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Alabama Foreign Registration  /  Yearly tax return

The yearly paperwork for a registered foreign LLC in Alabama

For $100 or less in calculated tax, a registered foreign LLC in Alabama owes nothing on the Department of Revenue's business privilege tax and need not file, and the Secretary of State receives no annual report. Corporations also pay a $10 annual report fee. This page covers the forms, the dates and the exemption.

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The business privilege tax in brief

Agency
Alabama Department of Revenue, not the Secretary of State
Who files
Every corporation, LLC and disregarded entity doing business in Alabama or registered here
LLC form
Form PPT, or Form CPT for an LLC taxed as a corporation
Initial return
Form BPT-IN, due two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State
Due date, LLCs
two and a half months after the start of the taxable year, March 15 for a calendar-year entity
Due date, C corporations
three and a half months after the start of the taxable year, April 15 for a calendar-year C corporation
Rate
from 25 cents to one dollar and 75 cents for each thousand dollars of net worth in Alabama
Maximum
$15,000
Exemption
Tax due of $100 or less, taxable years beginning after 2023

Why there is no annual report fee for LLCs

The Secretary of State's fee schedule carries an annual report line only for business corporations, at $10, collected by the Department of Revenue on its behalf. It carries none for foreign LLCs. The Department's page for pass-through entities does use the words annual report, in its title, Alabama Business Privilege Tax Return and Annual Report for Pass Through Entities Only, but that report travels inside the tax return and goes to the Department.

Who has to file

The Department says every corporation, limited liability entity and disregarded entity doing business in Alabama, or organized, incorporated, qualified or registered under Alabama law, must file a business privilege tax return. The tax remains due every registered year until the entity is dissolved or withdrawn through the Secretary of State, even if it is not active in Alabama. A dormant entity files too. That is the reason registering has a cost beyond the state fee, and the reason withdrawal needs the Department's compliance certificate.

The exemption for small amounts

For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023, a full exemption applies when the business privilege tax due is $100 or less, and taxpayers whose calculated tax is $100 or less are not required to file. That covers the many small LLCs whose calculated tax comes to the minimum. Earlier years followed a different rule: the Department's guidance for years before 2024 says every such entity had to file a return and annual report.

The first return

The initial return is the first one after the entity begins doing business in Alabama or registers here. It is due two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State (Ala. Code 40-14A-29), and it uses Form BPT-IN. Returns can be filed through My Alabama Taxes (MAT). Calendar the date when the registration is filed, since the clock starts from the filing and not from the stamped copy reaching you.

The yearly return and its dates

An LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity uses Form PPT. One that the IRS taxes as a corporation uses the C corporation return, Form CPT. For limited liability entities, the return is due two and a half months after the start of the taxable year, March 15 for a calendar-year entity. For C corporations the Department states three and a half months after the start of the taxable year, April 15 for a calendar-year C corporation. The Department allows an automatic six-month extension to file but not to pay, and the tax itself must be paid by the original due date.

How the tax is figured

The Department describes the rate as from 25 cents to one dollar and 75 cents for each thousand dollars of net worth in Alabama, depending on the entity's federal taxable income apportioned to Alabama, and gives a maximum of $15,000. We do not compute the tax for you. For many small companies the calculated number lands under $100 and the return question disappears.

Corporations: the annual report fee

A corporation pays the Secretary of State's annual report fee of $10 through the Department, along with its return. That is a separate item from the privilege tax.

What a missed return can lead to

Failing to pay privilege tax or related fees for 180 days after they are due is the first revocation ground in the statute (Ala. Code 10A-1-7.12(1)). The Secretary of State then serves notice and the entity has 60 days to cure. A missed filing also blocks withdrawal, because the Department will not issue the compliance certificate until the account is clear.

Keeping up with the Alabama tax filing

  1. Note the registration date

    It starts the initial return clock.

  2. File the initial return

    Form BPT-IN, two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State.

  3. Work out your tax

    Compare the calculated amount with the $100 exemption.

  4. File yearly if required

    Form PPT or Form CPT by the due date.

  5. Pay on time

    An extension to file is not an extension to pay.

Yearly filing questions

Is there an Alabama annual report for an LLC?

Not at the Secretary of State. The yearly filing is with the Department of Revenue.

Do I file if my tax comes to the minimum?

Not for taxable years beginning after 2023, when the tax due is $100 or less.

What if my LLC is dormant?

The Department says a dormant entity is subject to the filing and payment rules until it is dissolved or withdrawn.

When is the first return due?

It is due two and a half months after the entity registers with the Secretary of State.

Can I get more time?

The return gets an automatic six-month extension to file, but not to pay. The initial form has no extension.

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Our charge and the state fee, itemized

Register in Alabama

+ $150 state fee

  • The Alabama name reservation, requested first so its certificate can travel with the filing
  • The Foreign LLC Application for Registration or the Foreign Corporation Application for Registration, completed and signed for you
  • An Alabama registered agent and office: ours, or the one you keep
  • Submission to the Secretary of State and the filed registration sent back to you
  • Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year

$199

Alabama

Start my Alabama registration

Checkout lists our charge and the Alabama fee on separate lines before you pay. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.

Where these facts come from

  1. Alabama Secretary of State, LLC filings
  2. Alabama Secretary of State fee schedule
  3. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign LLC Application for Registration (form PDF)
  4. Alabama Secretary of State, Foreign Corporation (business or nonprofit) Application for Registration (form PDF)
  5. Alabama Secretary of State, foreign corporations
  6. Alabama Department of Revenue, who files the business privilege tax return
  7. Alabama Department of Revenue, business privilege tax
  8. Alabama Department of Revenue, the initial business privilege tax return
  9. Alabama Department of Revenue, business privilege tax extensions
  10. Alabama Department of Revenue, when the business privilege tax return is due
  11. Alabama Department of Revenue, which taxpayers must file the business privilege tax return
  12. Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.12 (grounds for revocation)
  13. Code of Alabama 10A-1-7.13 (procedure for and effect of revocation)

Doing business in Alabama from another state?

Order online and we reserve the name, prepare the application and file it in Montgomery.

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