Staying compliant in Washington DC

How does the D.C. biennial report work?

The Biennial Report is due by April of the calendar year after your LLC forms, then every two years, by April 1, and each filing costs $300.00.^{1, 3}

The first deadline is set by the calendar, not by your formation date. An LLC formed in late autumn owes its first report the next April, only a few months later. One formed in January has more than a year. The code section on reports puts the later rhythm this way: "Subsequent biennial reports shall be delivered to the Mayor by April 1st of each 2nd calendar year thereafter."²

So from the first report on, your LLC files in alternate years. If the first report falls in an odd-numbered year, every report after it does too. Writing down which parity your LLC is on saves guessing later.

What the report asks for

DLCP says the report lets an entity update its address, registered agent information, purpose, and beneficial owner information. The code adds the entity's name and jurisdiction, its registered agent and principal office addresses, and "The name of at least one governor". The sources behind this page don't define who counts as a governor for an LLC, so ask DLCP if your management setup is unusual; the glossary covers the general terms.¹

Two items on that list deserve a note.

• The governor's name. The report must name at least one governor.
• Ownership details. DLCP lists beneficial owner information among the items the report lets you update.¹

The fee row covers "Domestic & Foreign Limited Liability Company", so a foreign LLC registered in the District files the same report at the same price. A foreign registration statement costs $220 to file in the first place. For how these filings compare with yearly reports elsewhere, see annual reports explained, and for neighbouring rules, staying compliant in Maryland or in Virginia.³

Do D.C. LLCs pay a franchise tax?

Yes, once its gross income passes OTR's threshold. The District's unincorporated business franchise tax is 8.25% of net income (tax years 2018 to 2025), with a $250 minimum or $1,000 if D.C. gross receipts exceed $1 million, and OTR's booklet names "a limited liability company" among the businesses it covers.⁴

This is the District's own tax, run by OTR, and it is separate from the biennial report you file with DLCP. Paying one does not satisfy the other.

A few points from OTR's published figures help with planning.

1. The tax is not owed with gross income of $12,000 or less, so an LLC with little income may owe nothing.⁴
2. Above that line, the $250 minimum applies even in a year with little or no profit.
3. The minimum rises to $1,000 if D.C. gross receipts exceed $1 million.
4. OTR's rates page shows the rate for tax years through the latest listed, with no 2026 rate shown, so check the page before you budget for the current year.⁴

The return form, due dates and any exemptions that might apply to your business are set by OTR, and this page does not cover them. Ask OTR or a tax professional how the tax applies to your LLC, and keep its deadlines on a separate list from DLCP's. Federal returns go to the IRS on their own schedule.

What happens if you miss the D.C. biennial report or lose your agent?

A late report costs extra straight away, and a long delay can end in administrative dissolution; reinstatement costs $300 under DLCP's fee table.³

DLCP's fee summary spells out when the late fee starts: "Late fee (filed after April 1 of the year due): $100 for-profit". So the extra charge applies from the day after the deadline, not after a grace period.³

The bigger risk comes later. The grounds section of the D.C. Code treats a biennial report still undelivered 5 months after it is due as a ground for administrative dissolution. The same section lists failing to have a registered agent in the District for 60 days. In practice, a report due on the first of April and left unfiled through the summer puts the LLC within reach of dissolution from the start of September.^{3, 6}

Dissolution removes good standing, which District agencies, lenders and landlords may ask you to prove. If it happens, DLCP lists $300 for reinstatement after administrative dissolution. The sources behind this page do not state a deadline to apply, whether DLCP sends a warning notice first, or what happens to the LLC's name in the meantime. Ask DLCP what your record needs before applying, including whether any overdue report must go with it. If the LLC kept trading while dissolved, a lawyer can explain the consequences. The D.C. registered agent guide has more on the agent side of dissolution.³

How do you keep your D.C. registered agent current, and what do compliance services cover?

Keep an agent with a street address in the District on record at all times, and file the Statement of Change of Registered Agent (Form RA-3) for $50.00 whenever the agent changes (D.C. Code §§ 29-104.03, 29-104.04).^{3, 5, 7}

The biennial report is a chance to update agent details, but it comes round only every other spring. Between reports, a change has to be filed on its own. File the statement of change before you cancel an old service, because an agent who resigns stops serving on the 31st day after DLCP files the statement of resignation and your LLC then has no agent. The steps are in how to change a registered agent and how to cancel an agent service.⁸

Report filing plans when the report skips a year

In the District, where the report comes every second year, how a provider bills for report filing changes what you pay.

These prices are published per report or per filing, so they apply only when a filing happens.

• ZenBusiness lists Annual Report Filing $100 per report.⁹
• LegalZoom charges $99 + state filing fees, bills once.¹⁰
• Northwest Registered Agent lists $100 + state fees, charged at filing.¹¹

InCorp Services lists $89 + state fees and Rocket Lawyer lists $100 with Pro membership, excluding state fees; neither line says whether the price is per filing or per year, so ask before ordering.^{12, 13}

Plans priced by the year bill in the off year too, when D.C. has no report due. Harbor Compliance charges $199 per state per year plus filing fees, Swyft Filings sells ComplianceGuard $199/year, and ZenBusiness also offers Worry-Free Compliance $199/year. Ask what such a plan does for a D.C. LLC in a year with no report before paying for it. Tailor Brands handles it differently: report filing is included in Essential and Elite (annual compliance report filing and updates); not in Lite. One caveat from Northwest's page reads "RA customers auto-enrolled in Compliance Services billed in annual auto-pay", so check your account settings if you only want per-filing charges. Several of the prices above say state fees are extra, which means the District's $300.00 report fee comes on top; read the order page before you buy.^{3, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17}

Reminders

Several agent services list reminders. LegalZoom offers email reminders about annual report deadlines via Compliance Calendar, InCorp Services sends email reminders before deadlines (annual reports, franchise tax), and Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists free lifetime compliance alerts, though Bizee's order page shows lifetime alerts only in its Standard and Premium packages. With a biennial report, confirm the reminder follows your LLC's actual report years, and note that while InCorp's wording mentions franchise tax, none of these lines names the District's unincorporated business franchise tax. A broader comparison is on services with compliance tools, and prices for D.C. are in the D.C. registered agent comparison.^{18, 19, 20}

What does a D.C. LLC's compliance calendar look like?

The early years after formation turn on one April date and two separate agencies, DLCP and OTR.

The formation year

1. File the formation papers. The D.C. LLC formation walkthrough covers this, and the cheapest ways to form an LLC in the District counts the fees.
2. Note your first report deadline: April of the next calendar year.
3. Record your agent's renewal date and the contact details it holds for you.
4. Ask OTR or a tax professional whether your LLC owes the unincorporated business franchise tax and when its first return is due.

The following calendar year

1. File the first Biennial Report by the April deadline ($300.00); after that date the $100 late fee applies.^{1, 3}
2. Use the report to confirm the agent, addresses, governor and ownership details are correct.
3. File any franchise tax return OTR requires.
4. Renew or replace your agent service before its renewal date.

After that

Reports fall every two years, by April 1, so the year after your first report has no DLCP report. Use that quieter year to check the public record and, if anything changed, file a statement of change ($50.00). Tax returns and agent renewals continue on their own schedules. For what an agent does day to day, read what a registered agent is.³