In 2026, no Nebraska LLC owes the Secretary of State a report. Not because of an exemption, but because 2026 is an even-numbered year, and Nebraska's LLC biennial report is only ever due in odd-numbered years. Indiana, covered elsewhere in this series, ties its biennial cycle to each entity's own formation anniversary. Nebraska locks every LLC in the state to the same odd-year clock, regardless of when any individual company formed.
Here's the catch: 2026 was not a quiet year for everyone. Nebraska runs a second, opposite clock for corporations. Every business corporation owed a biennial report and a capital-based occupation tax by March 1, 2026, and any corporation that had not filed by April 15 was administratively dissolved, or had its authority revoked, on April 16, 2026. The accurate version of the headline: as of October 2026, nothing on Nebraska's biennial calendar is still due. LLCs were never due this year. Corporations were, and that window has closed.
1. What the Nebraska Business Entity Search Actually Is
Nebraska's business filings run through the Secretary of State's Corporate & Business Search, free to use with no account. It covers every entity type the office files, plus trade names, trademarks, and service marks in the same index. Most states in this series separate entity records from trademark records. Nebraska does not.
The search offers Starts With, Keyword (match all or any word), Sounds Like, Exact Match, and a lookup by entity account number, each needing at least three letters. Results sort by type or status, the fastest way to separate an active company from a dissolved one with a near-identical name. What is free, and what costs money:
- Free: entity name, type, status, account number, registered agent and office, and the filing history list.
- $0.45 per page: images of filed documents. Filings after March 10, 1999 are generally online within three business days; older ones must be ordered from the office.
- $6.50: an online Certificate of Good Standing, verifiable by a third party for 12 months through a verification ID ($10 for a mailed paper copy).
- $15 per 1,000 records: bulk CSV extracts through the office's Special Requests service.
One change is scheduled. The Secretary of State expects a new online filing system to go live before the end of 2026. Once live, a Nebraska.gov subscription will no longer be needed to search or pull bulk data, but every online filer will need an account, and card payments carry a $1.75 plus 2.49% processing charge, per the office's system FAQ.
2. Two Clocks: Odd Years for LLCs, Even Years for Corporations
Nebraska does not have one biennial cycle. It has two, set by statutes written nearly a century apart, and they alternate.
- LLCs (domestic, foreign, professional): Neb. Rev. Stat. §21-125 requires a biennial report “each odd-numbered year,” delivered between January 1 and April 1. The Secretary of State treats it as delinquent on June 16.
- Nonprofit corporations: §21-19,172 puts them on the same odd-year window, a cycle running since 1999.
- Business and professional corporations (domestic and foreign): §21-301 and §21-304 require a report and occupation tax as of January 1 of each even year, due March 1, delinquent after April 15.
- Limited liability partnerships: an annual report every year, due April 1, delinquent June 16.
The split is historical, not designed. The corporate occupation tax dates to Laws 1913, chapter 240, the source note on §21-301, and has always been an even-year levy. The LLC report sits in the Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, adopted in 2010 (LB888) and amended in 2014 (LB774). The effect is that the Secretary of State's Business Services Division never processes every entity in the same spring.
3. The LLC Odd-Year Cadence and the Nebraska LLC Search
§21-125(c) sets the first-report rule: the first report is due between January 1 and April 1 “of the odd-numbered year following the calendar year in which a limited liability company was formed or a foreign limited liability company was authorized to transact business.” The formation date inside the year does not matter. Only the year does.
| LLC formed or registered in | First report window | Months from Jan 1 of formation year |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 (even) | Jan 1 – Apr 1, 2025 | 12–15 |
| 2025 (odd) | Jan 1 – Apr 1, 2027 | 24–27 |
| 2026 (even) | Jan 1 – Apr 1, 2027 | 12–15 |
| 2027 (odd) | Jan 1 – Apr 1, 2029 | 24–27 |
Unlike Indiana's biennial system, where each entity's formation anniversary sets its personal two-year cycle, Nebraska runs every LLC on one statewide odd-year clock. An LLC formed on January 2, 2025 and one formed on December 30, 2026 owe their first report in the same 2027 window, almost two years apart in age.
