Stay compliant in Virginia

Virginia’s recurring dates are an SCC fee on your formation anniversary, income tax in the spring, sales tax on the 20th, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. The notice goes to your registered agent, so keep that address current.

What’s different in Virginia

• The SCC fee is not the same day for every business. An LLC pays on the anniversary of formation. A corporation files an annual report that month too, at no fee, and pays a share-based registration fee.
• Individual income tax is due May 1 for most people. Corporate and pass-through returns are due in April.
• Workers’ compensation starts above two employees, and managers count. A one-member LLC is covered only by election.
• The minimum wage is a state rate, $12.77 an hour through 2026, with later increases already printed.

Do this

1. Pay the SCC annual registration fee when the notice arrives. You cannot pay before the Commission assesses you. The notice is sent two months before the fee is due. For a corporation, the packet is mailed about 75 days before the annual report and registration fee are due. Those two lead times are not the same number of days.* Use the date on the notice. Online payment has no processing fee for online payments.
2. For an LLC, pay $50 by the last day of the month the LLC was organized or registered. The first one is each year after the year of formation. Late is $25, then automatic cancellation on the last day of the third month after the due date. The table says the last day of the month, and A late fee is charged even when the due date falls on a weekend or holiday. The FAQ’s example says the last business day.* Check the notice.
3. For a corporation, file the annual report and pay the registration fee by the last day of the month it was incorporated or authorized to transact business in Virginia. The report is no fee and is first due every year following the year of incorporation. The fee is based on the number of authorized shares: $100 at 1 to 5,000 shares, up to $1,700 above 270,000. Read the schedule for the band in between. A late fee is 10 percent of the fee or 10 dollars, whichever is higher. Missing either the fee or the report means automatic termination on the last day of the fourth month after the due date if the fee is unpaid or the annual report is unfiled. A nonprofit’s annual fee is $25, with a $10 penalty. If you will change the number of shares, do it at least two months before the next assessment, or the assessed fee cannot be changed.
4. For a limited partnership, pay $50. One SCC page says on or before October 1. The other says on or before September 30, assessed on July 1.* Check the notice. Unpaid, the existence ends December 31 if the fee is unpaid. A limited liability partnership files a continuation report by July 1 for $50, or automatic cancellation if the continuation report is not filed by November 1, after a notice on September 1.
5. File income tax. People: May 1 for most people, with an automatic 6 months to file, to November 1 for most people, with no extension of the payment. The brackets are 2 percent up to 3,000 dollars, 3 percent to 5,000, 5 percent to 17,000, and 5.75 percent above that. C corporations: Form 500 by April 15 for a calendar-year filer, tax at 6%. The return, estimates and extension payments are filed and paid electronically. There is also an automatic 7 months to file, to November 15 for a calendar-year C corporation, with no extension of the payment. Pass-through entities: Form 502, or Form 502PTET if the entity elects the entity-level tax by April 15 for a calendar-year filer. For an S election, a federal S election is automatic for Virginia, and the corporation files Form 502. And A single-member LLC is not a pass-through entity for this return. Nonresident withholding is five percent of the nonresident owners' share of Virginia-source income, and The 6-month filing extension does not extend the withholding payment. An electing entity pays 5.75%. A nonprofit’s Virginia corporation return is required only in this case: a Virginia corporation return only if the nonprofit has federal unrelated business taxable income.
6. File sales tax on the 20th if you are registered. Returns are due on the 20th, monthly or quarterly, assigned from your tax liability, including a period with no sales. Late is 6% a month, up to 30%, minimum $10. Rates are on Get your tax IDs.
7. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding follows the size of the account. Quarterly if withholding is under 100 dollars a month. Monthly if withholding is more than 100 dollars and under 1,000 dollars a month. Semi-weekly if withholding is 1,000 dollars or more a month. The annual summary is due January 31. Unemployment reports are quarterly to the Virginia Employment Commission, on the first $8,000 of wages. The quarterly due date is not printed on the employer page.* Check the filing system. Report new hires, rehires and independent contractors within 20 days.
8. Renew the local license and any trade license on their own dates. BPOL, where the locality has it, is on Licenses and permits. A contractor license, a food permit and an alcohol license each renew on the agency’s schedule.
9. Replace a registered agent who leaves. You have 31 days. After that, pending inactive status, then automatic termination, revocation or cancellation if no new agent is appointed by the last day of the second month after the notice. The change itself is no fee. If the business was canceled, reinstatement is five years after the termination, revocation or cancellation and costs 100 dollars plus unpaid fees.

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation: required when you regularly employ more than two part-time or full-time employees. A subcontractor's employees count toward the total, even when the subcontractor has its own coverage. Corporate officers and LLC managers count, even if they are not paid a regular salary. Members are generally not employees, but a member who works or is paid is covered as an employee. A one-member LLC is covered only if it elects coverage. There is no waiver form for a sole proprietor. The information sheet lists four ways to insure: a commercial policy, self-insurance, a group, or a professional employer organization. It does not describe a state fund.

Minimum wage, from the Department of Labor and Industry: $12.77 an hour through January 1, 2027, then $13.75, then $15. A tipped employee may be paid $2.13 an hour in wages if tips bring the total up to the Virginia minimum. If they do not, the employer pays the difference. Farm laborers must be paid at least the Virginia minimum wage beginning January 1, 2027. Other exemptions are on the department’s list. This page does not restate them.

Unemployment: liable at $1,500 in a quarter or 20 weeks. One exception: Agricultural, domestic and 501(c)(3) nonprofit employers have different thresholds. A new employer’s base rate is 2.5%, plus add-ons, until an experience rate applies. The range is 0.1% to 6.2%.

What you get back

A paid SCC receipt or an accepted annual report, filed tax returns, and current employer accounts. If a fee is missed long enough for the Commission to cancel the entity, the name can be lost and the reinstatement clock is five years after the termination, revocation or cancellation. The assessment notice is the date to trust when two SCC sentences do not match.