Staying compliant in Illinois

How does the Illinois annual report work?

The Annual Report is a yearly update of the state's record of your LLC, filed with the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services for $75. Domestic LLCs and out-of-state LLCs admitted to Illinois both file it.¹

What the report asks for

The statute lists the LLC name, registered office address and registered agent, principal place of business, and names and business addresses of managers (or members with manager authority). In other words, the report restates who your agent is and where the registered office sits, along with your principal place of business and who manages the LLC. If any of those has changed since your last filing, the report is where you see the gap.²

The sources checked here don't show the report as a way to switch agents. The Act has a separate statement of change for the agent or office, explained in the agent section below.

What it costs

The base charge is $75, and the statute sets that amount for a report "if filed as required by this Act". A late report costs more, because the fee line adds a penalty for a delinquent filing; this page's sources don't give the penalty amount.¹

A series LLC pays more: $50 more for each series with a certificate of designation in effect. An LLC with several active series should budget for each one.¹

When it is due

This page's sources do not include an official statement of the due date. Illinois ties its dissolution grounds to an LLC that has failed to file its annual report and pay its fee as required by this Act, so the deadline set by the Act is the one that counts. Ask the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services for your LLC's due date when you form it, and put it on your calendar the same day. Our explainer on how annual reports work covers the general idea behind these filings.³

If you also run an LLC in a neighbouring state, its rules have their own pages: staying compliant in Indiana and staying compliant in Wisconsin.

Does Illinois charge LLCs a franchise tax?

The official pages reachable for this guide do not say whether Illinois charges an LLC a franchise tax or a similar yearly entity tax, so this page makes no claim either way.

What the sources do confirm is the filing side: the Annual Report fee of $75 is a filing fee, not a tax. Taxes are outside this page's sources; the Illinois Department of Revenue and, for federal returns, the IRS are the agencies to ask. How your LLC is taxed depends on how many members it has and whether it has elected corporate tax treatment, which is a question for a tax professional. Keep tax due dates on their own list so they don't get mixed up with the state filings on this page.¹

What happens if an Illinois LLC misses its report or loses its agent?

Both are listed grounds for administrative dissolution under 805 ILCS 180/35-25, and a dissolved LLC can apply for reinstatement for a filing fee of $200.^{1, 3}

The statute names these two grounds among others.

1. The LLC failed to file its annual report and pay its fee as required by this Act.³
2. The LLC failed to appoint and maintain a registered agent in Illinois.³

A report can be missed when the reminder goes to an old email, or when the agent service that sent reminders was cancelled. The second ground can follow a resignation notice that nobody read.

Penalties before dissolution

A late report still costs the base fee plus a penalty if delinquent. This page's sources do not give the penalty amount or say how long the state waits before starting dissolution, so if a report is overdue, file it as soon as you notice and ask the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services what is owed.

Reinstatement

The reinstatement filing fee is $200. This page's sources don't confirm what else the application requires, such as back reports or penalties, so confirm the full amount with the Illinois Secretary of State, Department of Business Services before you file. While the LLC is dissolved, banks, landlords and licensing bodies may refuse to deal with it as an active business. If the LLC kept trading during that time, a lawyer can explain the consequences. The Illinois registered agent guide covers the agent side of a lapse in more detail.¹

How do you keep the agent and registered office current?

You keep both on record without a break, and you file a Statement of change of registered agent and/or registered office for $25 whenever either one changes.¹

The statute's duty is to "continuously maintain in this State a registered agent and registered office" (805 ILCS 180/1-35). In compliance terms that means three habits.⁴

• Check the agent and office lines in each year's report against reality before you file it.
• File the statement of change before you cancel an old service, never after. The fee line covers a "change of address of registered office or change of registered agent, or both", so one filing can handle both.¹
• Keep your contact details current with the agent, because a resigning agent mails notice to the LLC at least 10 days before filing, and the resignation takes effect no sooner than 30 days after filing.⁴

Foreign LLCs admitted to Illinois (the application for admission costs $150) file the same report, so their agent and office lines get the same yearly check. The full change process is on our guide to changing a registered agent, and cancelling an agent service covers exit terms.¹

What a provider's compliance features cover

The providers below sell or include help with the Annual Report. The features fall into two groups, and neither one replaces you checking the record. Providers below are in the order of our score, highest first.¹

Filing services submit the report for you. Tailor Brands includes annual report filing in two of its formation tiers (Included in Essential and Elite; not in Lite), and its agent service notes the agent can file the annual report if instructed. ZenBusiness lists Annual Report Filing $100 per report and a Worry-Free Compliance $199/year plan. LegalZoom lists $99 + state filing fees, bills once. Bizee (formerly Incfile) offers filing (no standalone price stated). Swyft Filings sells ComplianceGuard $199/year, on a 14-day free trial then auto-charged. Northwest Registered Agent lists $100 + state fees, charged at filing. Rocket Lawyer lists $100 with Pro membership, excluding state fees. InCorp Services charges $89 + state fees. Harbor Compliance charges $199 per state per year plus filing fees.^{5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14}

Reminder features, such as doola's annual report notifications, tell you the report is coming; a reminder on its own doesn't file it.¹⁵

Several of these prices are stated as excluding state fees, so the state's $75 can come on top. Agent renewals also recur: ZenBusiness renews at $199/yr, Swyft Filings bills $149 per quarter, and Harbor Compliance renews at $159 annually. A side-by-side view is on the Illinois registered agent comparison and services with compliance tools.^{16, 17, 18}

What does an Illinois LLC compliance calendar look like?

The calendar is built around one fixed item, the Annual Report, plus the agent upkeep that runs all year.¹

Year one

1. Articles filed. The LLC is formed by filing the Articles of Organization ($150). The Illinois LLC formation guide covers that step, and the page on the cheapest Illinois LLC options adds up the first-year bill.¹
2. Ask the state for your report due date and enter it with an early reminder.
3. Confirm how your agent will reach you: email, phone and mailing address. Note the agent's renewal date and any cancellation notice period.
4. Ask the Illinois Department of Revenue and the IRS which registrations and returns apply, and keep those dates on a separate list.

Year two and after

1. File the Annual Report and pay $75 by the due date. Read the agent and office lines before you submit.¹
2. Decide on the agent renewal before the provider bills it.
3. If the agent or the registered office changed during the year, file the statement of change ($25).
4. If a resignation notice arrives, appoint a replacement inside the notice window.
5. Once a year, look up the LLC in the state's business records to confirm it is in good standing.

Terms on this page, such as administrative dissolution, are defined in the glossary, and why you need a registered agent explains the agent's role.