The consequence for anyone running a Nebraska LLC search: an LLC formed in an odd year can go more than two years with no report on file and be fully compliant. A blank report history on a young Nebraska LLC is not a red flag. It is the calendar.
The report itself is short. §21-125(a) asks for the company name, the designated office and registered agent addresses, the principal office, and, for a foreign LLC, its home jurisdiction. It does not ask for members, managers, or owners.
4. Nebraska Corporation Search: The Even-Year Occupation Tax
A Nebraska corporation search turns up a different kind of record, because the corporate filing is a report and a tax return at once. Under §21-303, every for-profit corporation registered on January 1 of an even year owes an occupation tax measured by paid-up capital stock. The report under §21-302 must state that capital, plus the names and street addresses of directors and principal officers, including the president, secretary, and treasurer.
The schedule is tiered. It starts at $26 for capital up to $10,000, rises by $20 per $10,000 band to $200 at $100,000, then by $40 per $25,000 band to $600 at $350,000, and reaches $1,330 at $1 million. From $1 million to $10 million it adds $800 per million or fraction. Above that it switches to fixed bands, topping out at $23,990 above $100 million.
The $10 million cliff. At exactly $10 million of paid-up capital the tax is $8,530: $1,330 plus nine $800 increments. One dollar more moves the corporation into the next band, a flat $12,000. That is a $3,470 jump for one dollar of capital.
Foreign corporations pay double, on a different base. Under §21-306, a foreign corporation's tax is measured by the value of property it employs in Nebraska, at double the domestic schedule, so the minimum is $52 and the cap is $30,000.
The January 1 edge case. Because the tax attaches to corporations registered on January 1 of the even year, a corporation incorporated in February 2026 owes nothing until 2028. One incorporated in 2025 owed in March 2026.
The full fee picture across both clocks, from the Secretary of State's Forms and Fee Information page and the cited statutes (accessed October 2026):
| Filing | Online | Paper | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLC certificate of organization | $100 | $110 | §21-192(1)(a) |
| Foreign LLC certificate of authority | $100 + $10 certificate | $110 + $10 | §21-192(1)(a) |
| LLC biennial report (odd years) | $25 | $30 | §21-192(1) |
| Corporation articles of incorporation | $100 | $110 | SOS fee schedule |
| Corporation report (even years) | Occupation tax: $26–$23,990 domestic; $52–$30,000 foreign | §§21-303, 21-306 | |
| Proof of publication | $25 | $30 | SOS fee schedule |
| Reinstatement within 5 years | $30, plus back reports, fees, and any interest | SOS fee schedule | |
| Late reinstatement (after 5 years) | $500 | §21-192(5) | |
5. The Publication Rule: A Paper Trail Outside the Register
Nebraska still requires new companies to announce themselves in print, a requirement Colorado and Wyoming do not impose. §21-193 requires notice of an LLC's organization to run for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper near its designated office. §21-2,229 imposes the same rule on corporations, and the corporate notice must show the number of authorized shares and the name and street address of each incorporator. Amendments, mergers, and dissolutions trigger it again.
Proof of publication is then filed with the Secretary of State. Both statutes include a cure clause: a notice published late still validates the company's earlier acts. For an investigator, the corporate notice is the useful part. Incorporators' names reach the state's filing history through it, even though the search summary never shows them.
6. Missed Filings: Delinquency, Dissolution, and Reinstatement
Both clocks end the same way, on different dates. The Secretary of State's reinstatement page fixes the latest cut-offs: LLCs and nonprofits that missed the 2025 report were dissolved, or had foreign authority revoked, on June 17, 2025. Corporations that missed the 2026 occupation tax were dissolved or revoked on April 16, 2026, the date §21-313 sets in statute.
The LLC statute, §21-151, allows dissolution 60 days after the due date plus a 60-day cure period after notice; in practice the office publishes one delinquency date, June 16, and dissolves the next day. The corporate statute leaves no room: miss April 15, and dissolution happens on April 16.
