Virginia Annual Registration Fee in 2026: How to Prevent an Easy Compliance Miss

August 21, 2026

Virginia annual registration fee in 2026 is one of the easiest compliance obligations to forget and one of the most avoidable penalties to receive.

A Richmond consulting firm formed its Virginia LLC in February 2022. The first annual registration came and went without a notice. The second one did too. In November 2025, the Virginia State Corporation Commission sent a notice to the registered agent address on file since formation. The notice said the LLC was delinquent on two years of annual registration fees. The penalty was twice the annual fee for each missed year. The firm paid $300 in fees it owed and $600 in penalties for forgetting. The annual registration fee is not a surprise obligation. It is a known annual cost. The missed penalty is a known avoidable expense. Tracking the due date prevents both.

What the Virginia annual registration fee actually is

Virginia calls its annual LLC fee the annual registration fee. It is not a tax. It is a fee for maintaining the LLC’s authority to do business in Virginia. The fee is paid to the State Corporation Commission each year to keep the LLC in good standing. Unlike some states where the annual report is informational, Virginia’s annual registration is a fee-based filing. The LLC does not just confirm its information. It pays for the privilege of remaining registered. If the fee is not paid, the LLC loses its good standing and eventually its authority to do business in the state.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission has the annual registration fee portal, the fee schedule for all entity types, and the business entity search tool to check an LLC current registration status.

When the annual registration fee is due

Virginia annual registration is due by the last day of the anniversary month of the LLC formation. If the LLC was formed on April 14, the annual registration is due by April 30 each year. The filing window opens 60 days before the due date. The LLC can file early and pay the fee for the following year during that window. The fee must be received by the SCC by the last day of the anniversary month. A filing postmarked on the last day but not received until the first of the following month is late. The SCC does not accept late filings without a penalty payment attached.

The Virginia Code provisions cover the annual registration requirement, the late filing penalties, and the process by which the SCC administratively revokes an LLC for non-payment.

How much the annual registration fee costs

The Virginia annual registration fee for an LLC is based on the LLC’s gross receipts for the year. The minimum fee is $50. The maximum fee is $1,800. Most small LLCs with less than $100,000 in gross receipts pay the minimum annual fee of $50. The fee increases in tiers as gross receipts increase. The LLC reports its gross receipts on the annual registration form and the fee is calculated based on that figure. If the LLC did not do business in Virginia during the year, it still pays the minimum fee to maintain its registration.

The Nolo guide to Virginia LLCs covers the annual registration fee structure, the gross receipts tiers, and the consequences of failing to maintain the annual filing.

What happens if the fee is paid late

A late payment within 60 days of the due date incurs a penalty equal to the annual fee amount. If the LLC owes $50 for the year and pays late, it pays an additional $50 penalty. If the fee was $500 and the LLC pays 45 days late, it pays an additional $500 penalty. The penalty doubles the cost of the annual registration for a late payment within that window. If the LLC does not pay within 60 days of the due date, the SCC administratively revokes the LLC. An administratively revoked LLC must file for reinstatement and pay all delinquent fees and penalties plus the reinstatement fee before it can resume operations in Virginia.

The Virginia SCC reinstatement information covers the requirements for restoring a revoked LLC to good standing, including the forms, fees, and timeline for reinstatement.

Foreign LLCs and the Virginia annual registration requirement

A foreign LLC registered to do business in Virginia must also file the annual registration each year. The due date for a foreign LLC is the month in which the LLC first registered with Virginia, not the month it was formed in its home state. A Delaware LLC that registered in Virginia in August must file its Virginia annual registration by the end of August each year. The fee is calculated on the same gross receipts basis as a domestic Virginia LLC. A foreign LLC that fails to file is subject to the same late penalties and administrative revocation as a domestic LLC.

The Virginia foreign LLC sales team guide covers the foreign qualification process and the ongoing compliance obligations, including annual registration, for out-of-state LLCs registered in Virginia.

How to file the annual registration and what to confirm first

The annual registration is filed online through the Virginia SCC portal. Before filing, the LLC should confirm three pieces of information. First, the registered agent on file must still be correct. If the registered agent changed, update it before or at the same time as the annual registration. Second, the principal office address on file must be current. Third, the member and manager information on file must reflect the actual ownership structure. If any of these is wrong, update it through a Statement of Change before the annual registration is filed. Filing with outdated information creates the same public record problem as filing with the wrong mailing address.

The Virginia LLC compliance guide covers the annual registration process, the information that must be confirmed on the filing, and the difference between the annual registration and a Statement of Change.

How to track the Virginia annual registration due date across multiple states

Virginia annual registration is one annual filing among several for an LLC registered in multiple states. Each state has its own due month, its own fee structure, and its own late penalty schedule. A Virginia LLC that is also registered in Colorado and Nebraska has three annual filings to track each year. The Virginia due date is in the formation month. The Colorado due date is in the formation month. The Nebraska due date is in the formation month. If all three companies were formed in different months, the owner is juggling three separate due dates. A single compliance calendar that tracks all three prevents the missed deadline that leads to the missed penalty.

The multi-state compliance calendars guide covers how to build and maintain a single tracking system for annual registrations across all states where the LLC is registered. The Colorado periodic report guide shows how another state structures its annual compliance filing, which helps when building a multi-state tracking system from scratch.

What to do if the LLC missed the annual registration deadline

If the annual registration was missed, the first step is to file and pay as soon as possible. The late penalty within 60 days is a fixed amount equal to the annual fee. The cost of filing late is the penalty plus the annual fee. The SCC does not waive late penalties for first-time late filers unless the LLC demonstrates extraordinary circumstances. After 60 days of non-payment, the LLC is administratively revoked. Reinstatement after revocation requires the delinquent fees, the late penalties, and the reinstatement fee. The cost of reinstatement is higher than the cost of filing on time. The best time to pay the annual registration fee is during the filing window, 60 days before the due date.

The Virginia SCC annual registration page has the online filing portal, the late filing penalty schedule, and the reinstatement forms for administratively revoked entities.

Virginia annual registration fee in 2026 comes down to this: $50 minimum, due by the end of the anniversary month, payable online through the SCC portal. The penalty for late payment is another $50 minimum. The penalty for not paying at all is administrative revocation and reinstatement fees. The missed annual registration is not a compliance gap that builds slowly. It is a $50 penalty that appears immediately on the anniversary month and doubles if left unpaid for 60 days. Setting a reminder 90 days before the due month catches the filing window and prevents the penalty.