Stay compliant in North Dakota

North Dakota’s recurring dates are the Secretary of State annual report, income tax in the spring, sales tax on the schedule your permit uses, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. The report date is not the same for every structure.

What’s different in North Dakota

• Annual report deadlines depend on the entity. LLC: November 15. North Dakota corporation: August 1. Foreign corporation: May 15³. Reporting partnership: March 31²⁰. Nonprofit: February 1⁴. Farm or ranch LLC: April 15².
• A missed LLC report ends the company by law. Under the statute, an LLC that has not filed its report six months⁵ after the due date ceases to exist. In 2026, the usual November 15² LLC deadline falls on a Sunday. North Dakota’s weekend filing rule makes the next business day timely: Monday, November 16, 2026²¹. Confirm the displayed date in FirstStop before filing.
• Workers’ compensation is a state fund. Private insurers cannot write workers' compensation in North Dakota¹³.
• The minimum wage follows the federal rate. Job Service says employees must be paid the current federal minimum wage, generally¹⁸, which is $7.25¹⁶ an hour.

Do this

1. File the annual report for your structure. An LLC pays $50 by November 15 in a normal year (Monday, November 16, 2026²¹ for the 2026 filing year under the weekend rule). A corporation pays $25 by August 1 if it was formed here, or by May 15 if it was formed elsewhere. A limited partnership, LLP, or limited liability limited partnership pays $25 by March 31. A farm or ranch LLC uses April 15. A nonprofit pays $10 by February 1⁴. The first report is due the year after the calendar year in which the business was first registered. Sole proprietorships do not file an annual report²². General partnerships do not file an annual report²⁰. Most entities can file their own reports in FirstStop. For an authorized livestock farm LLC, the annual report form is not in FirstStop. The Secretary of State’s LLC page says to request the form from the office. The authorized livestock farm corporation page gives the same instruction for those corporations. Professional LLC annual reports: Starting January 1, 2027, the annual report must include a license certificate for the governors and members who will practice in the state². Professional corporation annual reports: starting January 1, 2027, the annual report must include a license certificate for the directors and voting shareholders who will practice in the state³. Be skeptical of a letter that offers to file the annual report for a large fee¹.
2. If the LLC report is late, file it before the company ends. There is a late filing fee if the report is not received by the deadline. The statute adds fifty dollars after the due date. If the report is still missing six months after that date, the company ceases to exist. Reinstatement costs one hundred thirty-five dollars on top of the report fees, and it has to be filed within one year after the involuntary termination or revocation⁵. The maintain page says the business goes to Not Good Standing. It also gives a general range for every structure: termination is typically 6 to 12 months after Not Good Standing¹. For an LLC, the statute sets the date. A corporation’s late fee is twenty dollars within ninety days after the due date, then sixty dollars after that. Under the corporation statute, a corporation that has not filed is not in good standing three months after the due date, and one year⁶ after the due date a North Dakota corporation ceases to exist and a foreign one loses its authority to do business here. A nonprofit’s late fee is $5, and a miss means Not Good Standing, then involuntary dissolution one year after the report is due⁴.
3. File income tax. People: April 15. The brackets published for the 2025 tax year are 0% up to $48,475, 1.95% up to $244,825, and 2.50% above that for a single filer and 0% up to $80,975, 1.95% up to $298,075, and 2.50% above that⁸ for a joint return. The page does not print 2026 brackets.* C corporations: Form 40 by April 15 for a calendar year, or the 15th day of the fourth month after a fiscal year ends, at 1.41% on North Dakota taxable income up to $25,000, then $352.50 plus 3.55% of the amount over $25,000 up to $50,000, then $1,240 plus 4.31% of the amount over $50,000. Those rates are unchanged since 2015. Estimated tax applies when the tax is expected to be more than $5,000 this year, and was more than $5,000 last year⁹. Pass-through entities: Form 58 by April 15 or Form 60 by April 15. Partnerships, S corporations, and LLCs do not pay North Dakota income tax at the entity level²⁴. Nonresident withholding is 2.5%²³. This page does not calculate your tax.
4. File sales tax on the schedule your permit uses. The schedule is monthly, quarterly, or annual, set when you apply for the permit. Rates and the local add-on are on Get your tax IDs. A late return costs 5% of the tax or $5, whichever is more, for the first month a return is late, then another 5% each later month, up to 25% of the tax⁷.
5. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding: quarterly electronic Form 306 when last year's withholding was $1,000 or more, or when a payroll provider files the federal withholding electronically. Form 306 is still filed when no wages were paid. W-2s are due January 31¹⁰. Unemployment reports are due the end of the month after each quarter¹¹, on the first $46,600 of 2026 wages. A new non-construction rate is 1.00% with a positive balance and 6.07% with a negative balance. A new construction rate is 9.67% whether the balance is positive or negative¹². Report new hires within 20 days. That report covers every newly hired employee, including full time, part time, temporary, and minors. A miss can mean a civil penalty under the new-hire statutes¹⁴: the statute sets twenty dollars for each new hire not reported after a written warning, and two hundred fifty dollars for each report skipped by agreement with the employee, or each false or incomplete report¹⁵.
6. Renew the trade name and any contractor or alcohol license on their own dates. A trade name lasts 5 years²⁵ and renews for $25¹. A contractor license renews by March 1¹⁹: Licenses and permits. A state alcohol license renews by December 31²⁶.
7. Keep a registered agent who can be handed papers. Corporations, LLCs, and partnerships other than general partnerships must keep a North Dakota registered agent at a physical North Dakota address²⁵. The business cannot be its own registered agent²⁷. Changing the agent is $10¹.

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation: Workforce Safety & Insurance is the insurer. Private insurers cannot write workers' compensation in North Dakota. You need coverage before employees begin work, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and occasional workers, with limited exceptions. The premium cannot be taken out of wages. A person paid for services is presumed to be an employee unless they prove they are an independent contractor. An uninsured employer can face a $10,000 penalty plus $100 a day while the violation continues¹³. The coverage page does not list the exceptions.* Ask WSI before you decide a worker is outside the rule.

Minimum wage: Job Service says employees must be paid the current federal minimum wage, generally¹⁸, which is $7.25¹⁶ an hour on the federal minimum wage page. The state poster Job Service points at prints the same $7.25¹⁷.

Unemployment: liable at $1,500 in a quarter or with one or more workers in 20 different weeks in a calendar year. Register within 20¹¹ days of the first worker. The 2026 new-employer rates are above.

What you get back

A filed annual report and a business that stays in good standing, or a reinstatement if you file inside the window for your structure. Filed income and sales tax returns, and current employer accounts.