Dissolution is not death. §21-151(d) says a dissolved LLC “continues in existence” but may only wind up, and the Secretary of State warns that it “may lose its limited liability status and name.” Reinstatement depends on type and time:
- Domestic LLCs and corporations, within 5 years: $30 plus missed reports, fees or taxes. Under §21-152(e), an LLC's reinstatement relates back to the dissolution date.
- After 5 years: late reinstatement at $500, with a statement that reinstatement is not a fraud on the public (§21-152(c)).
- Foreign LLCs: cannot reinstate. They re-qualify with a new certificate of authority.
- LLPs: may reinstate only within 2 years.
One consequence sits outside the Secretary of State's office. §21-312 makes unpaid occupation tax the “first and best lien” on a corporation's property, recordable with the county clerk or register of deeds. A lender looking at a corporation that lapsed in April 2026 should check county lien records too.
7. How to Run a Nebraska Business Search, and What to Check
- Open the Corporate & Business Search, the same tool most people reach through a Nebraska secretary of state business search. No login required.
- Start with Keyword (Match All), not Exact Match. Exact Match needs the full name including the corporate ending.
- Sort by status to separate active entities from dissolved ones with the same name.
- Read the entity type first. It tells you which clock applies: LLC or nonprofit, odd years; corporation, even years; LLP, every year. Applying the wrong one produces a false gap every time.
- Check the history against that clock. An LLC formed in an odd year can show no report for up to 27 months and be compliant.
- Treat an April 16, 2026 or June 17, 2025 status change as a cohort event, the statewide dissolution date for that cycle, not an entity-specific action.
- Buy the corporate report image ($0.45 per page) for directors and officers, and the publication proof for incorporators.
- Order a Certificate of Good Standing ($6.50 online) and pass the verification ID, not a PDF, to whoever relies on it.
8. Worked Example: A Nebraska LLC and Its Corporate Parent
Two named illustrative companies: “Platte Valley Grain Logistics LLC,” a Lincoln-area agricultural logistics LLC, and its stated parent, “Sandhills Ag Holdings, Inc.” Both are illustrative, used only for this walkthrough; neither is a real, currently registered entity.
Step 1, the LLC search. In October 2026, a regional lender verifying a borrower searches “Platte Valley Grain Logistics.” One match: status Active, registered agent listed, certificate of organization filed March 2025, proof of publication filed April 2025, no biennial report.
Step 2, the cadence check. The LLC formed in 2025. Under §21-125(c), its first report is due January 1 to April 1, 2027. No report in October 2026 is exactly what a compliant record looks like. The lender diaries a re-check for after June 16, 2027.
Step 3, the ownership gap. The record names a registered agent and an office. It names no member or manager. The loan application says the LLC is wholly owned by Sandhills Ag Holdings, Inc. The register cannot confirm that.
Step 4, the corporation search. Sandhills Ag Holdings, incorporated in 2019, shows reports in 2020, 2022, 2024, and 2026. The 2026 report image lists the president, secretary, and treasurer and states paid-up capital of $250,000, which puts its occupation tax at $440 under §21-303. It filed in February 2026, so it escaped the April 16 dissolution batch.
Step 5, what was proven. Two active entities, compliant histories, and the parent's officers. Not proven: that the parent owns the LLC, or who owns the parent. A Nebraska corporate report lists officers and directors, not shareholders.
9. What the Record Proves for KYB and Supplier Onboarding
| Question | LLC record | Corporation record |
|---|---|---|
| Exists and active? | Yes | Yes |
| Registered agent, principal office | Yes | Yes |
| Directors and officers | No | Yes, in the report image |
| Capital or property figure | No | Paid-up capital (domestic); Nebraska property (foreign) |
| Members, shareholders, beneficial owners | No | No |
| Organizers or incorporators | Via publication notice | Via publication notice |
The Secretary of State's business pages still point filers to the federal beneficial ownership report, but FinCEN's March 2025 interim final rule removed that obligation for companies formed in the United States. For a Nebraska-formed LLC, no public or federal register names its owners. That is why a legal owner, a director, and a beneficial owner have to be checked as three separate facts, and why an Active status is never an ownership answer in KYB verification.
