Stay compliant in Nebraska

Nebraska’s recurring dates are the biennial report or the occupation tax, income tax in the spring, sales tax due the 20th day of the month after the reporting period¹⁷, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll.

What’s different in Nebraska

• The Secretary of State filing is every other year, and the calendar depends on the entity. LLCs use odd years. For-profit corporations use even years, and they pay an occupation tax rather than a flat report fee.
• Missing it can cost the limited liability and the name. The company can only wind up while it is administratively dissolved.
• A C corporation’s income tax is one rate on all taxable income. It is 4.55% for a tax year that begins in 2026, and 3.99%⁷ from 2027.
• Workers’ compensation starts at one employee for most employers, and there is no state fund. Paid sick time starts at 11 employees. The state minimum wage starts at four.

Do this

1. File the LLC biennial report in the odd year. It is due in odd-numbered years, by April 1, and it is delinquent June 16. The first report is due between January 1 and April 1 of the odd-numbered year after the year the company was formed³. Section 21-192 prices other LLC filings at thirty dollars in writing, or twenty-five dollars electronically, for filings other than the ones the statute prices separately¹⁸. The fee table does not give the biennial report its own row.* Check the total in the filing system. A limited liability partnership reports every year by April 1, and delinquent June 16. A nonprofit reports in odd-numbered years, by April 1, and delinquent June 16¹.
2. If you are a for-profit corporation, pay the occupation tax in the even year. It is due in even-numbered years, by March 1, and it is delinquent April 15¹. It applies to every for-profit corporation that is registered with the Secretary of State on January 1 of the even-numbered year. If your corporation did not meet that registration cutoff, check the next even-numbered filing year. The tax is twenty-six dollars when paid-up capital does not exceed ten thousand dollars. Above one hundred million dollars, it is twenty-three thousand nine hundred ninety dollars⁴. Bands in between are in section 21-303. This page does not calculate your band.
3. If you miss the delinquency date, the company is limited to winding up. The result of a missed report is administrative dissolution, or revocation of authority¹. The company still exists, but only to wind up. It may lose limited liability and the name². Reinstatement is $30. Late reinstatement is $500¹⁹, for an application more than five years after an LLC's administrative dissolution¹⁸, or more than five years after a corporation's administrative dissolution or revocation²⁰. Use the form the office sends.
4. File income tax. People and C corporations: the same day as the federal return and payment¹⁷. The 2026 calendar lists a calendar-year individual return and Form 1120N on April 15, 2026. A corporation with a June 30 year files by the 15th day of the third month after a June 30 year end. Pass-through returns: the same calendar lists Form 1065N and Form 1120-SN⁶ on March 16, 2026⁵. Those 2026 calendar dates are historical filing dates; for tax year 2026, confirm the 2027 return dates on the Department of Revenue calendar when available. The individual schedule for tax year 2026 starts at 2.46%. A single filer then pays 3.51% of the amount over $4,130, and 4.55% of the amount over $24,760²¹. A C corporation pays 4.55%⁷ of taxable income for a tax year that begins in 2026. The extension and the pass-through election are on Get your tax IDs.
5. File sales tax on your assigned schedule if you are registered. Returns are due the 20th day of the month after the reporting period. The state rate is 5.5%²², plus the local rate for the place of the sale. A timely filer may keep 2.5% of the first $3,000 of sales tax collected and remitted each month, up to $75¹⁷.
6. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding’s annual Form W-3N is due January 31, or the next business day if January 31 is a Saturday or Sunday²³. The 2026 calendar lists it on February 2, 2026, and Form 941N on April 30, 2026 for the first quarter⁵. Unemployment combined tax is due by the last day of the month after the quarter ends. The reports are penalized if they miss the tenth day of the second month after the quarter. The penalty is 0.1% of total gross wages for the quarter¹³. Report new hires and rehires within twenty days after the hire or rehire¹⁶.
7. Carry workers’ compensation if the act applies. Most employers must have workers' compensation insurance. The act covers most employees and does not cover independent contractors. The coverage line is one or more employees in the employer's regular trade, business, profession, or vocation. There is no state fund licensed to provide this coverage in Nebraska. You buy a policy from an insurer licensed in Nebraska, or you apply to self-insure if you qualify. The Nebraska Workers Compensation Insurance Plan covers employers who cannot buy a policy in the voluntary market¹⁵. The employer FAQ points exceptions, such as federal employers, to section 48-106. Read that section before you decide you are outside the act.*
8. Pay the state minimum wage if you have four or more employees, and track paid sick time if you have 11 or more. The wage is $15 an hour for an employer of four or more people at any one time. A tipped employee’s cash wage is at least $2.13¹⁰ an hour, and tips plus that wage have to reach the minimum. The employer makes up the difference. Beginning January 1, 2027, the wage rises by one and three-quarters percent each January 1¹². The updated Labor Department wage poster specifies $15.26⁹ an hour from January 1, 2027. The state wage law does not cover an employer of fewer than four. Check whether the federal wage law applies before you set a wage. Paid sick time applies to employers with 11 or more employees. A smaller covered employer provides at least 40 hours a year for a business with 11 to 19 employees. A larger one provides at least 56 hours a year for a business with 20 or more employees. Accrual is 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, after 80 hours of consecutive employment¹⁴. Employers may provide more. The FAQ is the page for carryover and for who counts as a small business.
9. Renew the trade name, the contractor registration, and any local license on their own dates. A trade name lasts 10 years from the filing date²⁴ and renews for $110¹⁹. Contractor registration is $40²⁵ a year on the current fee line. A liquor license and a city occupation tax are on Licenses and permits.
10. Keep a registered agent who can be handed papers. You must keep a registered agent in Nebraska. The notice to file the report goes to that agent. Missing the agent can lead to administrative dissolution²⁶. Changing the agent is 30 dollars in the office, or 25 dollars online¹⁹.

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation: the employer FAQ lists three ways to secure payment: a licensed insurer, court-approved self-insurance, or a narrow motor-carrier agreement that covers drivers only.

Minimum wage: the updated Labor Department poster shows $15.26 from January 1, 2027, a youth wage of thirteen dollars and fifty cents per hour for an employee who is at least 14 but younger than 16 and is not an emancipated minor, and a separate $13.70⁹ training wage from January 1, 2027 for certain new employees ages 16–19. Section 48-1203.01 restricts that training rate to qualifying hires and limited training periods, with anti-displacement protections. The youth wage rises by one and one-half percent on January 1, 2030, and every fifth year after that¹². The poster points to the exemptions in section 48-1202; check whether the worker is covered before using a lower rate. The earlier poster was published before the 2026 legislation and its 2027 CPI language is superseded by section 48-1203.

Unemployment: an employer is liable at $1,500 or more of gross wages in any calendar quarter, or when it employs one or more people on a day in 20 different weeks of a calendar year¹³. A 2026 new non-construction employer is at 1.25% on the first $9,000. Category 20 uses the first $24,000⁸.

What you get back

A filed biennial report or a paid occupation tax, filed income and sales tax returns, and current employer accounts. If the report is missed, the company can only wind up, and it may lose limited liability and the name, until it reinstates.