Stay compliant in Vermont

Vermont’s recurring dates follow the company’s fiscal year for an LLC or a corporation, a tax calendar for sales and income, and a quarterly calendar for unemployment if you have employees. A termination notice depends on a current registered agent, so keep that address current.

What’s different in Vermont

• The company filing is tied to your fiscal year. An LLC files within three months after the fiscal year ends¹. A corporation files within two and a half months after the fiscal year ends. A nonprofit’s report is due between January 1 and April 1, every two years, starting the first year after registration⁴.
• Missing the LLC report ends the articles. If an LLC does not file the report, its articles of organization terminate². A corporation that does not file its report terminates, and the Secretary of State sends a notice of the termination³.
• The $250 minimum is a tax return, not the annual report. It applies to S corporations, partnerships, and LLCs that elect to be taxed as partnerships or S corporations⁹. The Secretary of State fee is separate.
• Sales tax comes back on the schedule the department assigns. There is no one due date for every seller. Meals and rooms are a second return if you collect that tax.
• The minimum wage is a state rate. It is $14.42 an hour, and the tipped rate on the same line is $7.21¹⁷.
• Workers’ compensation starts from the statute’s definition of a worker, and that definition has exclusions. An owner election is not automatic.

Do this

1. File the annual report from your fiscal year end. For an LLC, the window is within three months after the fiscal year ends¹ and the fee is $45. For a profit corporation, the window is within two and a half months after the fiscal year ends and the fee is $60. File it in the business portal even if nothing changed. A limited liability partnership reports between January 1 and April 1, regardless of the fiscal year for $45. A nonprofit reports between January 1 and April 1, every two years, starting the first year after registration⁴. That fee is $35 if someone was paid, and $0⁶ if not. Before you pay a service to file it, read the office’s warning: some companies are offering to file the annual report for a large extra fee, sometimes four times the actual cost¹⁹.
2. If an LLC misses the window, file before the name is lost. If an LLC does not file the report, its articles of organization terminate. To reinstate, file the missed annual report, its fee, and the reinstatement fee for each year that was missed. Reinstatement relates back as if the termination never happened. The fee schedule’s reinstatement line is $35, on top of the report fee. The name is gone five years after the report was due². A profit corporation’s reinstatement fee for a missed report is $50⁶. A corporation that does not file its report terminates, and the Secretary of State sends a notice of the termination. To reinstate, file the missed annual report with the fees the law requires. Reinstatement relates back as if the termination never happened³. The reinstatement page explains the online filing.
3. If your registered agent leaves, replace it through the business filing portal. The company has to keep one continuously. The address is a street address and a mailing address in Vermont. A resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the office receives the resignation. If no new agent is appointed by then, the business loses its good standing and shows a Terminated status until a new agent is appointed⁷. An LLC change of agent is $35⁶.
4. Renew an assumed business name in the business filing portal before it expires. The registration is renewed every five years. The fee is $65, and you may file not sooner than 60 days before the registration expires. If you miss it, someone else may register the name⁸.
5. File individual income tax using Vermont-approved tax software or paper if you are required to file. Vermont personal returns cannot be filed directly in myVTax; the department offers software and Free File guidance. That group is a resident, part-year resident, or nonresident with Vermont income, if a federal return is required, and Vermont income is over $100, or nonresident gross income is over $1,000. The due-date line is typically April 15, or the next business day if that date is a weekend or holiday¹¹. The 2026 rate table on the estimated-tax form is labeled preliminary. The rates on that form run from 3.35% to 8.75%.* Use the instructions for the year you are filing. If you have Vermont self-employment income, the 2026 estimate also includes a child care contribution of 0.11%²⁰.
