Most guidance treats "the state annual report" as one filing. For a lot of states that is fair — the corporation and the LLC file the same form on the same date. But in several states the two entity types are on genuinely different clocks, and a founder who converted from an LLC to a corporation, or who runs one of each, can miss a deadline by four months while believing they filed on time. This page shows four states worked through against their primary sources: two where the filings differ sharply, one where they differ by deadline only, and one where they are the same filing.
Reviewed September 17, 2026 · every rule below links to its primary sourceA state annual report is an informational filing: the state is keeping its register of who controls the entity and where process can be served. Corporations and LLCs carry different governance furniture — a corporation has officers and directors, an LLC has members or managers — so some states collect them on different forms, and once there are two forms there is nothing forcing them onto one schedule.
Separately, many states attach a franchise tax or privilege tax to the same moment. That tax is usually computed differently for corporations (shares, capital, or income) than for LLCs (often a flat fee), and where the tax drives the calendar, the entity types drift apart. This is the mechanism behind every divergence below, and it is why "when is my annual report due" has no answer until you say which entity type you are.
Applies to: entities formed in Delaware. This is the widest divergence of the four, because it is not a difference in date — it is a difference in whether a report exists.
A Delaware corporation files an Annual Report and pays franchise tax, both due no later than March 1 each year. The penalty for failing to file a completed Annual Report on or before March 1 is $200, plus interest on unpaid tax.
A Delaware LLC — along with limited partnerships and general partnerships formed in Delaware — does not file an Annual Report at all. It pays a flat annual tax of $300, due on or before June 1. Late payment carries a $200 penalty plus interest.
Sources: Delaware Division of Corporations — Annual Report and Tax Instructions ↗ · Annual Report and Tax Information ↗ · LLC/LP/GP Franchise Tax Instructions ↗
Applies to: entities registered with the California Secretary of State, including out-of-state entities qualified to do business there.
California's annual report is called a Statement of Information, and both entity types file one. The cadence is what differs. California stock corporations — and out-of-state corporations qualified in California — file a Statement of Information every year. California nonprofit corporations and all LLCs file every two years, in the anniversary month, in odd or even years depending on the year of initial registration.
For subsequent filings the state allows a six-month window that closes at the end of the entity's registration-anniversary month: an entity registered in March, for example, may file from October 1 through March 31. A first Statement of Information is separately due within 90 days of registering.
Sources: California Secretary of State — Statements of Information Filing Tips ↗ · Business Entities FAQs ↗
Applies to: domestic and foreign filing entities registered in Pennsylvania. This regime is new — it replaced the old decennial report and began phasing in during 2025, so most entities have only filed under it once or twice.
Pennsylvania asks every filing entity for the same Annual Report, then gives each type its own deadline. All corporations — business and nonprofit, domestic and foreign — are due by June 30. Limited liability companies are due by September 30. Every other domestic filing entity or foreign filing association, including LPs and LLPs, is due by December 31. In each case the filing window opens January 1.
| Entity type | Filing window | Deadline | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporations (business and nonprofit, domestic and foreign) | Jan 1 – Jun 30 | June 30 | $7 business corporations; $0 nonprofit |
| Limited liability companies | Jan 1 – Sep 30 | September 30 | $7; $0 if not-for-profit purpose |
| All other filing entities (LP, LLP, and others) | Jan 1 – Dec 31 | December 31 | $7; $0 if not-for-profit purpose |
Sources: Pennsylvania Department of State — Annual Reports ↗ · DOS notice on the new annual report requirement ↗
Applies to: entities organized in Texas or with nexus in Texas. Included here as the counter-example — the divergence is real but it is not universal, and assuming a difference where there is none causes its own errors.
In Texas the split does not run between corporations and LLCs. Each taxable entity formed as a corporation, LLC, limited partnership, professional association or financial institution files the same Form 05-102, Public Information Report (PIR), annually, due on the annual franchise tax report due date. Every other taxable entity files Form 05-167, Ownership Information Report (OIR) instead, on the same date.
Two details do the damage here rather than the calendar. First, the PIR or OIR is due even if the entity owes no franchise tax because its annualized revenue is at or below the no-tax-due threshold — a very common situation for small operators, and the most frequent reason a Texas entity quietly falls out of good standing. Second, the information is different: officer and director data on a PIR is forwarded to the Secretary of State and displayed publicly in the Comptroller's Taxable Entity Search, whereas ownership information on an OIR is confidential and is not displayed.
Sources: Texas Comptroller — Public Information Report and Ownership Information Report ↗ · Texas Franchise Tax ↗
There is no shortcut that works nationally, because the divergence is created by each state's own tax and filing architecture. What does work is a short sequence of checks, in this order:
The free deadline lookup and the 50-state table hold LLC records for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. They do not yet hold a separate corporate record for each state. Given everything above, that matters: for a state like Texas the LLC answer is also the corporate answer, but for Delaware, California or Pennsylvania it is not, and reading an LLC record as a corporate one would put you months out. Where your entity is a corporation, treat the lookup as a pointer to the right state page and official source rather than as your date, and confirm on the state's own site. We would rather say that plainly than let the gap go unmentioned.