When the borrower in the worked example sits in a chain that runs through Delaware or overseas, the Nebraska record stops at the state line. Zephira's ownership and UBO due diligence resolves that chain across 640M companies in 220 countries and territories (zephira.ai/coverage/, Q3 2026), so the parent on a loan application traces to a person rather than to another registered agent's address.
The two clocks also set the re-check rhythm. A Nebraska LLC's status can change on June 17 of an odd year; a corporation's on April 16 of an even year. A one-time pull at onboarding misses both, the gap company monitoring closes, and the reason registry data freshness matters more in biennial states.
10. Nebraska vs. Its Covered Neighbors
Wyoming charges an annual license tax of $60 or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets, whichever is greater, and dissolves an entity that has not filed within 60 days of its anniversary-month due date, per the Wyoming Secretary of State. Colorado charges $25 a year for its periodic report, up from $10 since July 1, 2024, per a June 2024 Colorado Secretary of State announcement. A Nebraska LLC pays $25 every two years.
| Nebraska | Colorado | Wyoming | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Every 2 years (LLCs odd, corporations even) | Every year | Every year |
| Due date set by | Statewide calendar | Anniversary month | Anniversary month |
| LLC charge | $25 online | $25 | $60 minimum |
| Corporation charge | $26–$23,990 by paid-up capital | $25 | $60 minimum, by Wyoming assets |
| Publication on formation | Yes, 3 weeks | No | No |
The comparison holds at the minimum and breaks above it. A Nebraska LLC is the cheapest of the three to keep alive, $12.50 a year. A Nebraska corporation with $1 million of paid-up capital pays $1,330 every two years, $665 a year, where a Colorado corporation pays $25. In Nebraska, entity type decides the bill.
Related state guides:
- Colorado Business Entity Search
- Wyoming Business Entity Search and How to Verify a Wyoming LLC
- Indiana Business Entity Search (a different biennial model: anniversary-based, not statewide odd-year)
- Secretary of State Business Entity Search: all states
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Nebraska business entity search free?
Yes, with no account. Document images cost $0.45 per page and an online Certificate of Good Standing costs $6.50.
Is a Nebraska LLC biennial report due in 2026?
No. §21-125 puts LLC reports in odd years only. The next window is January 1 to April 1, 2027.
Do Nebraska corporations file in 2026?
Yes. Corporations file a report and occupation tax in even years, due March 1, delinquent after April 15. The 2026 window has closed; corporations that missed it were dissolved or revoked on April 16, 2026.
How much is the Nebraska LLC biennial report fee?
$25 online or $30 on paper, under §21-192(1).
How much is the Nebraska corporation occupation tax?
It scales with paid-up capital: $26 up to $10,000, $1,330 at $1 million, $23,990 above $100 million. Foreign corporations pay double on Nebraska property value, from $52 to a $30,000 cap.
When is a Nebraska LLC biennial report delinquent?
Due April 1 of the odd year, delinquent June 16, per the Secretary of State. LLCs that missed the 2025 report were dissolved on June 17, 2025.
When is a new Nebraska LLC's first report due?
Between January 1 and April 1 of the odd year after the calendar year it formed. An LLC formed anytime in 2025 or 2026 files first in 2027.
Can a Nebraska LLC search show the owner?
No. The record and report list the registered agent and office addresses, not members or managers.
Does a Nebraska corporation search show officers?
The biennial report does: §21-302 requires directors and principal officers, including the president, secretary, and treasurer. Shareholders are not listed.
Can a dissolved Nebraska company be reinstated?
Domestic LLCs and corporations can reinstate within five years for $30 plus back filings, and later through late reinstatement at $500. Foreign LLCs must re-qualify instead.
Does Nebraska require new businesses to publish a notice?
Yes. LLCs (§21-193) and corporations (§21-2,229) publish for three successive weeks in a legal newspaper and file proof with the Secretary of State.
Does the Nebraska secretary of state business search include trademarks?
Yes. The same database covers entities, trade names, trademarks, and service marks.
How is Nebraska's biennial system different from Indiana's?
Nebraska runs every LLC on one statewide odd-year cycle and every corporation on the even-year cycle. Indiana ties each entity's deadline to its own formation anniversary month.