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The Iowa Business Services Division mandates all profit and nonprofit entities to file biennial reports with the state to update all changes that occurred during the fiscal year.
To help you understand the process better, Venture Smarter's licensed legal team with over two decades of experience in the LLC sector spent three weeks researching the Iowa Secretary of State's website for the correct biennial report information.
Here's everything you should know about filing an Iowa annual report.
To file an Iowa biennial report, you must find the form online, complete it and submit it by mail or through your Fast Track Filing dashboard.
Online filing is available on the Iowa Fast Track Filing system (FTF).
Venture Smarter recommends setting up an FTF account with your email username, password, and phone number to get the most out of the online system.
Once you have your FTF account, follow these steps to file your Iowa biennial report:
After submitting our biennial report, the Iowa Secretary of State emailed us a notification of receipt and approval.
Our online filing was approved almost instantly.
"In our case we already have an FTF Account, so we can exchange documents with our coworkers using the system, store our payment information for later use, and view our saved filing history on your Dashboard."
- Jon Morgan,-Jon Morgan, CEO, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Venture Smarter
The state allows paper submissions of the Iowa biennial report.
Once you access the form online, select the "Print" option to access the PDF version. Complete all your business details, then print the form.
Before submitting, attach the correct filing fee as a check or money order.
Direct the complete biennial report form to the following state’s office address:
Secretary of State Business Services Division
First Floor, Lucas Building
321 E. 12th St.
Des Moines, IA 50319
Phone: 515-281-5204
You should include the current business name, principal address, and business ID number in the Iowa biennial report.
Other than that, the following information are also mandatory:
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You can file the biennial report in Iowa as early as January 1st, which is when limited liability companies and for-profit corporations file.
The Iowa Secretary of State also requires all other profit and nonprofit business entities to file their biennial reports every two years to avoid legal penalties and dissolution.
For Venture Smarter, the biennial report made it possible for creditors and other parties to find the company address in case they needed to contact us.
The biennial report filing fee in Iowa is $30 if you file online via the Fast Track Filing system and $45 by mail.
The filing fee is the same for specific businesses, including LLCs, LLPs, LPs, and general partnerships.
If you run a for-profit corporation, the filing fee for your Iowa biennial report is $60.
Regardless of the filing method, the Iowa Secretary of State doesn't charge any filing fees for nonprofit organizations to file their biennial reports.
The due date for submitting the biennial report in Iowa is April 1 every two years, but the filing year depends on the type of business structure.
All LLCs, LLPs, LPs, and nonprofit corporations must file their biennial reports on odd-numbered years.
For example, we launched our company in 2021, so we filed our first biennial report on April 1, 2023, and the next will be by April 1, 2025.
According toe the IRS, non profits with less than one to three years in business and has averaged less than $60,000 or below in gross receipts for the three years preceding the tax year [1].
As for-profit corporations, the biennial report due date is every even-numbered year, say April 1 of 2022, 2024, 2026, and so forth.
The penalty for not filing a biennial report is administrative dissolution.
Your LLC will become "Delinquent" if your Iowa LLC Biennial Report is not submitted by April 1.
The state will also administratively dissolve your Iowa LLC if you disregard this obligation and fail to file by August 8.
To avoid this penalty, Venture Smarter recommend setting a calendar reminder for when the biennial report is due so that you can file on time and avoid unnecessary penalties.
Alternatively, you can subscribe to the state's notification service to receive alerts of the deadlines.
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Will You Receive a Reminder to File the Iowa Biennial Report?
Yes, you can receive a reminder to file the Iowa Biennial report. The Iowa Secretary of State offers a notification service that you can subscribe to via email to receive reminders 1-2 months before the deadline is due.
Are New LLCs in Iowa Required to File an Annual Report in Their First Year?
No, new LLCs in Iowa are not required to file an annual report in their first year. Iowa mandates all businesses to file a biennial report every two years to stay compliant.
Who Is Authorized to File the LLC Biennial Report in Iowa?
An LLC owner or member is authorized to file the LLC biennial report in Iowa.
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About The Author
Education: Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Lives in: IllinoisAs a corporate attorney, Danya supports entrepreneurs in having successful businesses by building strategic relationships, assisting in transactions, and protecting their companies.
After over a decade of experience, she has helped several organizations get their deals done so they can focus on their dreams.
As a firm, Motiva Law not only provides excellent legal services – it delivers a top-quality client experience by being communicative and providing an easy-to-understand strategy for their clients' business deals. In other words, they handle the legalese so the clients don't have to!
Accreditations: Being selected as a "Rising Star" by Super Lawyers from 2015-2024. This award goes to less than 2.5% of attorneys in Illinois.