6. File the business return through myVTax that matches the federal classification. A partnership or an LLC taxed as a partnership generally pays $250⁹. An S corporation subject to the filing rule pays $250²¹. A C corporation files Form CO-411. A minimum tax applies to every active corporation, including an LLC that elects to be taxed as a C corporation. The minimums on the five receipt bands are $100, $500, $2,000, $6,000, and $100,000. A federal extension adds 30 days past the federal extended date. The tax is still due on the original date¹⁰. A disregarded single-member LLC does not file the business-entity return. The details are on Get your tax IDs.
7. File sales and meals-and-rooms taxes in myVTax on the frequency you were assigned. You file monthly if the prior calendar year's sales tax was over $500, and quarterly if it was $500 or less. The department decides the filing frequency. A weekend or holiday moves the date to the next business day. Monthly sales tax is due the 25th of the following month, or the 23rd when that month is February. Quarterly sales tax is due the 25th of April, July, October, and January²². The sales page also prints an annual table and does not say who files annually.* Meals and rooms, if you collect them, are filed monthly if the prior year's meals and rooms tax was over $500, and quarterly at $500 or less, and a monthly return is due the 25th of the following month, or the 23rd when that month is February²³. The rates are 6%¹² for sales and 9%²⁴ for meals and rooms. Closing an account is a separate step if you stop selling.
8. If you have employees, file unemployment reports in employer e-Services. Reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Quarterly reports have to be filed electronically. The 2026 wage base is $15,400. Most new employers pay 1%¹⁵. The quarterly page prints interest of 1.5% a month and 18%¹⁴ a year. Report new hires through the same employer portal within 10 calendar days of the first day the person works for pay²⁵.
9. Carry workers’ compensation if you have a worker and no exclusion applies. Under the statute, with the commissioner's approval, a corporation or LLC may exclude up to four executive officers, managers, or members. If every officer, manager, or member is excluded and there are no employees, no policy is required. A sole proprietor or partner of an unincorporated business is outside the chapter only when the statute's conditions are met, including a written agreement. Farm employment is outside the chapter when the employer's payroll for the year is under $10,000, unless the employer opts in¹⁶. The same section also excludes casual work that is not part of the business, and household work, unless the employer opts in. Read 21 V.S.A. § 601 before you skip a policy. An exclusion of an officer does not cover the other employees.
10. Pay at least the state minimum wage. The rate is $14.42 an hour as of January 1, 2026. The tipped rate on the same line is $7.21¹⁷ an hour. Overtime under 21 V.S.A. § 384 is at least one and one-half times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. That state rule does not cover employees of a retail or service establishment, or of a hotel, motel, or restaurant, among others¹⁸. Federal overtime rules are separate. Check the wage page before you set a rate or a tip credit.
11. Renew the other credentials on their own dates. A contractor registration, a food license, a cottage-food exemption, and a liquor license do not renew on the annual-report date. The cottage-food exemption is filed each year before January 15²⁶. Those rules are on Licenses and permits.

Employer rules

Unemployment, from the coverage page and the rates page: one coverage test is employing one or more people on some part of a day in each of 20 different weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. Another is wages of $1,500²⁷ in a quarter. File April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31¹⁴. The 2026 wage base is $15,400. Most new employers pay 1% beginning July 1, 2026¹⁵.

New hires: within 10 calendar days of the first day the person works for pay, to the Department of Labor. The hire date is the first day services are performed for compensation²⁵.

Workers’ compensation: with the commissioner's approval, a corporation or LLC may exclude up to four executive officers, managers, or members. If every officer, manager, or member is excluded and there are no employees, no policy is required¹⁶. The farm and sole-proprietor rules are in the same section. They are not a blanket exemption for every owner.

Minimum wage: $14.42 an hour, and $7.21¹⁷ an hour for a tipped employee, as printed for January 1, 2026.

What you get back

A filed annual or biennial report, an income-tax filing if you are in the group that has to file, sales-tax filings if you are registered, and current employer accounts. If an LLC is terminated for a missed report, the way back is to file the missed annual report, its fee, and the reinstatement fee for each year that was missed. Reinstatement relates back as if the termination never happened².