Arkansas LLC Annual Franchise Tax — Step 6 of 8
This is Arkansas's one recurring corporate filing — a single flat fee that covers both your entity update and your franchise tax in one form. It's simple, but the deadline genuinely matters: miss it, and the state blocks all future filings for your LLC. Here's the exact deadline for your business.
Every Arkansas LLC files an Annual Franchise Tax Report every year, due May 1, and pays a flat $150 — the same amount whether you're a single-member consultancy or a multi-member operating business. Your first report isn't due until May 1 of the year after your LLC was formed. Miss the deadline and a $25 flat penalty plus daily interest applies, capped at 2x the tax — and the state blocks all further filings until it's paid.
- Frequency
- Every year
- Fee
- $150 flat
- Due date
- May 1
- First report due
- Year after formation
- Late penalty
- $25 + daily interest
- Interest cap
- 2x original tax
- Next step
- Step 7 →
What the Annual Franchise Tax Is
Under A.C.A. § 26-54-104, every Arkansas LLC must file an Annual Franchise Tax Report to keep its records current with the state — this single filing covers both the entity-update function of a typical "annual report" and the tax itself. There's no separate report to file on top of it.
- Fee: a flat $150, regardless of how many members you have or how much revenue you earn.
- Due date: May 1 every year, without exception.
- First report timing: your very first Annual Franchise Tax Report isn't due until May 1 of the year after your LLC was formed — so an LLC formed anytime during 2026 doesn't file until May 1, 2027.
- Filed with: the Arkansas Secretary of State's online franchise tax portal (a $5 credit card processing fee applies online).
Franchise Tax Due-Date Calculator
Enter your LLC's formation date to see your first Annual Franchise Tax Report deadline:
How to File
- File through the Secretary of State's online franchise tax portal, using your Arkansas Corporate ID or Filing Number to look up your LLC.
- Confirm your details — registered agent, principal office, and member/manager information — and update anything that's changed.
- Pay the $150 flat fee (plus a $5 online processing charge) by credit card and submit.
- Don't wait for a paper reminder — reminders are mailed/emailed to your franchise tax contact person, but a missing or outdated contact record doesn't excuse a late filing.
The real cost of missing this deadline isn't the penaltyThe $25 late fee and capped interest are manageable — the bigger issue is that once your franchise tax goes unpaid, the Secretary of State blocks all further filings for your LLC. That means no amendments, no registered agent changes, no dissolution paperwork — nothing — until the tax and penalties are settled. It can also affect anyone else connected to the LLC trying to form a new Arkansas entity.
- ✓Forms your Arkansas LLC for $39 + the $45 state fee
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Arkansas Annual Franchise Tax — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The guidance here — the flat $150 fee, the May 1 deadline, the first-year filing timing, and the late-filing consequences — reflects A.C.A. § 26-54-104 and current Arkansas Secretary of State guidance. This is educational information, not legal advice.
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