Guides / Deadlines & calendar
UCR Deadlines and the Registration Calendar
Registration opens October 1, pay by December 31, enforcement starts January 1, and public registration for a year closes September 30 of the following year. What is open right now.
Updated November 4, 2026 · 5 min read · sources cited inline
The annual cycle
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| October 1 | Registration for the next year opens. |
| October 1 – December 31 | The normal payment window. |
| December 31 | Last day to pay and be legal on January 1. |
| January 1 | States begin roadside enforcement for the new year. |
| January and June | Two weeks of heightened enforcement — the UCR Awareness Initiative. In 2026: January 11, 2026 – January 17, 2026 and June 7, 2026 – June 13, 2026. |
| March 31 | States finish their mandatory audits for the previous 12 months. |
| September 30 of the following year | Public registration for the year closes. After that, only a state audit can register it. |
What is open right now (November 5, 2026)
- UCR 2027 — open since October 1, 2026; pay by December 31, 2026 (56 days). Enforcement starts January 1, 2027.
- UCR 2026 — past due. Enforcement has been active since January 1, 2026. Still registrable until September 30, 2027.
- UCR 2025 — public registration closed on September 30, 2026. Only a state audit can register it now.
If you miss December 31
The UCR Plan's wording: registration must be paid before January 1 of the registration year; after that the fee is still owed, and the company may be penalised under state law. In practice:
- paying after December 31 is allowed — the system accepts it all year;
- there is no late surcharge from the UCR system itself;
- but every day without a paid registration is a day you are operating out of compliance, and any fine issued in that gap is yours. See penalties.
Registering a past year
You can pay a prior year as long as its public registration is still open — until September 30 of the following year. Fees are the ones that applied to that year, not the current ones. Once closed, the only route is through your base state's audit process.