Stay compliant in West Virginia

West Virginia’s recurring dates include an annual report due on or before 11:59 p.m. on June 30¹, income tax for the people and companies that have to file, sales tax if you are registered to collect it, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. A company that has earned the biennial election files every other year instead. Keep the tax certificate and the agent of process current so a notice can reach you.

What’s different in West Virginia

• The company filing is due on or before 11:59 p.m. on June 30¹, not on your anniversary. The LLC page’s price is $25 by the deadline and $75⁴ after.
• Five on-time years can change the rhythm. A company that has filed every required annual report on time for five consecutive calendar years and is in good standing may elect biennial reporting. The fee is $50, and the first biennial report is due on or before 11:59 p.m. on June 30 of the second calendar year after the year of the election¹, then every two years.
• There is a state sales tax, and grocery food is outside it. Prepared food, vending-machine food, and soft drinks are not. A listed city adds 1%¹⁶.
• The minimum wage is $8.75 only when you have six or more non-exempt employees at one separate, distinct, and permanent work location¹³. Below that count, the federal rate may be the one that applies.
• Workers’ compensation is insurance, and the statute lists employers who do not have to buy it. The coverage office’s page says every employer must carry it, and the same office reviews applications for an exemption.

Do this

1. File your annual report through the One Stop Business Portal on or before 11:59 p.m. on June 30. For an LLC, the report is required for active limited liability companies formed on or before December 31 of the previous year that have not terminated or withdrawn. File even if nothing changed. The fee is $25 if received by the deadline and $75 after. Corporations use the same statutory deadline. A nonprofit’s late fee is $25, not the $50 late fee inside the LLC page’s $75⁴. If you elected biennial reporting, the fee is $50, and the first biennial report is due on or before 11:59 p.m. on June 30 of the second calendar year after the year of the election, then every two years. The veteran waiver covers a veteran-owned business commenced on or after July 1, 2015, or an active-duty member-owned business commenced on or after July 1, 2021. That business still files. The annual report fee is waived for the first four years after initial registration. The fee waiver does not waive the filing deadline or other fees. Treat third-party annual-report solicitations cautiously; filing directly with the Secretary of State avoids a service markup. A solicitation for annual-report help has to say you can file directly with the Secretary of State for the statutory fee¹.
2. If you miss the window, do not wait out the dissolution period. The LLC statute lets the Secretary of State start dissolution when the report is not delivered within 60 days after the report is due. Separately, before dissolving a company for an unpaid report fee, the office has to send notice by certified mail postmarked at least 30 days before the dissolution date¹. Reinstatement is available within two years after the effective date of dissolution³, and it needs a tax clearance from the Tax Commissioner. The fee statute sets reinstatement at $25².
3. Keep the agent of process current. The company may keep an office in West Virginia, which need not be a place of business, and an agent for service of process¹⁷. A change is $15². The annual report is the yearly place to confirm that name and address.
4. Renew a trade name only if your facts change. The trade name page does not print an expiration. A sole proprietorship’s filing is no filing fee. An LLC’s is $25¹⁸. If you stop using the name, the same office has a withdrawal.
5. File individual income tax if you are in the group that has to file. The return is due April 15. For 2026 the rates run from 2.11% under $10,000 to 4.58% over $60,000. W. Va. Code 11-21-4j sets those rates for tax years beginning on and after January 1, 2026¹⁹. The rate-cut page describes a 5% cut, effective June 12, 2026, and retroactive to January 1, 2026⁶. The state’s overview PDF, labeled Calendar Year 2026, still prints the older 2.22% to 4.82%⁷. A federal filing extension also extends the West Virginia return. It does not extend the time to pay.⁵
6. File corporation income tax if you are a C corporation, and file the pass-through return if you are a partnership or an S corporation. The C corporation return is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the tax year ends at 6.5%. Estimated payments are required when you expect West Virginia taxable income over $10,000. Partnerships and S corporations file Form WV/PTE-100⁵. An entity that elects the pass-through entity tax does not also file PTE-100 for that year. Once you elect for a tax year, you cannot switch for that year⁸. The elective page does not print the rate.* Ask a CPA before you elect it or drop a return.
