How to Dissolve a Business in Indiana: 2026 Step-by-Step Guide

Step 4: Notify creditors and settle outstanding debts

Before any money goes to owners, identify every known debt, notify every known creditor in writing, and pay or adequately reserve funds for each obligation.

Send direct written notice to every creditor—vendors, landlords, lenders, and service providers. Give them a clear deadline to submit claims, which must be no fewer than 60 days after the effective date of the written notice.

For unknown creditors, a dissolved LLC can publish a notice of dissolution and request that claimants present claims by a stated deadline. Publication is not mandatory, but it establishes a claims cutoff and limits future liability. Dissolved corporations have an equivalent option, which starts a two-year bar on unknown claims.

Under Indiana Code § 23-18-9-6, LLC assets must go to creditors first—by payment or adequate reserves—before anything is distributed to owners. Reversing that sequence is one of the fastest ways dissolution creates a personal liability problem rather than solving one.

Step 5: Cancel licenses, permits, and registrations

Articles of dissolution do not automatically cancel any license, permit, or tax registration. Cancel each one separately.

• Indiana DOR sales tax permit and withholding account: Close through BC-100 and final returns as covered in Step 3.
• Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) unemployment account: File State Form 46800 (SUTA Account Termination or Transfer Request) within 30 days of your final decision to cease operations. Keep filing quarterly wage reports until DWD confirms your account is terminated or inactivated.
• Local city or county business licenses: Contact the issuing municipality directly. There is no central Indiana portal for local license cancellations.
• Professional or industry-specific licenses: Contact the applicable licensing board, such as the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency.
• Assumed names (DBAs): LLCs and corporations cancel an assumed name by filing a Cancellation of Assumed Business Name form with the Indiana Secretary of State at no charge. Sole proprietors cancel with the county recorder's office where the DBA was filed.
• Registered agent: Keep your registered agent service active until the dissolution is fully complete. Legal notices, tax correspondence, and creditor claims can still arrive after your articles of dissolution are filed.

Open licenses and tax registrations keep generating renewal notices, compliance demands, and filing obligations, even after the entity is dissolved with the SOS. Each open account is an independent obligation.

Step 6: File final federal and state tax returns

File your regular tax returns with both the IRS and the Indiana DOR. Check the "final return" box on each—that single checkbox tells both agencies to stop expecting future filings.

You may have additional federal obligations if the business had employees.

• File final Form 941 or 944 for the quarter of final wage payments and check the "Final return" box.
• Issue W-2s to all employees by the due date of your final Form 941 or 944—not the standard January 31 deadline.
• File Form W-3 to transmit Copy A to the Social Security Administration.
• Issue 1099s to contractors if applicable.
• Make all outstanding federal payroll tax deposits before filing. Failure to withhold or deposit employee income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes can trigger the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, assessed personally against owners and officers.

File your final Indiana income or business tax return through INTIME. You can submit the final tax return for all Indiana tax types together with IT-966 and BC-100. The Indiana DOR may accept a copy of federal Form 966 in lieu of its own notification form for corporations. LLCs and partnerships should still file IT-966 directly with the Indiana DOR, since they're not required to file federal Form 966.