Updated August 12, 2026. Quick answer. To dissolve an LLC in North Carolina you file the Articles of Dissolution of Limited Liability Company, and it can be filed online or on paper. Fee: $30. North Carolina requires no tax-clearance certificate to accept the filing. Until that filing is accepted the LLC still legally exists — and whatever North Carolina charges an LLC each year keeps accruing against it.
What you file in North Carolina, and what it costs
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Filing | Articles of Dissolution of Limited Liability Company, Form L-07, filed with the NC Secretary of State, Business Registration Division |
| Fee | $30 |
| How you can file | both — SOS page: file online through the Secretary of State’s website or mail Form L-07 to the Business Registration Division. |
| Tax clearance | not required |
| Statute | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 57D-6-09 (articles of dissolution); § 57D-6-01 (events causing dissolution); § 57D-6-06 (administrative dissolution) |
Single-step filing. SOS ‘Closing a NC Business’ page: Form L-07 is ‘used to dissolve an LLC entity upon the records of the Secretary of State’s Office.’ Mail to: NC Secretary of State, Business Registration Division, PO Box 29622, Raleigh, NC 27626-0622, or file online. Statutory content requirements: NCGS 57D-6-09 (name, effective date of dissolution, any other information the LLC elects to include). Note: SOS will not accept Articles of Dissolution while a prior-year annual report ($200, due April 15) is outstanding (per secondary reporting; confirm at filing).
On the fee. SOS page lists $30.00 filing fee for Form L-07. Online filing adds a small electronic-payment processing charge; optional expedite $100 (24-hour) / $200 (same-day) per secondary reporting of the SOS fee tiers.
Tax clearance in North Carolina
No tax-clearance certificate is required to file in North Carolina. That is not the same as owing nothing — it means the state will accept the filing without a revenue-agency sign-off first.
No tax clearance is required before filing Articles of Dissolution: NCGS 57D-6-09 imposes no clearance condition, and the SOS’s own closing-a-business page describes filing L-07 with no Department of Revenue prerequisite. NCDOR expects Form NC-BN and final returns separately (see final_tax_steps) but does not gate the SOS filing.
Do not just walk away
Closing the business is not closing the entity. Administrative dissolution by the Secretary of State: after grounds (annual report 60+ days late, fees unpaid 60+ days, no registered agent 60+ days), SOS mails notice; if not cured within 60 days SOS administratively dissolves the LLC
NCGS 57D-6-06(a): grounds include failure to pay fees ‘within 60 days after they are due,’ failure to deliver the annual report ‘on or before the 60th day after it is due’ (LLC annual report: $200, due April 15), and no registered agent/office for 60+ days. 57D-6-06(b): ‘If, within 60 days after the notice is mailed, the LLC does not correct each ground… the Secretary of State shall administratively dissolve the LLC.’ The unpaid $200 annual-report obligation for the final year remains a barrier to voluntary dissolution/reinstatement. Statute text: https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_57D/Article_6.html
Closing the tax accounts
File Form NC-BN (Out-of-Business Notification) to close state tax accounts; file final returns marked final; final NC-3 with W-2/1099s within 30 days of closing if there were employees
NCDOR: Form NC-BN ‘is used for taxpayers who no longer do business in North Carolina’ and closes sales & use, withholding, franchise/corporate income and other registrations (https://www.ncdor.gov/documents/files/nc-bn-out-business-notification). NCDOR withholding FAQ: within 30 days of closing, file Form NC-3 with required W-2/1099 statements.
Before you file
- The order the steps go in — internal decision, creditors and distributions, the state filing, the final returns, then the registrations you are still paying for.
- What an LLC costs to keep alive in North Carolina — the bill that keeps running until this filing lands.
- What dissolution costs in all 51 jurisdictions — the fee, the filing route and the tax-clearance flag, side by side.
- What happens if you simply stop filing — administrative dissolution is the walk-away trap happening to you rather than by you.
We do not form or dissolve LLCs, sell filing services, or take a commission from anyone who does. No advertising appears on this page and we earn nothing from it.
Sources and limits
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 57D-6-09 (articles of dissolution); § 57D-6-01 (events causing dissolution); § 57D-6-06 (administrative dissolution). Fee, form and procedure read 2026-08-10 from the official source.
Research note. Fee/form from the SOS’s own closing-a-business page; statute text from ncleg.gov (official legislature site). One NCDOR URL (ncdor.gov/taxes-forms/business-registration/closing-business) returned 404; NC-BN document page used instead.
Honest gap. This page covers the state filing that ends the entity, its fee and its tax-clearance condition. It does not cover creditor claims against a dissolved LLC, disputes between members, the tax treatment of a final distribution, reinstatement after an administrative dissolution, or withdrawal from any other state you registered in — each of those has its own rules. General information, not legal or tax advice. See methodology and corrections.