Tennessee LLC status check

What keeps a Tennessee LLC or corporation in good standing, what happens if a filing is missed, and how to check your status yourself. Taken from the official rules published by Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations.

Check your Tennessee status

On the state’s own site: open the official business search (Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations). Search your exact registered name and read the status field.

Statuses you may see there include: Active, Inactive.

The way a lender sees it: a lender’s system doesn’t just read your status — it matches your exact legal name, your filing, your domain and your email against each other. Run the same checks below.

Free check: what a lender’s system sees

Standing in Tennessee, exact legal-name match, time in business, domain age, website and business email. No account, no card, under a minute.

Legal business name

Entity type

Or open the full check.

What Tennessee requires to stay in good standing

	LLC	Corporation
Filing	Annual Report	Annual Report
How often	Annual	Annual
When it’s due	Due on or before the first day of the fourth month following the close of the company's fiscal year.	Due on or before the first day of the fourth month following the close of the corporation's fiscal year.
State fee	$50 per member, minimum $300, maximum $3,000 (i.e., $300 covers up to 6 members); +$20 if registered agent/office changed	$20; +$20 if registered agent/office changed
Annual tax tied to standing	Tennessee franchise & excise tax (Department of Revenue): franchise tax 0.25% of TN net worth, $100 minimum; excise tax 6.5% of TN taxable income; due the 15th day of the 4th month after fiscal year end.	Tennessee franchise & excise tax (Department of Revenue): franchise tax 0.25% of TN net worth, $100 minimum; excise tax 6.5% of TN taxable income; due the 15th day of the 4th month after fiscal year end.

Good standing in Tennessee also depends on franchise & excise tax filings with the Department of Revenue, not just the SOS annual report. Annual reports are now filed through the SOS's TNCaB system (account required).

Missed it? What happens, and how to fix it

If a filing is missed

An entity that fails to file its annual report on time may be administratively dissolved and shown as inactive. The online system accepts delinquent annual reports within 4 months after the due date. No separate late-fee amount was found on an official page.

Getting back in good standing

Application for Reinstatement. A tax clearance from the TN Department of Revenue is required to reinstate. Filed online through the Secretary of State's system.

Why lenders check this before anyone reads your application

An automated know-your-business check compares what you put on an application against the state’s record. A status that isn’t active and in good standing, or a legal name that differs from your filing by a comma or a suffix, is a common silent reason for a decline.

Fixing your status costs nothing beyond the state’s own fees; you don’t need to pay anyone to do it for you.

Common questions

When is the Tennessee LLC Annual Report due?

Due on or before the first day of the fourth month following the close of the company's fiscal year. The state fee is $50 per member, minimum $300, maximum $3,000 (i.e., $300 covers up to 6 members); +$20 if registered agent/office changed.

How do I reinstate a Tennessee LLC?

Tennessee calls it Application for Reinstatement. A tax clearance from the TN Department of Revenue is required to reinstate. Filed online through the Secretary of State's system.

What happens if I miss the Tennessee filing deadline?

How do I check if my Tennessee LLC is in good standing?

Search your exact registered name on Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations's business entity search (https://tnbear.tn.gov/Ecommerce/FilingSearch.aspx) and read the status field. To see what a lender's verification system sees - status, exact legal-name match, domain and business email - run Peak Discounters' free fundability check.

Sources

Fees and deadlines change. Always confirm on Tennessee Secretary of State, Division of Business and Charitable Organizations’s own site before you file. Last reviewed October 16, 2026.

See something wrong or out of date? Email info@peakdiscounters.com and we’ll correct it and re-date the page.

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