One State, Two Deadlines
Connecticut asks every registered business for the same document, an Annual Report, and then applies two entirely different deadlines to it. LLCs file by March 31, a fixed date shared by every LLC in the state. Corporations file in their own anniversary month, which is different for every company. Anyone who owns one of each is running two calendars inside a single jurisdiction, and the entity that gets forgotten is almost always the corporation, because the fixed March date is the one that sticks in memory.
The fee split is just as wide. An LLC pays $80. A corporation pays $150, nearly double, for a document that asks broadly similar questions. Filings go through the Secretary of the State's business portal, and processing runs five to ten business days once a clean report is in.
What the report collects
Connecticut wants the principal office address, the mailing address, the registered agent's name and Connecticut street address, and the people responsible for the entity: officers and directors for a corporation, managers or members for an LLC. That makes the annual report the state's own leadership record, not just a receipt for a fee, and it makes the filing the natural place to reconcile what the state publishes against what the company's minute book says.
Who is caught by the requirement
Domestic LLCs and corporations, and anything registered through foreign qualification in Connecticut. Registration is the trigger, not activity, so a company that qualified for one contract and never returned still files every year until it formally withdraws. That is worth pricing before you register: a dormant Connecticut corporation costs $150 a year to leave open, and $600 over four years of doing nothing at all.
Connecticut Annual Report at a Glance
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Report name | Annual Report |
| Filing frequency | Annual |
| Deadline | March 31 for LLCs, anniversary month for corporations |
| LLC filing fee | $80 |
| Corporation fee | $150 |
| Late penalty | $50 plus interest |
| Processing time | 5-10 business days |
| Filing agency | Connecticut Secretary of the State |
| Reinstatement window | 36 months, with tax clearance |
March 31 sits three weeks after most owners have finished a set of accounts and two weeks before the federal individual deadline, which is a narrow corridor of attention. Connecticut LLCs that file in the first week of March consistently avoid the problem; those that aim at the last week compete with everything else happening that fortnight. A view of the full year's cost is on the Connecticut annual report cost page.
Penalties That Follow a Missed Connecticut Deadline
Connecticut adds a flat $50 to a late report and charges interest on what is owed. Because the underlying fee differs by entity type, the arithmetic diverges quickly, and a corporation that lets three years go unfiled owes half again as much as an LLC in the same position.
| Years missed | LLC fees at $80 | Corporation fees at $150 | Penalties at $50 | LLC total | Corporation total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | $80 | $150 | $50 | $130 | $200 |
| Two | $160 | $300 | $100 | $260 | $400 |
| Three | $240 | $450 | $150 | $390 | $600 |
Interest runs on top of every row from each year's own due date, so treat the totals as the floor. The figures also assume the entity stays on the register, which it will not do indefinitely.
Dissolution at thirty-six months
At around 36 months of non-compliance Connecticut moves to administrative dissolution. Before that point the practical damage is already done: no Connecticut certificate of legal existence will issue, and in a state where a large share of commercial work runs through municipal contracts, insurance placements, and bank facilities that each ask for one, the certificate is the item that stops deals. After dissolution the name protection ends and the entity loses the standing to bring an action in Connecticut courts.
Reinstatement and the clearance step
Connecticut allows reinstatement for 36 months after dissolution and gates it on tax clearance. That second condition is what stretches the timetable: the Department of Revenue Services has to be satisfied before the Secretary of the State restores the record, and a company with unfiled state returns is negotiating two agencies rather than one. Budget the arithmetic above, the reinstatement fee the office sets, and the professional time to bring the tax filings current. Our Connecticut reinstatement guide sets out the order that actually works.
File your annual report
If you would rather not do this yourself, we pull your record from the state, prefill every field, and track the deadline for next year. Or keep reading and file it on your own. This guide covers everything you need either way.
Three Connecticut Filings in Practice
Scenario one: a one-owner practice in Stamford
An executive coach operates a single-member Connecticut LLC. Her deadline is March 31, the same as every other Connecticut LLC. She files on March 3, confirms her agent address and her own details as sole member, pays $80, and has acceptance inside a week. Total annual cost of keeping the entity current: $80. The margin she builds by filing four weeks early is worth more than the fee, because a rejected payment in the last week of March turns an $80 filing into a $130 one.
Scenario two: a Hartford corporation on its own clock
An insurance services corporation incorporated in October files each October at $150. The report is where its officer and director list reaches the state, and this year it matters: the corporate secretary changed in June and a director resigned in August. The filing publishes both. The corporation also holds an LLC subsidiary that files in March, so the group has two Connecticut deadlines seven months apart under one roof. The controller keeps them as separate lines with separate owners, having previously discovered the alternative, which was filing the LLC diligently every March and letting the corporation drift into a second unfiled year.
Scenario three: Connecticut plus two heavier jurisdictions
A specialty manufacturer formed as a Connecticut LLC qualifies in Delaware and Florida. Connecticut wants $80 by March 31. Delaware wants $400 from the LLC by June 1, with a $200 penalty and 1.5% per month if it slips. Florida wants $139 by May 1, with a $400 penalty the day after. The year costs $519 in fees, and the penalty exposure across the three is $650 for filings that total barely more than five hundred dollars. Three deadlines in three consecutive months is the pattern most likely to be handled as one task and missed as three, so the group runs a single compliance calendar with a named owner per jurisdiction.
