ExplainersZero periods
What a zero-report rule is
Some states want the return for a period in which nothing was collected, and one wants a sworn declaration you write yourself. Here is each shipped state's own rule.
A zero report is the return a state wants for a period in which you collected nothing — no subscribers in that state that month, a line count that went to zero, a registration that opened before the first customer did. Some states require it, some publish nothing about it, and one requires something else entirely.
5
Require the return
1
Require a declaration you write
21
Publish no rule
The declaration states, and where this product stops
A handful of states want more than a return with zeros on it: they want a signed statement, sworn by an officer of the company, that nothing was collected. That is your act and your words. This product surfaces the state’s requirement, quoted, and composes no wording for it — not for these states and not for any other.
“If the commissioner disputes the accuracy of a fee submission or if no fees are submitted by a wireless, wire-line, or packet-based telecommunications service provider, the [provider] shall submit a sworn declaration signed by an officer of the company certifying, under penalty of perjury, that the information provided with the fee submission is true and correct. The sworn declaration must specifically describe and affirm that the 911 fee computation is complete and accurate.”
“fails to provide a sworn declaration within 90 days of notice by the commissioner that the fee submission is disputed, the commissioner may estimate the amount due … and refer that amount for collection under section 16D.04.”
Every shipped state’s position
| State | Zero-report rule |
|---|---|
| AL Alabama | The state publishes no rule. Alabama does not say whether a provider with no connections or no collections in a period must submit an affirmative zero remittance through the carrier portal, or simply has nothing to send. Both research passes reached that absence independently from the statute and from the Board’s rules. What is established is that Ala. Admin. Code r. 585-X-4-.02 requires every submission to carry connection type and count information and the Board’s own certification statement, which the provider makes; the product surfaces that the state requires a certification and never composes wording for it. There is no sworn declaration of the kind Minnesota requires. |
| CA California | The return is filed for a period with nothing collected. |
| CT Connecticut | The state publishes no rule. Connecticut does not state whether a month in which a provider collected nothing still requires a filed remittance form. The form defaults every band to zero and computes a zero total, and the Authority’s order directs each incumbent local exchange carrier, competitive local exchange carrier, wireless carrier and VoIP provider to assess the surcharge monthly with no carve-out for a provider with no subscribers — but that is an implication, not a published rule. There is no state-drafted zero-liability declaration of the Minnesota kind, and none may be composed. |
| DC District of Columbia | The state publishes no rule. The District does not say whether a period with no District lines or no fee collected still requires a filed report. The workbook has no zero-liability box and no separate declaration for one, and its totals compute to zero on empty rows, so a zero report is mechanically submittable — but no District source states that one is required or that it may be skipped. No sworn zero-report declaration exists here to surface, and none may be composed. |
| FL Florida | The state publishes no rule. Whether a month with no Florida service identifiers requires a filed report is unknown. Neither Fla. Stat. §365.172(8) nor Fla. Admin. Code R. 60FF1-5.004 addresses a zero period. Florida does carry an express no-return-required sentence at §365.172(9)(g)5, but it is scoped by its own terms to the prepaid wireless fee and does not extend to the subsection (8) fee this record covers; the absence of a parallel sentence in subsection (8) is not evidence either way and is not rendered here as a rule. |
| GA Georgia | The state publishes no rule. Georgia does not state whether a return is required for a month with no charge collected. The Department’s filing workflow opens with a question asking whether the filer had transactions during the period, which suggests a no-liability period is handled inside the ordinary return flow rather than exempted from it, but neither the Department’s instructions nor Policy Bulletin FET-2018-01 says a return is required for a zero period, and both research passes reached that absence independently. There is no sworn or declared zero-report language of the kind Minnesota requires. |
| HI Hawaii | The state publishes no rule. Hawaii does not state whether a return must be filed for a period with no Hawaii connections or nothing collected. The statutory duty is phrased as remitting “the surcharges collected”, with no separate instruction to file a null return, and the return’s instructions address no zero scenario and offer no alternative statement in its place. The return does carry a declaration on its face, which is the state’s own printed wording and the provider’s own act; no counterpart may be composed for a zero period or for any other. |
| IA Iowa | The state publishes no rule. Iowa states neither that a quarter with nothing collected must be filed nor that it may be skipped. The form offers no zero-liability box and no declaration, and its own wording — “Enclosed, please find the surcharge collected for the ___ quarter … In the amount of $___” — presumes money travels with it. No sworn or attested zero-report language exists anywhere in Iowa Code ch. 34A, and none may be composed. |
| IL Illinois | The state publishes no rule. Illinois does not state whether a remittance form must be filed for a month with no Illinois connections or nothing collected. The nearest statutory language is an accrual carve-out — a carrier does not remit what it has billed but not collected — which answers a different question. The agency’s E-Pay manual tells filers to complete every field “unless the field is zero”, which anticipates zero values on the form without making a zero filing mandatory. No sworn or declaratory zero-report language exists in Illinois for this filing, and none may be composed. |
| IN Indiana | The state publishes no rule. Whether a month with no collected fees still requires a filed remittance is unknown. The only reporting duty in the chapter is IC 36-8-16.7-33(b)’s at-least-annual report of amounts collected and remitted, which on its face admits a zero figure without saying that a zero period must be filed, and no research pass could see whether the remittance service itself requires a submission each cycle. Indiana publishes no sworn or signed zero-report declaration anywhere in IC 36-8-16.7, and this product composes none. |
| KS Kansas | The state publishes no rule. Kansas does not state whether a month with no fees collected still requires a filed return. The statute attaches the return duty to “each such remittance” of fees collected and says nothing about a month with nothing to remit, and no agency guidance resolves it either way. The workbook’s Total Fees Remitted field would mechanically accept a zero, which is a property of a spreadsheet rather than a rule and is not rendered as one here. No sworn or declaratory zero-report language exists in Kansas statute, and none may be composed. |
