Every Delaware LLC owes what the state calls a franchise tax, and there’s no report to go with it. That part, most guides get right. What a lot of them still get wrong is the number: Delaware raised this tax for the first time in years, and plenty of pages online are still quoting the old figure.
Delaware calls it a franchise tax even though your LLC doesn’t file one
Delaware’s own Division of Corporations titles its LLC payment page "LLC/LP/GP Franchise Tax Instructions," then opens with a line that undercuts the name: LLCs, LPs, and GPs are not required to file an Annual Franchise Tax report. That requirement belongs to corporations.
A Delaware corporation files an actual annual report tied to its share structure, with a franchise tax calculated one of two ways: the Authorized Shares Method, with a $175 minimum, or the Assumed Par Value Capital Method, with a $400 minimum. Both cap out at $200,000, or $250,000 for companies the state classifies as Large Corporate Filers.
None of that applies to an LLC. There’s no share count to plug into a formula and no report to submit. You owe one flat amount, once a year, and the payment itself is the entire filing. That’s also why the two entity types get confused so often: a corporation’s minimum under one calculation method happens to be $400, the same number an LLC now owes under a completely different set of rules.
The amount just changed: $300 to $400
Delaware’s House Bill 400 was signed into law on May 21, 2026. It raises the flat annual tax on LLCs, LPs, and general partnerships from $300 to $400, and raises the fee for each registered series of a series LLC from $75 to $100. The increase is written into the law as effective retroactively to January 1, 2026.
Delaware’s own payment portal already reflects the new number. The LLC/LP/GP tax instructions page, last updated August 1, 2026, states plainly that LLCs, LPs, and GPs "must pay the $400 yearly tax on or before June 1st," with no exceptions mentioned. If you’ve read a guide anywhere, including older competitor content, that still says $300 with no mention of House Bill 400, it was written before this law existed.
Here’s where it gets genuinely unclear
Two firms that track Delaware entity law closely, CSC and Withum, both published notes on House Bill 400 in the first week of August 2026. Both say essentially the same thing: even though the increase is retroactive to January 1, 2026, the higher $400 amount will generally first show up in the payment due in June 2027, which covers 2026 activity. Under that reading, the payment due by June 1, 2026, covering 2025 activity, would still be billed at the old $300 rate.
That directly conflicts with guidance from at least one major Delaware registered agent, which states that the $400 minimum already applies to the June 1, 2026 payment for LLCs formed in 2025 or earlier. Delaware’s own portal doesn’t spell out which tax year gets which rate. It just says $400, full stop.
We’re not going to pretend this is settled when three sources that should agree don’t. If your LLC has a payment coming up, the number that matters is whatever Delaware’s payment system actually shows for your specific entity when you log in, not what any guide tells you in advance, this one included. That figure comes straight from your entity’s record, which is the one place this transition-year disagreement doesn’t apply. If you use a registered agent service, they’ll typically bill you their own fee on top of whatever Delaware assesses, so expect two line items rather than one.
When it’s due, and what a late payment costs
The tax is due June 1 every year, covering the entity’s activity from January 1 through December 31 of the prior year. Delaware assesses it as long as the entity was active in its records at any point during that window, even for a single day. Closing the LLC in February doesn’t reduce what’s owed for that year.
Miss the deadline and Delaware adds a flat $200 penalty, plus 1.5% interest per month on the combined tax and penalty. There’s no proration for an LLC that formed partway through a year or dissolved partway through one. You either owed the full amount for that tax year or you didn’t.
If you formed your LLC in 2026
New entities don’t pay in their formation year. File a Delaware LLC anytime in 2026 and your first payment is due June 1, 2027, not this year. That timing holds no matter where you live: the tax attaches to the entity because it’s registered in Delaware, not because of where the owner happens to be based. That matters here specifically, since a fair number of Delaware LLCs are formed by owners who live outside the US entirely and picked the state for reasons that have nothing to do with where they pay this particular bill.
We haven’t run a Delaware formation service through an actual purchase yet, so there’s no provider comparison in this article. How we test explains what we require before we’ll publish that kind of comparison.
Delaware isn’t the only state we’ve covered where the ongoing cost matters more than what it takes to file in the first place. Wyoming charges a $60 annual report instead of a flat tax, and its total lands lower even after this increase, worth knowing if you’re weighing the two states against each other rather than choosing Delaware by reputation alone. Texas takes a different approach entirely, tying its version of this obligation to a revenue threshold instead of a flat fee; we broke that down in our Texas franchise tax guide. And if your Delaware LLC doesn’t have a written operating agreement yet, this is one of the states where having one actually supports the asset-protection reasons people choose Delaware to begin with.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Delaware LLC have to file an annual report?
No. That requirement is for corporations. LLCs, LPs, and GPs just pay the flat tax by June 1 with no report attached.
Is the Delaware franchise tax for LLCs $400 now, or still $300?
It’s $400 under House Bill 400, though sources genuinely disagree about whether that rate applies to the payment due in June 2026 or first appears in June 2027. Check what Delaware’s payment portal shows for your specific entity rather than relying on a fixed number from any guide, including this one.
What happens if I miss the June 1 deadline?
Delaware adds a $200 penalty plus 1.5% interest per month on the tax and penalty combined, and there’s no proration based on how late you are or how long the LLC was active that year.
I formed my LLC in 2026. Do I owe anything by June 1, 2026?
No. Your first payment is due June 1, 2027, the year after formation, regardless of which month in 2026 you actually filed.