Five Ways a Connecticut Filing Goes Wrong
Mistake 1: Waiting for the state to prompt you
What happens. The company files only after a notice arrives. Why it fails. Notices go to the agent and addresses on the record and depend on both being current. The obligation does not depend on the notice, and no state treats a returned letter as an excuse. Consequence. $50 plus interest attaches on April 1 for an LLC, or the day after the anniversary month for a corporation. Prevention. Diary the date yourself with a thirty-day lead, and verify the entity's status on the state portal rather than trusting an inbox.
Mistake 2: Applying one entity's deadline to the other
What happens. An owner with an LLC and a corporation files both in March, or waits for an anniversary that only applies to one of them. Why it fails. Connecticut genuinely runs two regimes: a fixed March 31 for LLCs and an anniversary month for corporations. Consequence. The corporation is late by up to eleven months without anyone being careless. Prevention. Record the entity type next to the date in your calendar, and check the corporation's anniversary month on the Connecticut business search rather than assuming it.
Mistake 3: Confirming an agent who has moved on
What happens. Last year's agent and address are carried through the portal's prefill without being read. Why it fails. Connecticut requires a registered agent at a physical Connecticut address, and confirming a prefilled entry is a positive statement that it is still true. Consequence. Service of process goes to an address nobody attends, and the company learns of a claim only when a default is entered. Prevention. Check the agent every year before filing, and lodge the Connecticut agent change first when it has changed.
Mistake 4: Underrating the filing because the fee is modest
What happens. An $80 filing never makes it onto a management agenda. Why it fails. The fee is not the exposure. Three missed years cost an LLC $390 and a corporation $600 before interest, and the certificate of legal existence stops being available long before that. Consequence. A cheap filing becomes the reason a lease assignment or an insurance renewal is held up. Prevention. Judge the filing by the transactions it protects, and if a Connecticut entity is genuinely unused, close it rather than paying $150 a year to keep it dormant.
Mistake 5: Believing registration covered the first report
What happens. A newly registered Connecticut entity assumes its formation or qualification filing satisfied the first annual report. Why it fails. Connecticut has no combined filing. Registering is one transaction and reporting is another, so an LLC registered in January owes a report that same March 31. Consequence. The company is late in its first quarter, with $50 and interest attached before it has a full set of accounts. Prevention. On the day the registration is accepted, work out which of the two Connecticut deadlines applies to your entity type and diary it immediately.
Running Two Calendars in One State
The Connecticut habit worth building is to record the entity type wherever the deadline lives. A compliance sheet listing companies by name alone is the reason a corporation gets filed on an LLC's schedule. List the legal name, the entity type, the deadline rule that applies to it, the business ID, the agent's Connecticut address, and the current officer or manager roster, and review it in February so that both the March filers and the spring anniversary filers are ready. Groups that hold a mix should assign one person per entity rather than one person per state, which is the arrangement that catches the seven-month gap in the Hartford scenario above. Our annual report service handles both cadences and reports on them separately.
How File.Business Handles Connecticut Annual Reports
We identify which deadline applies to each entity, take the anniversary month from the state record for corporations, verify the agent and addresses, reconcile the officer, director, or manager list before submission, file ahead of the date, pay the $80 or $150, and return the acceptance. Entities on our compliance plan carry Connecticut registered agent service and status monitoring so a drift toward dissolution surfaces as an alert. The Connecticut annual report page covers the agency-side detail for anyone filing directly, and Connecticut LLC versus corporation is worth reading if the $70 annual difference is part of a formation decision.
Connecticut annual report FAQ
When is the Connecticut annual report due?
LLCs file by March 31 every year. Corporations file in their own anniversary month, so the date differs from company to company. Owners holding both entity types are running two Connecticut deadlines at once.
How much does the Connecticut annual report cost?
$80 for an LLC and $150 for a corporation. That is the widest fee split between entity types among the states covered in this series.
What does the Connecticut report ask for?
The principal office and mailing addresses, the registered agent's name and Connecticut street address, and the responsible people: officers and directors for a corporation, managers or members for an LLC.
What is the penalty for filing late in Connecticut?
A flat $50 plus interest on the amount owed. Three unfiled years total $390 for an LLC and $600 for a corporation before interest, and administrative dissolution follows at around 36 months.
How long do I have to reinstate a Connecticut entity?
Thirty-six months from administrative dissolution, and reinstatement is gated on tax clearance. Unfiled state tax returns have to be brought current before the Secretary of the State will restore the record.
Do foreign-qualified companies file in Connecticut?
Yes. Any entity registered to do business in Connecticut files an annual report on the same schedule as a domestic entity, and the obligation continues until the registration is formally withdrawn.
Can File.Business file my Connecticut annual report?
Yes. We determine which deadline applies to your entity type, validate the agent and officer detail, file the report, pay the fee, and confirm acceptance. Connecticut registered agent service and status monitoring are included on our compliance plan.
Let File.Business file your Connecticut annual report.
We track the March 31 and anniversary Connecticut deadlines automatically, validate all entity info, file through the state filing system, pay the fee, and confirm acceptance. Same-day filing in most cases. First year of Connecticut registered agent included.
Related Connecticut pages: Connecticut annual report filing if you want it handled, the certificate of legal existence when a counterparty asks for proof, and ordering that certificate directly.
This guide is written from the official sources below. Fees, forms, and deadlines change; confirm the current requirement with the agency before you file.
Disclosure. File.Business is a private filing service, not a government agency and not a law firm. We prepare and submit filings at your direction, and nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. Filing fees, deadlines, and statutory references are current as of the last-updated date shown above and can change. Confirm current requirements with the relevant state agency before you file.
