 15th day of the 4th month after the year ends. An inactive corporation still files until the Secretary of State shows it is dissolved or withdrawn. Pass-through entities: due on or before the 15th day of the 3rd month after the year ends. Estimated payments start when the year’s income tax is over $200. An extension gives more time to file. It does not give more time to pay⁵.
6. File sales tax by the 20th on your assigned schedule if you are registered. Returns are due the 20th day of the month after the reporting period. A weekend or holiday moves the due date to the next business day. File a return for every period, even when you had no sales. Generally, a retailer whose average liability is $300 or more a month files monthly. A smaller liability may file quarterly. The department reviews this every year and tells you if it changes. The on-time discount is 2%, capped at $50. A miss can cost 10% of the late or deficient tax, interest of one-half of 1% a month, or both, when the shortfall is from negligence or a failure to comply⁵.
7. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding is due the 15th day of the month after the period. A weekend or legal holiday moves it to the next business day. Generally monthly when the average withholding is $300 or more a month, and quarterly when it is smaller. The department tells you which one you have⁵. W-2s are due January 31, both to the employee and to the Department of Revenue⁸. Unemployment reports are due the last day of the month after the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. A weekend moves the date to the next business day⁹, on the first $14,000 of wages. A new employer’s rate is 1%, then 1.1%, then 1.2%. Those rates do not include a Workforce Investment and Training contribution that might apply²⁰, and the rates page does not give the training rate.* The quarterly form instructions add damages of 10%¹⁹ of the contributions for paying late, in the cases that form describes. Report each new hire to the State Directory of New Hires within 15 calendar days of hiring or rehiring¹⁰. The Department of Human Services runs the directory, and its employer guide explains how to report online, by fax, or by mail. The MDES new-hire page says its voluntary new-hire program does not replace the report to the State Directory of New Hires¹¹.
8. Renew the local license and any trade license on their own dates. A contractor license lasts one year, and it can be renewed up to 180 days after it expires²¹: Licenses and permits. A city license, a food permit, and an alcohol permit each renew on that agency’s schedule.
9. Keep a registered agent who can actually be handed papers. The company has to keep one. The registered-agents page says that person or company needs a physical Mississippi address. The LLC act text says the state may start dissolution if the company is without a registered agent in Mississippi for 60 days or more³. To change the agent, the Registered Agents Act has the company file a statement of change, at $10¹⁵ per company. The filings FAQ says there is no longer a separate form to change the registered agent. A change is filed as an amendment².

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation: required when the employer has five or more workmen or operatives regularly in the same business, even if all five are not working at the same time. The same guide says nonprofit charitable organizations and fraternal, cultural, or religious corporations or associations are on the list of exempt employers¹². The claims guide that prints this is on the commission’s site and is published by the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Educational Association. If you are near five people, or you are not sure an exemption fits, ask the commission. Coverage can be a commercial policy or self-insurance the commission approves. The guide does not describe a state fund you buy from the department.

Minimum wage: No state minimum wage law. $7.25¹³ an hour applies to employers the federal wage law covers. Some workers are outside that law. The Department of Labor table is the place to check.

Unemployment: a commercial employer is liable after $1,500 of wages in a calendar quarter, or one worker in some part of a day in each of 20 different weeks in a year²². The first-year rate is 1%²⁰ on the first $14,000¹⁹.

What you get back

A filed annual report, including the year the LLC fee is zero. Filed income, franchise, and sales tax returns for the years they are due. Current employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. If the company is dissolved, the Department of Revenue says a corporation’s filing duty continues until the Secretary of State shows the dissolution or withdrawal. A corporation coming back also needs the Department of Revenue’s clearance letter.