North Carolina Form CD-479 is the paper annual report that business corporations attach to their state corporate tax return and mail to the Department of Revenue. You complete it with your corporation’s current address, registered agent, officers, and directors, include a $25 fee with your tax payment, and send the whole package to Raleigh by the tax return due date. The form itself is short. The rules around who files it, where it goes, and what happens if you don’t are where corporations tend to stumble.
Who Files CD-479
Under N.C.G.S. ยง 55-16-22, two kinds of corporations owe an annual report: domestic business corporations organized under North Carolina law and foreign business corporations registered to transact business in the state.1North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 55-16-22 – Annual Report The obligation runs every year regardless of revenue.
Several entity types do not use CD-479. Professional corporations organized under Chapter 55B are explicitly exempt from the annual report requirement.2North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 55-16-22 – Annual Report Nonprofit corporations formed under Chapter 55A have no annual report obligation under state law. Limited liability companies and limited partnerships file their own reports on separate forms directly with the Secretary of State, so CD-479 is not the right form for them.
Information to Gather Before You Start
CD-479 is an update, not a from-scratch disclosure. The Secretary of State already has most of this information; your filing confirms or corrects it. Pull the following together before you open the form:
- The exact legal corporate name as registered with the Secretary of State, not a trade name or DBA.
- Your Secretary of State ID number, assigned when the corporation was formed or registered to do business here.
- The street address of your principal office. A P.O. Box will not satisfy this field.
- The name and North Carolina street address of your registered agent.
- The name, title, and business address of each principal officer (president, secretary, treasurer, and similar roles) and each director.
If a director has joined the board or your registered agent has changed since last year, this is the filing that updates the state’s record. Run your entries against the Secretary of State’s online business search before mailing. Mismatched names and stale addresses are the most common reason filings get kicked back.
How to Complete and Submit the Form
Fill in each field on CD-479 with the information above. The form is one page, and every line corresponds to one of the data points you gathered. Sign and date it as an authorized officer.
CD-479 is designed to be attached to your corporate income and franchise tax return: Form CD-405 for C-corporations or Form CD-401S for S-corporations.3North Carolina Department of Revenue. CD-405 C Corporation Tax Return Place CD-479 on the front of the tax return package. Include the $25 annual report fee as part of your total tax payment, with the check or money order payable to the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Mail everything to:
North Carolina Department of Revenue
P.O. Box 25000
Raleigh, NC 27640-0640
The Department of Revenue processes the tax return and forwards the annual report to the Secretary of State for the public record. You do not need to send anything separately to the Secretary of State when you file this way.
Filing Deadline
The annual report is due the same day as your corporate tax return: the 15th day of the fourth month after your fiscal year ends.4North Carolina Department of Revenue. Filing Requirements A calendar-year corporation files by April 15. A corporation with a June 30 fiscal year end files by October 15.
If You Need an Extension
Form CD-419 extends the deadline for CD-405, CD-401S, and CD-418. Its instructions include a line to add the annual report fee to your estimated tax payment, which indicates the extension carries the paper CD-479 along with the tax return. If you later decide to file the report electronically with the Secretary of State instead of on paper, the tax extension does not reach that filing; the report is due by the original deadline through the Secretary of State’s portal.
The Electronic Alternative
Paper is not the only route. Corporations may file the annual report electronically, directly with the Secretary of State, instead of attaching CD-479 to the tax return.3North Carolina Department of Revenue. CD-405 C Corporation Tax Return The Secretary of State’s online portal at sosnc.gov lets you search for your entity and submit the report there.5NC.gov. Manage My Business The online fee is typically $20 rather than $25, and it is paid separately through the portal. If you go electronic, do not also include the annual report fee with your tax return payment.
What Happens If You Don’t File
Filing CD-479 late with a late tax return pulls in the Department of Revenue’s standard penalty structure on the tax itself: a 5% per month failure-to-file penalty capped at 25%, a separate 5% late-payment penalty, interest from the original due date, and a 20% collection assistance fee once a balance remains unpaid more than 60 days after it becomes collectible.6North Carolina Department of Revenue. Penalties and Fees Overview Those penalties apply to the tax, not to the $25 report fee on its own.
The bigger risk sits with the Secretary of State. Delinquency on the annual report is grounds for administrative dissolution of the corporation.7North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina Code 55-14-20 – Administrative Dissolution The Secretary of State must give notice and an opportunity to cure before dissolving, so this does not happen overnight. Once dissolution takes effect, though, the corporation loses its authority to transact business in North Carolina, and contracts, bank accounts, and litigation all get complicated. A $25 filing is cheap insurance against that outcome.