Delaware LLC Annual Tax Increases to $400 in 2026 | Taxculate

If you have a Delaware LLC, limited partnership, or general partnership, your Delaware LLC annual tax is
going up, from $300 to $400, and part of the increase is already in effect, applied retroactively to the
start of the year.

Delaware has enacted House Bill 400, a sweeping update to the fees and taxes administered by the
Delaware Secretary of State and the Division of Corporations. The Delaware LLC annual tax increase is the first major update to many of these fees in over a decade, and it touches nearly every stage of the business lifecycle: formation, annual maintenance, record requests, expedited filings, and dissolution.

The Core Change: Delaware’s Annual Tax Increase

The headline change affects the flat annual tax paid by most Delaware entities:

• LLCs, Limited partnerships (LPs), and General partnerships (GPs): the annual tax rises from
  $300 to $400
• Registered series of LLCs and LPs: the fee rises from $75 to $100 per series
• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Limited Liability Limited Partnerships (LLLPs): the per-partner fee rises from $200 to $300, and the overall cap on that fee increases from $120,000 to $180,000

Delaware LLC annual tax increase annual tax changes are effective retroactively to January 1, 2026. In practice, that means they
apply to the 2026 tax year and will first show up when businesses pay their annual tax by the June 1,
2027 deadline.

Worth noting: HB 400 does not change the standard franchise tax rates for Delaware corporations. This
bill targets “alternative entities”, LLCs, LPs, GPs, and LLPs, specifically.

Filing and Service Fees Are Also Going Up

Separately from the annual tax, a broad range of filing and administrative fees increase effective August
1, 2026, including:

• Fees for preclearance of documents
• Fees for record searches and certified copies
• Fees for accepting service of process
• Foreign qualification and annual report filing fees
• The late filing penalty for a Foreign Corporation Annual Report, which increases to $200 if not filed by the June 30 deadline
  

Expedited processing fees see some of the largest jumps. The maximum fee Delaware can charge for
rush service increases across every tier, from 24-hour service up to same-day, 2-hour, 1-hour, and the
fastest 30-minute option, which can now run as high as $10,000. Note that these are new statutory caps,not automatic new prices, Delaware has the authority to charge up to these amounts, but current
published fees remain in place until the state issues an updated schedule.

Why the Increase?

According to the bill’s sponsors, the fee schedule for these entities hadn’t been meaningfully updated
since 2014. Adjusted for inflation, the original $300 annual tax would be roughly $417 in today’s dollars,
so lawmakers framed the increase partly as a catch-up adjustment. Delaware is home to more than 2
million registered business entities, and fees and taxes tied to the Division of Corporations account for
roughly 37% of the state’s total revenue. Alternative entities like LLCs and LPs currently contribute about 10% of that total, and the bill is projected to add meaningfully to the state’s general fund.

Delaware LLC annual tax increase, What This Means for You

For a single-member LLC, the increase amounts to $100 a year, not a reason on its own to reconsider
Delaware as a home for your business. But the impact compounds if you:

• Manage multiple entities, series structures, or investment vehicles registered in Delaware
• Operate an LLP or LLLP with many partners, where the per-partner fee increase adds up quickly
• Rely on expedited filings for time-sensitive deals, financings, or closings
• Are budgeting for 2026 compliance costs now, even though the higher annual tax won’t technically come due until June 2027

Action items:

1. Update your 2027 compliance budget to reflect the $400 annual tax (or the new LLP/LLLP per-
   partner structure) now, rather than being surprised next June.
2. If you rely on expedited Delaware filings for deal timelines, confirm current pricing with the Division of Corporations before assuming the old rates still apply.
3. If you manage several Delaware entities, model out the cumulative annual cost increase across
   your full structure, it adds up faster than a single per-entity number suggests.

Taxculate

At Taxculate, we help businesses stay ahead of changing state compliance requirements, not just annual tax deadlines. From tracking Delaware filing obligations to managing ongoing compliance across multiple entities, we ensure nothing falls through the cracks so you can focus on growing your business.