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As we reported last week, the FCC adopted its Report and Order establishing the annual regulatory fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026.  Today, the FCC released a Public Notice announcing that those regulatory fees must be paid no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, on September 24, 2026.

In a second Public Notice, the Commission provided more details regarding how to pay those fees.  Fees are due for feeable authorizations granted on or before October 1, 2025.  As in recent years, the fees must be paid electronically through the Commission’s CORES system, which can be found here.  Payments may be made by credit card, debit card, ACH transfer, or wire transfer.  The Commission will not accept payments made by check, money order, or cashier’s check.  There is a $24,999.99 maximum for the use of a credit card.  A larger fee amount cannot be broken into multiple payments of less than $24,999.99 and multiple payments on the same credit card in one day may be aggregated for purposes of hitting that limit.  So those whose fees will exceed $24,999.99 are encouraged to use another payment method.

Early payment is advisable given the large number of submissions to be made on the FCC’s platform in a short period of time, as well as the processing time required for wire transfers or ACH payments, to ensure that payments are processed by the deadline.  Late payments trigger a mandatory 25% penalty, along with interest charges on any unpaid fees.  The FCC will credit partial payments, but any unpaid balances are still subject to the 25% penalty and interest.  Failure to timely pay all regulatory fees can also result in dismissal of pending applications, a stop on all future application processing, and potentially license revocation.

In a third Public Notice issued today, the FCC outlined the procedures licensees should follow if they need to seek relief from regulatory fee obligations by filing a request for waiver, reduction, deferral, or installment payment plan.  Requests citing financial hardship must include supporting documentation sufficient to demonstrate that payment of the fees would impose a financial hardship on the licensee.  Any such filing is due by the payment deadline, as late or unsupported requests are generally denied.