Florida LLC Annual Report: Due May 1 Every Year (2026 Guide)

Florida's LLC Annual Report is due May 1 — not September, not your formation anniversary, not "sometime in the spring." Miss it and you face a $400 late fee, and if you still haven't filed by the 3rd Friday of September, Florida begins administrative dissolution. This guide explains exactly what to file, when, how to fix missed deadlines, and why the May 1 deadline is the single most important date in a Florida LLC's year.

The Deadline That Trips Up New Florida LLC Owners

Florida's Annual Report deadline is uniform across all LLCs — May 1 every year. It is not tied to your formation date. It is not tied to your fiscal year. It is May 1, no matter when you formed or what your books show.

This is different from many other states. Wyoming ties the deadline to your formation anniversary month. Delaware runs on a franchise tax cycle with a June 1 deadline. California uses a formation-anniversary schedule. Florida's May 1 universal deadline is easy to remember but easy to miss when you assume other states' rules apply.

What Happens If You Miss May 1

$400 Late Fee (Automatic)

One day past May 1 — even by hours — and Florida applies a $400 late fee. This is not a warning. This is not a "we'll waive it this time." The late fee is statutory and automatic. Florida generates more than $100 million annually from these late fees, so the system is built to collect them.

Administrative Dissolution (3rd Friday of September)

If you still haven't filed by the 3rd Friday in September, Florida begins administrative dissolution of your LLC. This is worse than it sounds. An administratively dissolved LLC is:

• No longer in good standing — can't enter new contracts under the LLC's name
• Potentially exposed to personal liability for debts incurred while dissolved
• Subject to loss of LLC name — Florida can release the name for another entity after dissolution
• Difficult and expensive to reinstate — requires back fees, past reports, and reinstatement paperwork

This is the real risk. The $400 late fee is annoying. Administrative dissolution with an active lawsuit pending is catastrophic — you may lose liability protection retroactively.

What Goes in the Annual Report

Florida's Annual Report is relatively simple compared to other states' filings. It requires:

• Current principal business address — where the LLC is actually operating
• Current mailing address — where official correspondence should be sent
• Registered agent name and Florida address — if you've changed agents, update here
• Authorized representative information — at least one member, manager, or authorized representative
• Federal Employer ID Number (FEIN) — your EIN from the IRS
• Certification — signed under penalty of perjury that information is accurate

Florida does NOT require detailed financial information, member contribution amounts, or operating agreement disclosures on the Annual Report. That information stays internal to the LLC.

The Filing Fee

Florida charges $138.75 per Annual Report. This is paid directly to the Florida Department of State at filing. It's not a "service fee" to a third party — it's the state's filing fee.

If you file late (after May 1), the total becomes $138.75 + $400 = $538.75.

How to File

Three paths:

Our Annual Report Service

Our Annual Report service handles the filing for a $99 service fee plus the state's $138.75 fee ($237.75 total), and we calendar the deadline so you do not have to remember it. This is the "set it and forget it" option for clients who want one less deadline on their calendar. Add Annual Report service here.

Annual Report Bundled with Registered Agent

Our Gold Star Registered Agent service includes deadline reminders and Annual Report filing support as part of the annual package. One service, one invoice, no separate filings to track. If you are already a registered agent client, your Annual Report support is built in.

The Risk of Handling This Alone

Florida's Sunbiz portal accepts Annual Report filings, but the process assumes you have every document on hand (Document Number, current member and manager information, registered agent data) and remember the May 1 deadline without prompting. The $400 late fee is not applied retroactively, it is applied the moment the deadline passes. For clients whose compliance calendar is already full, the $99 Annual Report service fee is the smallest line item that prevents the $400 penalty several times over. That is the honest case for the service.

What to Do If You Already Missed May 1

Don't panic. Here's the triage:

Filed late but before 3rd Friday of September

• Pay the $138.75 filing fee plus the $400 late fee ($538.75 total)
• File the report at Sunbiz.org
• LLC returns to good standing
• Liability protection preserved (assuming no gaps created by the delay)

Missed 3rd Friday of September — LLC administratively dissolved

• File Application for Reinstatement with Florida Department of State
• Pay all missed annual report fees (including back years if applicable)
• Pay $600 reinstatement fee (may vary)
• Pay the $400 late fee for each year missed
• Total can exceed $1,500-$2,000 depending on how long you were dissolved
• Consult a licensed attorney if significant time has passed — there may be gap-liability exposure

Why Missing This Deadline Is More Serious Than It Seems

Your LLC protects you from tenant lawsuits, vendor lawsuits, slip-and-fall claims, and every other liability that arises from operating the business. That protection is designed to hold when the LLC is in good standing. An administratively dissolved LLC arguably is NOT in good standing.

If a tenant slips on your property in August and sues in October — and your LLC was administratively dissolved between the 3rd Friday of September and reinstatement — a plaintiff's attorney will argue that you personally are liable because the LLC didn't exist as a legal entity during the incident.

This is not theoretical. This happens. Florida courts have permitted plaintiffs to pierce through administratively dissolved LLCs in multiple reported cases. The $400 late fee isn't the cost of missing May 1. The cost of missing May 1 is a lawsuit that could have been contained inside the LLC reaching your personal assets.

Deadline-Missing Prevention Checklist

• Put May 1 on every calendar you own — personal, phone, business, office wall
• Set a reminder for March 1 — two months early — to give yourself filing margin
• Save a copy of every filed Annual Report with your business records
• Update your registered agent's contact info so Florida's reminder emails reach you
• If you have multiple Florida LLCs, track them on a single spreadsheet with formation dates and filed-status
• Consider outsourcing Annual Report filing to us or another RA service — one less deadline to track

Bottom Line

Florida's Annual Report is a small ($138.75) and simple filing with an enormous consequence for missing. Every year, thousands of Florida LLCs are administratively dissolved because their owners thought the deadline was "sometime around when I formed" or "before the end of the year." It's May 1. Every year. No exceptions. Put it on your calendar.

Last reviewed 2026-04-17. This article is designed to be educational and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult a licensed attorney or CPA for advice specific to your situation.