Starting and running a nonprofit in Vermont

Forming your nonprofit corporation

The state creates your organization; the IRS separately recognizes it as tax-exempt. This is the state part.

Where you file

Vermont Secretary of State, Business Services Division, 128 State Street, Montpelier, VT 05633. Online registration is preferred, usually takes less than 1 business day and costs nothing extra; filings by mail take 7-10 business days.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Form

Articles of Incorporation for a domestic nonprofit corporation (11B V.S.A. § 2.02).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Filing fee

$155.00 (11B V.S.A. § 1.22).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Biennial report

Every two years, starting the first year after you register, between January 1 and April 1. All filings are made online (you can still choose to print and mail a check at the payment screen).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Biennial report fee

$35.00 if you paid any officer, director or employee in the prior calendar year; $0.00 if you didn't (11B V.S.A. §§ 1.22, 16.22).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Then get your EIN and apply to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status: the formation stage walks through both.

Registering to ask for donations

Many states want charities to register before they ask residents for money. Here's what this state says.

Do you have to register?

No, charities themselves don't register. Under Vermont's Charitable Solicitations Law (9 V.S.A. § 2471 et seq.), paid fundraisers for charities must file a notice of solicitation with the Attorney General's Office before each campaign and a financial report after it. The Attorney General's Office regulates all paid charitable solicitation in Vermont or directed to Vermonters.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

If you hire a fundraiser

Before soliciting in Vermont, a paid fundraiser must have a written contract with your charity that states the minimum percentage of gross receipts you'll get and carries your authorized signature, and it must get your written approval of its solicitation wording and scripts. Your own bona fide officers and employees aren't paid fundraisers (9 V.S.A. §§ 2471, 2472).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

State tax exemption

IRS approval doesn't automatically exempt you from state taxes. Here's how this state handles them.

Income tax

If the IRS has determined you're exempt from federal income tax, you don't file a Vermont corporate income tax return. If you have unrelated business income subject to federal tax and more than $1,000 of gross receipts in Vermont in the tax year, you file Form CO-411, Vermont Corporate Income Tax Return, and pay the tax.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Sales tax

Only federally designated 501(c)(3)s are normally exempt from Vermont sales tax on purchases; other tax-exempt nonprofits aren't. First register for a Vermont Business Tax Account, then fill in Form S-3, Vermont Sales Tax Exemption Certificate for Resale and Exempt Organizations, and give it to the seller when you buy. If your 501(c)(3)'s sales of tangible personal property were over $20,000 in the prior year, you must collect and remit sales tax on those sales this year.

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Your board

The smallest board the state's nonprofit law allows. Many charities choose more.

Minimum directors

Three or more, with the number set in or under your articles of incorporation or bylaws (11B V.S.A. § 8.03).

Official source · checked October 22, 2026

Every year

• Vermont: no charity registration with the Attorney General

  Vermont does not require charities to register with the Attorney General. Paid fundraisers that solicit for charities have their own rules, so check before you hire one. If you solicit in other states, check their rules too. Confirm with the Vermont Attorney General.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

• Vermont Secretary of State: nonprofit biennial report

  Vermont nonprofit corporations file a report with the Secretary of State every two years, between January 1 and April 1. The first one is due in the year after the nonprofit was formed (or, for an out-of-state nonprofit, the year after it was authorized in Vermont), and then every two years after that. The fee is $35 if any officer, director, or employee was paid in the prior calendar year, and $0 if no one was paid. Confirm with the Vermont Secretary of State.

  Official source · checked October 17, 2026

Federal deadlines (the Form 990 family) depend on your fiscal year and size. The compliance calendar puts them and Vermont's in date order.

Make my Vermont calendar

Who to ask

We don't list a free legal help program for Vermont charities yet. The directory has the programs we know of.