California LLC filing: $90 to the Secretary of State, $800 to everyone's surprise

Every figure on this page comes from the California Secretary of State’s own fee schedule or the Franchise Tax Board. The filing fees are the cheap and boring part of a California LLC, which is why so many cost guides stop there and leave readers with a badly wrong number.

Forming a California LLC costs $90 in filing fees and $890 in the first year, because the $800 tax arrives in month four.

Naming the company

A California LLC’s name must be distinguishable from other names on the Secretary of State’s record and must contain a designator such as “LLC” or “limited liability company.” A name reservation is available for a small fee and holds a name for 60 days.

Forming the LLC

Formation is a single filing with the Secretary of State.

The Articles of Organization cost $70, and the Statement of Information adds $20 within 90 days.

Form LLC-1, the Articles of Organization, costs $70 through the state’s online filing portal or by mail. Filing in person adds a handling fee, and California offers preclearance and expedited service tiers that carry substantial surcharges, so confirm the current service options before paying for speed. Amendments and restated articles run $30 each.

Within 90 days of registering, the LLC files Form LLC-12, the Statement of Information, for $20, and then files it again every two years. That filing discloses the managers or members, which is the privacy point on the structure and cost page. An out-of-state LLC registering to do business in California files Form LLC-5, and the same $800 obligation attaches once it registers.

The registered agent

Every California LLC must name an agent for service of process with a California street address, and the agent’s information appears on the public record. You can serve as your own agent if you have a California address, which puts that address in a public database, or use a commercial agent for a separate annual fee.

The $800, and the exemption that no longer exists

Here is the correction that matters most, because the internet is full of the old rule.

The first-year $800 exemption expired. An LLC formed today owes $800 in its first year.

California briefly waived the $800 minimum franchise tax for an LLC’s first taxable year, for companies organized on or after January 1, 2021 and before January 1, 2024. That window has closed. An LLC formed in 2024, 2025, or 2026 owes the $800 for its first year like any other. Guides still promising a free first year are describing a rule that no longer applies.

The first payment is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after formation, paid on Form 3522, and after that the tax is due April 15 each year. The annual return is Form 568. An LLC formed late in a calendar year can find its first and second payments falling close together, which surprises people who budgeted once.

Two dates that are worth $800

California’s calendar contains two rules that reward paying attention and punish the opposite, and both turn on the same $800.

An LLC formed in the last 15 days of December that does no business owes nothing for that stub period. One formed on December 10 and operating owes the full $800 for three weeks.

The first is the December rule. An LLC formed within the final 15 days of the year that conducts no business before January 1 has no tax year for that stub period and owes no $800 for it. Form on December 10 and start operating, and the full $800 is owed for those three weeks of existence. Form on December 20 and wait for the new year, and it is not. Same paperwork, $800 apart, decided by ten days. Anyone forming in December should know which side of the line they are on, and confirm the current Franchise Tax Board statement of the rule before relying on it.

The $800 accrues for any tax year the LLC exists, even one day of it, so a company winding down should finish before December 31.

The second is the exit rule, and it costs more people money. The tax attaches to existence, not to activity, so an LLC that is done operating keeps owing $800 a year until it is formally dissolved and cancelled with the Secretary of State and its final returns are filed. Going quiet does not stop it. A business winding down in the fall should complete the cancellation before year end rather than getting to it in January, because a single day of existence in the new year is a full $800.

Falling behind

An LLC that fails to pay the $800 or file its required returns can be suspended by the Franchise Tax Board, and suspension is not merely a fee problem. A suspended California LLC loses the right to sue or defend in California courts, so it cannot enforce its own contracts or collect its own receivables while suspended, and its contracts can be exposed to challenge. Revivor requires bringing the filings and payments current. The practical rule is the same as everywhere on this site: the cheap filing is the one to never miss, and the expensive part of missing it is never the penalty.

The bottom line

The Secretary of State’s fees are modest: $70 to form, $20 for the Statement of Information within 90 days and every two years after, $30 for amendments.

The real first-year cost is about $890, because the $800 franchise tax is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after formation.

The first-year $800 exemption expired for LLCs formed on or after January 1, 2024, whatever older guides say.

An LLC formed in the final 15 days of December that conducts no business owes no $800 for that stub period.

The $800 accrues for any year the LLC exists, so dissolve and cancel before December 31 rather than after.

Suspension for unpaid tax costs the company its right to sue or defend in California courts, which is worth far more than the tax.

What this page does not cover

This page is the mechanics: fees, forms, and deadlines. How creditors reach you in California, including reverse veil piercing, is on the protection page. What the statute lets your operating agreement do is on the governance page. The gross receipts fee, series treatment, and the cost of moving property into an entity are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified July 2026.