On the INBiz portal, “BER Exempt” means the Indiana Secretary of State has classified that entity as permanently excluded from filing a Business Entity Report. The label is an administrative flag, nothing more. It does not say the business is closed, inactive, in trouble, or tax-exempt with the IRS. It simply tells you the state does not expect a biennial report from this entity and will not penalize it for never filing one.
What the Label Is Telling You
Most Indiana entities have to send the Secretary of State a short informational filing every two years confirming their principal office, registered agent, and officers or directors. When the system marks an entity BER Exempt, the record will not show an upcoming due date for that report. The entity will not receive filing reminders. It will not get a delinquency notice for a missed report. And it will not be administratively dissolved for failing to submit one.
That is the full scope of the designation. It is a classification inside one filing system at one agency. Whether the entity is operating, solvent, in good standing with the IRS, or current on its taxes is a separate question that the label does not answer.
Which Entities Appear as BER Exempt
Indiana’s Uniform Business Organizations Code requires biennial reports from domestic corporations, nonprofit corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, LLPs, and registered foreign entities doing business in the state.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 23-0.5-2-13 – Biennial Report; Contents; Delivery; Statement of Change Some categories of organization sit outside that code entirely, which is why the biennial filing never applies to them:
- Agricultural cooperatives formed under Indiana Code 15-12
- Business trusts formed under Indiana Code 23-5-1
- Insurance companies formed under Indiana Code 27-1-6
- Credit unions formed under Indiana Code 28-7-1
Each of these entity types is organized under its own specialized statute and reports to its own regulator. Insurance companies answer to the Indiana Department of Insurance. Credit unions fall under separate banking law. Agricultural cooperatives have their own channels. Requiring a second biennial update to the Secretary of State would duplicate oversight that already exists elsewhere.
Some religious organizations and entities formed under older Indiana statutes that predate the modern uniform code may also carry the BER Exempt designation, particularly where the governing statute was never brought under the current filing framework.
What BER Exempt Does Not Mean
The label is easy to misread. A few boundaries are worth being explicit about.
It does not mean the entity is tax-exempt. BER Exempt is a Secretary of State classification about one filing. Tax exemption is a determination made by the IRS, and sometimes separately by the Indiana Department of Revenue, about income tax liability. An agricultural cooperative can be BER Exempt and still owe federal and state income tax on its earnings. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed under Indiana Code 23-17 is tax-exempt but still has to file biennial reports, so it would not carry the BER Exempt label.
It also does not mean the entity is inactive or dissolved. Active, operating organizations carry this status every day. And it does not mean the entity has no obligations to the Secretary of State at all.
Obligations That Still Apply
Even an exempt entity has to maintain a registered agent in Indiana. The registered agent is the person or business authorized to receive legal documents and official government correspondence for the entity.2Indiana Business Portal (INBiz). Business Entity Reports If the agent or the registered office address changes, the entity must file a Statement of Change with the Secretary of State. There is no filing fee for that document.3Indiana Secretary of State. Statement of Change of Registered Agent
This matters because going 60 consecutive days without a registered agent can trigger administrative dissolution proceedings, exempt entity or not. The BER exemption protects you from one specific type of lapse. It does not protect you from the agent requirement.
Other changes are handled through their own filings as the triggering event occurs: amending the entity’s name, updating the principal office address, modifying the articles of incorporation, or formally recording changes to the board or the organization’s purpose. Articles of Amendment carry their own fees. These are event-driven filings, not a recurring cycle.
Federal Filings Are a Separate Track
Because many BER Exempt entities are nonprofits, churches, and specialized organizations that look exempt in every direction, it is worth stating plainly that the state label has no bearing on IRS obligations.
Most tax-exempt organizations must file an annual information return with the IRS. Small organizations with annual gross receipts normally at or below $50,000 can file Form 990-N, the brief electronic notice sometimes called the e-Postcard.4Internal Revenue Service. Annual Electronic Filing Requirement for Small Exempt Organizations – Form 990-N (e-Postcard) Larger organizations file Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. The return is due by the 15th day of the fifth month after the organization’s tax year ends, which is May 15 for a calendar-year organization.5Internal Revenue Service. Return Due Dates for Exempt Organizations: Annual Return
Missing the federal return for three consecutive years costs the organization its tax-exempt status automatically, effective on the original due date of the third missed return. There is no appeal; the organization has to submit a fresh application for exemption to get it back.6Internal Revenue Service. Automatic Revocation of Exemption
Since BER Exempt entities get no state reminder cycle, nothing from Indiana will prompt them to handle federal deadlines either. If your organization used to use the biennial report as an informal annual nudge, you will want a separate calendar reminder for the Form 990 due date.