How to Complete and File the DC BRA-25 Biennial Report

Every business entity registered in the District of Columbia files the DC BRA-25 biennial report with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) to stay in good standing. You file it online through the CorpOnline portal or by mail, and it is due by April 1 of your entity’s filing year. The report updates the District’s records on your address, registered agent, leadership, and beneficial ownership.

Who Has to File

D.C. Code § 29-102.11 requires every domestic filing entity, limited liability partnership, and registered foreign entity to deliver a biennial report to the Mayor through the DLCP. ¹ In practice that means:

Business corporations, domestic and foreign
Nonprofit corporations, domestic and foreign
Limited liability companies, domestic and foreign
Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships

Revenue is irrelevant. If you are registered with the Corporations Division, you owe a report on schedule, whether the entity is active, dormant, or generating no income at all.

When the Report Is Due

Your first biennial report is due by April 1 of the year following the calendar year in which your entity was registered or formed. After that, reports are due every two years on April 1. ¹

Your filing cycle locks in based on when you registered. An entity formed in 2025 files first by April 1, 2026, and then in 2028, 2030, and so on. An entity formed in 2024 filed first by April 1, 2025, and stays on an odd-year schedule going forward. The DLCP does not send reminders, so put April 1 of each filing year on the calendar yourself.

Information to Gather Before You File

The statute lists exactly what has to be on the report. Pull this together before you log in:

Entity name and jurisdiction of formation. Your legal name must match your original articles of incorporation, organization, or registration. Foreign entities list the home jurisdiction.
Registered agent name plus street and mailing address in the District.
Principal office street and mailing address. It does not have to be in D.C.
At least one governor: a director for corporations, a manager or managing member for LLCs, or a general partner for limited partnerships.
For foreign entities, a statement that the entity is in good standing in its home jurisdiction, or a description of steps being taken to cure that.

Each field maps to a numbered paragraph in D.C. Code § 29-102.11(a). Blank or outdated fields are the most common reason filings get flagged. ¹

Beneficial Ownership Section

Since January 1, 2020, the BRA-25 has included a beneficial ownership disclosure. You must list the name, home address, and business address of every person whose direct or indirect ownership stake in the entity is greater than 10 percent. ¹ The disclosure also captures anyone owning 10 percent or less who controls the entity’s financial or operational decisions or can direct its day-to-day operations.

If a person identified through that analysis is itself a foreign entity, you repeat the ownership analysis for that entity and disclose its beneficial owners under the same thresholds. ² Submitting a biennial report that leaves out required beneficial ownership information can trigger administrative dissolution or termination of registration on its own, even if every other field is filled in correctly. ¹

This D.C. disclosure is separate from the federal Corporate Transparency Act’s Beneficial Ownership Information rule. As of early 2025, the U.S. Treasury suspended enforcement of the federal BOI rule for domestic companies and announced plans to narrow it to foreign reporting companies. ³ The D.C. requirement is unaffected and stays in force.

Filing Fees

Fees depend on your entity type. Business corporations pay $300 for the biennial report. ⁴ Nonprofit corporations pay $80. Fee amounts can change between cycles, so check the DLCP Corporations Division fee schedule for your entity type before you submit.

Filing after April 1 triggers a late fee on top of the base amount. Late fees are $100 for business corporations and $100 for LLCs. ⁴⁵ Nonprofits pay a lower late fee. Paying the penalty alone does not cure the obligation; you still have to file the report itself to get back to active status.

How to Submit the BRA-25

Online Through CorpOnline

The fastest route is the CorpOnline portal at corponline.dlcp.dc.gov, the DLCP’s electronic filing system. ⁶ Create an account or log in, find your entity, enter the updated information, and pay by credit card through the integrated payment gateway. After a successful submission you get an automated email confirmation and a downloadable receipt. Your entity’s status on the public registry typically updates shortly after DLCP review.

By Mail

If you prefer paper, download the current BRA-25 form from the DLCP website, complete it, and mail it to the Corporations Division with the fee. The mailing address is on the form and on the DLCP corporate registration page. Paper filers generally pay by check or money order. Because staff must manually enter the data, expect a longer wait before your public-registry status updates.

Either way, keep a copy of the completed form and your payment confirmation.

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

For a domestic entity, the DLCP serves written notice identifying the grounds for dissolution. You have 60 days from that notice to cure by filing the overdue report and paying what is owed. If you do nothing, the Mayor signs a statement of administrative dissolution, files it, and publishes notice on the DLCP website. A dissolved entity still exists on paper, but it can no longer conduct business; its activities are limited to winding down, liquidating assets, or applying for reinstatement. ⁷ Limited liability protection becomes unreliable after dissolution, and owners risk personal exposure for obligations incurred once the entity is dissolved.

Foreign entities face a parallel process. If a registered foreign entity does not deliver its biennial report within 60 days after the due date, the Mayor may terminate its registration. The entity gets at least 60 more days’ notice before termination takes effect, during which it can still cure by filing the report and paying everything owed. ⁸ Once termination is effective, the foreign entity loses its authority to do business in D.C.

The Cost of Reinstatement

Reinstatement is available but expensive. A domestic entity applying to reinstate must pay every fee and penalty that was due at the time of dissolution, plus every fee and penalty that would have accumulated during the entire period the entity was dissolved. ⁹ For an entity dissolved for several years, that stacks up: multiple biennial report fees, multiple late fees, and any reinstatement processing charge, all before the DLCP will cancel the dissolution statement and restore active status. Filing on time every two years is far cheaper than climbing out of that hole.

1
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-102.11 – Biennial Report for Mayor
2
Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporations Division Business Registration FAQs
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U.S. Department of the Treasury. Treasury Department Announces Suspension of Enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act Against U.S. Citizens and Domestic Reporting Companies
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporations Division Fees – Business Corporation
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporations Division Fees – Limited Liability Company
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Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection. Corporate Registration
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-106.02 – Procedure and Effect
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-105.11 – Termination of Registration
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 29-106.03 – Reinstatement