Annual Reports for nonprofit corporations and nonprofit limited liability companies are due on or before Feb. 1. However, since Feb. 1 is a Saturday in 2020, the deadline is extended to Monday, Feb. 3. The Secretary of State’s office will send Annual Report notices in mid-December.
For 2020, there are significant changes from previous years for filing the Annual Report. The Annual Report must be completed on FirstStop (FirstStop.sos.nd.gov), the Secretary of State’s new online filing service.
- No paper form will be provided. The online form must be used and will be available online to coincide with the sending of the Annual Report notice.
- A North Dakota Login (NDLogin) account must be used to access the FirstStop website to complete the Annual Report.
- Detailed instructions will be provided in the Annual Report notice.
FirstStop benefits include:
- After the Annual Report is completed on FirstStop, it can either be filed online (‘File Online’ option) with a credit card or it can be printed and mailed with a check (‘Print and Mail’ option).
- FirstStop has a step-by-step process to assist in accurate completion of the Annual Report.
- Online completion of the form will reduce the probability the filing has to be returned to the filer for corrections.
- If corrections are needed, the process is streamlined.
- Faster processing time.
- Access to real-time status of filing.
- Future filings for that entity will be simplified.
- Online access, at any time, to documents related to the filing.
The Annual Report must be submitted on or before Feb. 3 when using the ‘File Online’ option or be received in the Secretary of State’s office on or before Feb. 3 when using the ‘Print and Mail’ option. Postmarks will no longer be used to determine timely filing.
Because the process is new for 2020, the Secretary of State’s office strongly encourages nonprofits to file well before the Feb. 3 deadline and not wait until the last minute.
