Form a Business in California

Filing fees, deadlines, registered agent rules, and tax structure for California, verified against the California Secretary of State Shirley N on Jun 11, 2026.

California at a glance

LLC Formation
$70
Articles of Organization
Corp Formation
$100
Articles of Incorporation
Nonprofit Formation
$30
Articles of Incorporation: Nonprofit
Biennial Report: LLC
$20
biennial filing
Biennial Report: Corp
$25
biennial filing
Registered Agent
Street address
California address required

What makes California different

  • It's called "Statement of Information" (SI), not "Annual Report". Different name, same concept.
  • LLC SI is BIENNIAL (every 2 years), not annual. Corp Stock SI is annual. Corp Nonprofit SI is biennial. Different cadence per entity type.
  • Due rule: anniversary month. SI is due within 90 days of formation, then every cycle in the entity's formation-anniversary month.
  • $800 minimum CA Franchise Tax is FTB, not SOS. Wizards must surface this prominently. Customers think the $70 LLC formation is their total CA cost; in reality, year-one CA cost is $70 SOS + $800 FTB = $870, plus LLC Fee if revenue exceeds $250K.
  • Dissolution is FREE at SOS. $0 across all entity types. But FTB-side requires final returns and clearance.
  • LLC Gross Receipts Fee on top of $800. LLCs with CA-source revenue above $250K pay an ADDITIONAL fee ($900 to $11,790) on top of the $800 minimum.

California tax structure

See your CPA for personalized tax analysis.

For detailed tax planning, see the California Secretary of State Shirley N and the California Department of Revenue. File.Business is not a tax preparer, consult a CPA for personalized advice.

Ready to file in California?

We handle Articles of Organization, registered agent service, annual report monitoring, and ongoing compliance, backed by our canonical California ruleset (re-verified quarterly against California Secretary of State Shirley N).

Filing portal: https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/