Business taxes

Be sure to have the following information for your corporation (as of the last day of the fiscal year that you’re filing for):

• General business information: This includes your EIN.

• Company financials: You can learn about year-end financial reports in our guide tax season. If you don’t have any revenue or expenses for the past fiscal year, you might still need to file taxes.

• Company ownership: Your corporation might have shares held by individual shareholders or business entities. Make sure the information reflects the current ownership.

• Additional information: If your company employs people, owns property, operates locally in the US, or operates abroad, you might have additional tax and reporting requirements. Some of the taxes you might want to ask about include:

  • Transfer pricing (if you’re based outside the US).
  • State taxes (if you have business activity in any US state).
  • Sales taxes.
  • Employment taxes.

1. Legalinc is best for Delaware franchise tax help if this is the only filing you want help with at this time (you’ll still need to file federal taxes for the 2023 tax year). They’ll pre-fill your Delaware franchise tax filing with you Atlas company information.
2. Mosey is best for startups that want ongoing help with registration and compliance filings in multiple states (including the Delaware franchise tax) without federal tax prep or bookkeeping.
3. Bench is best for pre-revenue startups or small startups who want recurring tax or bookkeeping services for state and federal taxes.
4. Pilot is best for startups planning to raise funding, who want recurring tax and bookkeeping services for state and federal taxes.
5. Cleer is best for startups that want one-time assistance with federal and state tax prep.

All Delaware C Corporations are required to pay the Delaware franchise tax and to file an annual report, which you can pay online if you want to complete it yourself. Even companies with no revenue in the previous fiscal year should expect to pay some amount. If you want to hire a tax professional to complete this, you can work with one of our tax partners or a tax advisor of your own choosing.

Delaware franchise tax

You have the option to recalculate your taxes due on the Delaware website. Follow the steps below. Delaware sends notices using a calculation method that results in large tax bills for companies with more than 5,000 shares. Most Atlas companies find they pay less tax when they use the Assumed Par Value Capital method instead of the default Authorized Shares method. You can read about these methods on Delaware’s website. If the franchise tax isn’t submitted by March 1, there is a 200 USD late fee and interest of 1.5% per month on the tax amount originally due.

Pay Delaware franchise tax

Complete the following steps to pay your Delaware franchise tax. You can save your work and return to it later, just make sure to save your session number, which the Delaware portal gives you the option of sending to an email address for easier access.

1. Login to the state of Delaware’s website with your seven digit Delaware Business Entity File Number.
   • You can easily find your company’s file number in two ways:
     1. Use Delaware’s entity search tool with your company’s legal name.
     2. Find the State of Delaware stamp on the second page of your Filed Certificate of Incorporation. You can find this in the Dashboard.
2. Click on the File annual report link.
3. Enter your company information:
   • Complete the Stock information section to adjust your taxes owed shown in the upper right corner: enter the number of shares your company has issued, your gross assets (your Total assets on your corporate income tax return), and your Asset date (the same as your end of fiscal year). Then click the Recalculate tax button (can take some time to reload).
   • Complete all of the remaining required fields indicated with a red star.
   • If you haven’t adjusted your list of officers or directors since you incorporated, you can find these individuals in your Board Approval document in your Dashboard.
4. When all required information is complete, press the green Continue filing button to review your information for accuracy.
5. After you verify you entered all of the correct information, press the green Proceed to payment button.
   • You pay Delaware franchise tax and annual report filing fee either by credit card or ACH. After inputting your payment information, push the green submit button to finalize your Delaware state taxes.

• March 1, 2024: Delaware franchise tax due (penalty for late payments: 200 USD fee and interest of 1.5% per month on the tax amount originally due).
• April 15, 2024: US federal corporate income tax due date.
• October 15, 2024: If you filed for an extension, this is the due date for filing US corporate income taxes.