LLC STATES

A state filing ledger · 50 states + DC

record 48 of 51 · /llc/washington-d-c/

District of Columbia LLC

oldest record on this page verified 2026-07-23

sources: linked on each field, listed in full below

The District taxes receipts and reports biennially

The District of Columbia collects its report every other year, first falling due the year after registration. The Unincorporated Business Franchise Tax recurs on gross receipts above a published minimum, filed with the Office of Tax and Revenue. Expedited handling is sold in a pair of dated lanes, the faster returning the filing the same day.

the rest of this note

The trade name registers for a set term with a rule of its own: it may not contain an entity qualifier such as LLC, because the qualifier belongs to the legal name. Registration is disclosure and confers no ownership of the name. An individual serving in the District may hold the agent seat, per the register's definition.

every claim above is a line below

Should you form your LLC in the District of Columbia?

If the answer is yes, the home-state rule points to the District of Columbia.

Office or storefront in the District of Columbia?

Yes, it will

A business with a real footprint in the District of Columbia files in the District of Columbia. Forming anywhere else adds a foreign registration back home: two filings, two annual bills, two registered agents. The out-of-state discount does not survive that arithmetic.

No, it will not

This one answer cannot choose a state. Use the full four-question wizard with the place where the business will actually operate. Open the full wizard .

Annual report

$300

Due April 1 (biennial; first year after registration), printed as the state writes it.

last verified 2026-08-22

boss.dc.gov

Franchise tax

from $250

The District of Columbia calls it the Unincorporated Business Franchise Tax, collected by Office of Tax and Revenue. It follows revenue, so $250 is the floor rather than the bill.

last verified 2026-08-08

code.dccouncil.gov

Anonymous LLC

no

Member or organizer names reach the public formation record here.

last verified 2026-08-10

code.dccouncil.gov

Processing time

published, not as a range

The state publishes a processing time in prose rather than as a range, so this sheet links it instead of restating it. Expedited formation starts at $50.

as observed on 2026-09-09

dlcp.dc.gov

Name designators

Must contain the words "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C." or "LLC."

Statute: D.C. Code § 29-103.02.

last verified 2026-07-23

code.dccouncil.gov

Name reservation

$50

Optional filing that holds the name for 120 days before you form.

last verified 2026-07-23

dlcp.dc.gov

DBA

trade name

One statewide register; the filing costs $55.

last verified 2026-07-23

dlcp.dc.gov

An individual as the agent

allowed

Whether a person may hold the seat, so nobody has to be hired. The terms the District of Columbia attaches, and the entity question, sit in the registered agent section.

last verified 2026-08-09

code.dccouncil.gov

Late filing penalty

$100

The District of Columbia charges this as a flat penalty on a late report. What follows a missed filing is in section 09.

last verified 2026-08-10

dlcp.dc.gov

field 05 carries the date it was observed, not a promise: of the two halves beside it, only the expedited tiers are prices the state commits to

What are the District of Columbia DBA rules?

The District of Columbia calls it the trade name, and keeps one statewide register for it. The state filing costs $55.

Where an LLC files

dlcp.dc.gov

How long it lasts

2 years

A trade name registration must be renewed by April 1 of the second year after registration or the last renewal; a late renewal is accepted through August 31 of that year with a $55 late fee.

Newspaper publication

not required

What the filing protects

no exclusive right

A District trade name may not contain an entity qualifier such as LLC, Corp, or LP; it is a disclosure registration and does not grant an exclusive right to the name.

Where to search existing names

corponline.dlcp.dc.gov

Registered trade names appear in the DLCP CorpOnline business search.

one record, verified 2026-07-23 · D.C. Code § 47-2855.02

code.dccouncil.gov

What does it take to register a foreign LLC in the District of Columbia?

Registering an LLC formed elsewhere is its own filing in the District of Columbia. The registration costs $220. That price belongs to a separate filing event, so it enters no cost total on this site.

Registration fee

$220

Flat $220.00 for a foreign registration statement on the Corporations Division's for-profit fee list, which covers a foreign limited liability company. D.C. Code Section 29-102.12(a) sets fees by rule rather than by statute, so the agency's published list is the figure.

dlcp.dc.gov

The official form

Foreign registration statement

dlcp.dc.gov

Filed with

District of Columbia Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, Corporations Division

dlcp.dc.gov

After registration

Deliver a biennial report to the Mayor by April 1 of the year after registration and by April 1 of every second calendar year thereafter, which the Corporations Division prices at $300.00, and designate and maintain a registered agent in the District.

dlcp.dc.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-09

The same fee for every other jurisdiction sits on one page: foreign qualification fees for every jurisdiction.

Who can be the registered agent in the District of Columbia?

Who may serve as an LLC's registered agent is its own rule in the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia lets a natural person serve, so no commercial agent is required.

An individual as the agent

Allowed

in the state's words An individual or domestic or foreign entity that serves in the District as the registered agent of an entity

code.dccouncil.gov

The LLC as its own agent

not read at this pin

A mailbox service as the address

not read at this pin

Address rule

If a provision of this subchapter other than § 29-104.10(a)(4) requires that a record state an address, the record shall state a: (1) Street address in the District; and (2) Mailing address in the District, if different from the address described in paragraph (1) of this section.

code.dccouncil.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-09

The same four answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: registered agent rules for every jurisdiction.

What happens if you don't file the District of Columbia annual report?

A missed report has its own record in the District of Columbia: the penalty, the dissolution clock, and the way back. The penalty is a single flat figure.

  1. Late filing penalty

    $100

    dlcp.dc.gov

  2. Administrative dissolution

    after 5 months of delinquency

    The first stage the state publishes, in its own unit: after this interval the state may dissolve the LLC by administrative action.

    code.dccouncil.gov

  3. Reinstatement

    $300

    as the record reads A $300 reinstatement after administrative dissolution, with no time limit in the statute, payable together with every fee and penalty that was due at the dissolution and every one that would have come due while the entity was dissolved.

    dlcp.dc.gov

one record, verified 2026-08-10

The same three answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: late fees and reinstatement for every jurisdiction.

Where do these figures come from?

Every figure on this sheet renders from the pinned dataset snapshot, and each card links the page its own figure came from. This list collects those pages in one place, with the duplicates removed and the agency named.

The rule behind every figure here, and what a card does when one cannot be verified, sits on how a figure gets verified.

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