| MA Massachusetts | The state publishes no rule. Massachusetts does not state whether a provider with no surcharge-eligible lines in a month must still file the monthly report. The statutory reporting duty is unconditional on its face — it carries no collected-amount threshold — and the template has no zero-liability box and no instruction for one, so the ordinary template is the only vehicle a zero month could travel on. No agency publication says in so many words that a zero month must be filed or may be skipped. The template’s declaration is the Commonwealth’s own printed wording, signed by the provider; nothing may be composed to accompany it. |
| MD Maryland | The state publishes no rule. Maryland does not state whether a monthly filing is required when a provider has no 9-1-1-accessible services or collected nothing for the month. The workbook has no zero-liability checkbox and no declaration field; its per-county rows default to zero and compute a $0 total, so a $0 form is mechanically submittable, but no source says a filing is mandatory in a no-liability month. |
| ME Maine | The state publishes no rule. Maine does not state whether a period with nothing collected still requires a submitted form. The statute frames the duty as remitting revenues collected and requires supporting data of providers required to remit, which reads as contingent on having revenue to remit without saying so. The form carries no zero or not-applicable line. No sworn or statutory zero-liability declaration exists in Maine, and none may be composed. |
| MI Michigan | The state publishes no rule. Michigan does not state whether Form 5013 must be filed for a quarter in which no state 9-1-1 charges were collected. Line 12 of the form reads “Enter the total payment enclosed with the return. Enter $0.00 if you are not including payment,” which implies the form is still submitted when nothing is owed, but that is an implication rather than a published rule. There is no sworn-declaration requirement of the Minnesota kind. |
| MN Minnesota | A declaration the provider writes and signs. The state’s own words are on its page. |
| MS Mississippi | The state publishes no rule. Mississippi does not say whether a period with no collections still requires a filed NG911 return. The act requires a return each period and says nothing about a zero period, and neither Department notice addresses one. The act directs registration and payment procedures to substantially coincide with the state’s sales and use tax chapter, which would ordinarily answer the question, but neither research pass read that chapter’s text, so nothing is recorded. There is no declaration or attestation language attached to this charge, and none may be composed for it. |
| NC North Carolina | The state publishes no rule. North Carolina does not say whether a filing is required for a period with no service charges collected, or on what document one would travel. The statute is silent, the administrative rules are silent, and the form carries no zero or no-activity box and no negative declaration beyond its ordinary attestation line. Both research passes searched all three places independently and found nothing either way. The route to an answer is the Board’s own published contact. |
| NH New Hampshire | The state publishes no rule. New Hampshire states neither that a month with no New Hampshire access lines or nothing collected must still be reported nor that it may be skipped. DESC 1 carries no zero-liability box and no declaration for this class of remitter. The notarized low-volume exemption certificate that does exist belongs to prepaid wireless sellers, a different remitter class, and no counterpart may be composed for this one. |
| NJ New Jersey | The return is filed for a period with nothing collected. |
| RI Rhode Island | The state publishes no rule. Rhode Island states neither that a month with no liability must be reported nor that it may be skipped. What Form E911 does carry is the ordinary perjury declaration over whatever the provider files — “Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, it is true, accurate and complete.” That is the provider’s own declaration; there is no state-drafted zero-liability statement of the Minnesota kind, and none may be composed. |
| SD South Dakota | The return is filed for a period with nothing collected. |
| TN Tennessee | The state publishes no rule. Tennessee does not state in so many words that a period with no liability still requires a filed return. Both research passes inferred that it does — one from the instructions’ minimum late-filing penalty, which applies even where the return reflects no tax due, and the other from ordinary registered-dealer practice — and neither found any text exempting a dealer from filing. No standalone zero-report form exists and no declaration specific to a zero period exists. The return does carry the state’s own penalties-of-perjury declaration above the taxpayer signature line, which is the provider’s act; the product surfaces that the state requires it and never composes wording for it. |
| TX Texas | The return is filed for a period with nothing collected. |
| UT Utah | The state publishes no rule. Utah does not state whether a return is required for a period with no liability. Neither research pass found statutory or agency text answering it, and neither found any sworn-declaration requirement anywhere in the sections governing these charges. The charges ride the same portal filing cycle as the provider’s sales and use tax return, and a Utah sales tax account carries a standing assigned frequency, which structurally suggests a return each period — but that is inference rather than a sourced rule, and this record carries the gap rather than shipping the inference. |
| VA Virginia | The return is filed for a period with nothing collected. |
| WI Wisconsin | The state publishes no rule. Whether a month with no fee imposed still requires a filed return is unknown. The closest text is Wis. Admin. Code §PSC 172.06(1) — “Every person registered or required to be registered for the fee shall electronically file a return” — an unconditional filing duty on its face with no zero-liability carve-out stated, and it is recorded here as the text it is rather than rendered as an answer. All three research passes reached the same absence. Wisconsin publishes no zero-report form and no declaration of any kind for this fee, and this product composes none. |
What the product does with it
A zero period is a period like any other: it is opened, it is priced — to zero — and it appears on the calendar with the state’s own deadline. Where the state publishes no rule, the page says so rather than guessing, and the decision stays yours. Nothing about a zero period is filed, sent, or signed by this product.
This page describes what the states publish and what this product does with it. It is not advice, it renders no judgment on any filing, and it makes no determination about which states are yours — that determination is the provider’s. Every state, shipped or named.