Nobody sends you a summary of what you now owe and when. The obligations arrive from three different places — the state, the IRS and your registered agent — on three different schedules.
The year at a glance
| When | What | Who to |
|---|---|---|
| Anniversary month | State annual report and fee | State |
| 15 April | Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 | IRS |
| 15 April | Form 7004 if you need more time | IRS |
| 15 October | Extended 5472 deadline | IRS |
| Agent renewal date | Registered agent fee | Your agent |
The state report
Due on a schedule set by your formation state — commonly the anniversary of formation, sometimes a fixed calendar date.
- Wyoming — annual report, minimum fee around $60, due in the anniversary month.
- Delaware — $300 franchise tax, due 1 June for LLCs.
- New Mexico — nothing.
Miss it: the company loses good standing, then faces administrative dissolution. Reinstatement costs fees and paperwork, and the name can be taken in the meantime.
The IRS filing
Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120, due 15 April for a calendar-year company, extendable to 15 October with Form 7004.
Miss it: $25,000. Not scaled to revenue, not waived because the company was dormant. Full detail in Form 5472.
This is the obligation founders most often do not know exists, and the most expensive to discover late.
Registered agent renewal
Annual, on your agent's own date, $50–$150.
Miss it: the agent resigns, the state marks you non-compliant, and legal mail stops reaching you. See what a registered agent does.
Obligations that depend on what you do
- Sales tax registration and returns — if you sell physical goods into US states and cross an economic nexus threshold.
- Beneficial ownership reporting, where it applies to your entity.
- Form 1099 issuance if you pay US contractors.
- Your home country's filings — often the set with the largest consequences. See do non-resident LLC owners owe US tax.
The habit that makes all of it easy
Keep a single running record of every transfer between you and the company — date, amount, direction, purpose. A spreadsheet is enough.
Come April, Form 5472 asks for exactly these figures. With the log, it is a twenty-minute job. Without it, you are reconstructing a year of bank statements and guessing at categories.
Set this up once
- Put all four dates in a calendar with a reminder one month before each.
- Check your registered agent's renewal date and add it.
- Start the transfer log on the day the bank account opens.
- If you use a CPA, agree in advance who files what — the gap between "I assumed you did it" and "I assumed you did" is where the $25,000 lives.
The recurring costs behind these dates are itemised in what a US LLC actually costs.