7. File sales tax if you are registered to collect it. Returns are due the 20th day of the month after the reporting period closes. File a return even when no tax was collected. The state rate is 6%⁷. The tax does not apply to food and food ingredients intended for human consumption⁵. Prepared food, food sold through a vending machine, and soft drinks stay at the general sales-tax rate²⁰. Add 1% inside a city on the municipal table. The municipal table includes rows effective January 1, 2027¹⁶, so check your city’s row before then. Closing the account is a separate step if you stop selling.
8. If you have employees, keep the unemployment account current. Reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31¹⁰. The handbook’s wage base, beginning in 2025, is $9,500. It does not print a later change.* Confirm the current figure with WorkForce West Virginia. A new employer pays 2.7%, unless the business is out-of-state construction, which starts at 8.5%. Report new hires at the official reporting center within 14 days of hire⁹. Under W. Va. Code § 48-18-125, also report an independent contractor who is an individual with $2,500 or more in annual contracted services or aggregate payments within 14 days of signing a contract providing for $2,500 or more in a year or of aggregate payments first reaching $2,500, whichever happens first. The reporting statute's independent-contractor definition excludes direct sellers under 26 U.S.C. § 3508(b)(2)¹⁵.
9. Carry workers’ compensation if the statute covers you and no exemption applies. The statute covers a person or company regularly employing someone to carry on industry, service, or business in West Virginia. The Employer Coverage page says every West Virginia employer must maintain workers' compensation insurance¹². Some employers are not required to buy coverage and may choose to. The list includes domestic service, five or fewer full-time agricultural employees, casual employment, and churches. A sole proprietorship may elect not to cover the owner. A partnership may elect not to cover a partner. A corporation may elect not to cover the named officers and directors, with limits. An LLC may elect out no more than four people who are managers, officers, or members¹¹. Read section 23-2-1 before you skip a policy. The coverage office reviews exemption requests. A company still has to cover employees who are not in an election.
10. Pay at least the wage that applies, and check overtime before you set a schedule. The state rate is $8.75 an hour, in place since January 1, 2016, when you have six or more non-exempt employees at one separate, distinct, and permanent work location. If you do not, the federal minimum wage may apply. The tip credit is 70%, so a cash wage can be $2.62 if reported tips bring the hour to $8.75¹³. The employer needs the employee’s written tip records to take that credit. If the six-employee test is not met, the FAQ says the federal figure of $2.13 an hour may apply. State overtime is one and a half times the regular rate after 40 hours in a seven-day workweek, and only when the state overtime conditions are met. The FAQ adds three conditions: the employer is outside federal overtime law, less than 80%¹⁴ of the workforce is doing interstate-commerce work, and the six-employee test is met. Check the wage page before you set a rate.
11. Renew the other credentials on their own dates. A contractor license and a city license do not share the company’s annual-report deadline. Those rules are on Licenses and permits.

Employer rules

Unemployment, from the employer handbook and the liability page: one coverage test is $1,500 or more of gross wages in a quarter, or at least one employee during 20 different weeks in a calendar year. File quarterly, April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31¹⁰. The wage base beginning in 2025 is $9,500⁹.*

New hires: within 14 days of hire, to the West Virginia New Hire Reporting Center⁹.

Workers’ compensation: the statute covers a person or company regularly employing someone to carry on industry, service, or business in West Virginia¹¹. The exemptions and the owner elections are in the same section. They are not a blanket exemption for every owner.

Minimum wage: $8.75 an hour when you have six or more non-exempt employees at one separate, distinct, and permanent work location¹³.

What you get back

A filed annual report, or a biennial report if you have elected one, 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 dissolved for a missed report, reinstatement is available within two years after the effective date of dissolution³.