LLP annual filing: Form 11 and Form 8 explained.

What is LLP annual filing?

LLP annual filing refers to the two returns every Limited Liability Partnership registered under the LLP Act, 2008 must file with the Registrar of Companies each financial year — regardless of turnover, profitability, or whether the LLP transacted at all. It's separate from, and in addition to, the LLP's income-tax return. The two forms are Form 11 (Annual Return) and Form 8 (Statement of Account & Solvency).

Unlike a company, an LLP's financial year always runs 1 April to 31 March, and there's no AGM in the picture — both forms are timed off the year-end itself, which actually makes the LLP filing calendar simpler to track than a company's. The consequence of missing it, however, is not simpler at all: LLP late fees run per day of delay with no cap, which is the single most important thing to flag to a client.

The two annual forms, and what they cover

Both forms are filed on the MCA portal against the LLP's LLPIN. Here's what each one is and when it falls due:

Form 11 is essentially a snapshot of who the partners are: names, designated-partner status, contribution amounts, and any changes to the partner roster during the year. It's filed even if nothing changed — a "no change" Form 11 is still mandatory.

Form 8 is heavier: Part A is a solvency declaration by the designated partners (that the LLP is able to pay its debts as they fall due), and Part B is a summary Statement of Account & Solvency including the balance sheet and statement of income & expenditure. Where the LLP crosses the prescribed audit thresholds, Form 8 also carries the auditor's report; below those thresholds, it's certified by the designated partners on unaudited figures.

Verify the exact due-date windows, form versions and current audit thresholds on the MCA portal before finalising a filing calendar — the "within X days" periods and the contribution/turnover thresholds for mandatory audit are both periodically revised.

Worked example — mapping the filing calendar

Every LLP's financial year closes on 31 March. Working the two "within" periods off that fixed year-end (say, FY 2025–26 ending 31 March 2026):

• Form 11 (annual return) — due within 60 days of year-end, i.e. by 30 May 2026.
• Six months from year-end falls on 30 September 2026; Form 8 (statement of account & solvency) is due within 30 days of that date, i.e. by 30 October 2026.

Because both dates are anchored to the fixed 31 March year-end — with no AGM to first schedule and no AGM-extension risk — the LLP filing calendar is identical for every LLP in the country in a given year. That makes it easy to build once into a standing compliance calendar and forget the individual dates entirely.

(Illustrative only — always confirm the current "within X days" windows on the MCA portal for the year in question, including any notified extensions.)

Late fees — uncapped, and that's the real risk

This is where LLP filings diverge sharply from company ROC filings, and it's worth spelling out to every LLP client: the additional fee for a late Form 11 or Form 8 accrues per day of delay, with no maximum cap. A company's late ROC filing fee, by contrast, is structured with defined slabs that top out at a multiple of the normal fee. An LLP's does not — the per-day charge keeps running for as long as the form stays unfiled, which means an LLP that has gone several years without filing can face an additional fee far larger than anything a similarly-delinquent company would owe.

This uncapped structure is precisely why LLPs that go quiet for a few years often face a filing bill that shocks the partners when they finally come back to regularise — and why a CA advising an LLP client should treat "we haven't filed in a while" as urgent, not routine. The MCA has, from time to time, run amnesty-style schemes offering reduced additional fees for a limited window to clear such backlogs; check whether one is currently open before quoting the full uncapped fee to a client with old defaults.

Do not quote an exact per-day rate or total late fee to a client from memory — pull the current fee structure from the MCA portal for the specific delay period, since it has been revised and the calculation compounds daily.

Practical notes for a practicing CA

• Anchor every LLP's filing calendar to 31 March — there's no AGM date to first confirm, unlike a company, so both due dates can be locked in at the start of the year for the entire client roster at once.
• Treat "we're behind on LLP filings" as urgent, not routine — because the additional fee is uncapped and compounds daily, the cost of delay in getting an LLP compliant again only grows, and watching for periodic MCA amnesty windows can materially reduce a backlog client's bill.
• Re-test the audit threshold every year before assuming Form 8 can go out on unaudited figures — contribution or turnover growth can pull an LLP into mandatory audit territory it wasn't in the previous year.
• Don't conflate Form 8's MCA certification with an income-tax audit — they sit under different statutes with different thresholds; check both independently.
• File Form 11 even when nothing changed — a nil-change year is not an exemption, and skipping it starts the uncapped late-fee clock just the same as any other year.
• Keep partner contribution and capital account records current through the year — Form 11 and Form 8 both draw on numbers that are painful to reconstruct at year-end if the LLP's books haven't been kept current.

If you're tracking LLP due dates for a client roster in a spreadsheet, the uncapped per-day fee is exactly what makes a missed reminder expensive. TatvaBooks keeps books current through the year — so the balance sheet and income & expenditure figures Form 8 needs are ready when the six-month window opens, not reconstructed after the fact. See the Practice plan for CA firms managing multiple LLP clients, or book a walkthrough.

Frequently asked questions