Filing a Delaware Corporation Franchise Tax Report
We have a long history of assisting companies with completing and filing their annual Franchise Tax reports with the state of Delaware.
Even if we are not your company’s Registered Agent, we are still happy to provide you with our expert Franchise Tax filing service, and we will ensure your annual report filing is free of errors.
In our experience, here are some guidelines on how to make sure your Franchise Tax report is completed accurately:
- Principal Place of Business: this is where your business is primarily located; the address does not have to be in Delaware—it can be anywhere in the world. However, it must be a physical address, not a Post Office box. Moreover, you cannot list the address of Harvard Business Services, Inc. as your company’s principal place of business (even if you utilize our Mail Forwarding service). Remember, if your business is based entirely online, you still must provide a physical address at which your company receives mail. You must provide a Principal Place of Business on your Franchise Tax report.
- Directors Information: you must indicate the Directors that are elected to your Board of Directors as of the date of the report filing. Each Director’s name and physical address must be provided. The address can be that of the company or the personal address of the Director. Again, the address cannot be a Post Office box—it must be a physical street address.
- Officer Information: you only need to provide the name and address of one officer, regardless of how many officers may be elected within your company. Typically, an Officer title is President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, CEO or CFO.
- Authorization and Signature: your annual Franchise Tax report must be authorized and signed by one of the persons listed in the Director and/or officer Sections. For example, if an annual report lists Holly White as a Director and Rachel Black as the President, then Mary Green is not authorized to file and sign the annual report as Secretary, since she was not listed. Holly White and Rachel Black are the only people allowed to sign the franchise tax report.
If your company has over 5,000 total authorized shares, you may be required to provide additional internal information, such as the total number of issued shares as of the date of the Franchise Tax report filing.
This does not mean the number of shares you may have issued in the current year, but rather the total number of shares the company has outstanding.
The number of issued shares information can typically be found in the company’s stock transfer ledger.
In addition, you will need to provide the total gross assets of your company, as reported on the entity’s federal income tax return.
This does not mean the profit or loss of the company but specifically those assets stated on the federal income tax return (page 1 and Schedule L). The state of Delaware has the authority to request a copy of the tax return for verification purposes.
When you are ready to proceed with your annual Franchise Tax filing, please visit our website at: www.delawareinc.com/payft.
*Disclaimer*: Harvard Business Services, Inc. is neither a law firm nor an accounting firm and, even in cases where the author is an attorney, or a tax professional, nothing in this article constitutes legal or tax advice. This article provides general commentary on, and analysis of, the subject addressed. We strongly advise that you consult an attorney or tax professional to receive legal or tax guidance tailored to your specific circumstances. Any action taken or not taken based on this article is at your own risk. If an article cites or provides a link to third-party sources or websites, Harvard Business Services, Inc. is not responsible for and makes no representations regarding such source’s content or accuracy. Opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Harvard Business Services, Inc.