California LLC fees (2026)

Every mandatory and optional fee California charges an LLC, verified against the official fee schedule — not a blog's memory of it. Statutes and source links are at the bottom of each section.

The $800 is the annual minimum franchise tax owed to the Franchise Tax Board regardless of income or activity. SEPARATE from this: (1) a tiered gross-receipts 'LLC fee' (FTB Form 3536) on total California income — $0 under $250k, $900 ($250k–$499,999), $2,500 ($500k–$999,999), $6,000 ($1M–$4,999,999), $11,790 ($5M+); and (2) a $20 Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) filed with the Secretary of State within 90 days of formation and every 2 years thereafter ($250 penalty if missed). First-year $800 exemption (AB 85) expired for LLCs formed after 2023, so the $800 now applies in year one. EXCEPTION: under SB 122 (2026, Ch. 23), an LLC whose FIRST taxable year begins in 2027-2029 pays a reduced $400 (instead of $800) for that first year only; year two returns to $800.

The full fee schedule

The filings and certificates an LLC actually ends up paying for, at the official rate.

Online vs. mail vs. counter

• Online (bizfile Online): No surcharge — same statutory fee as paper — The fees in Gov't Code § 12190 are channel-neutral: Articles of Organization are $70 whether filed online or on paper, and the SOS publishes no convenience or portal surcharge for bizfile Online. The only channel-specific charges the SOS lists anywhere are the in-person drop-off special-handling fees. (source)
• Mail: No extra fee, but payment must be a check — For paper submissions the SOS instructs that 'check(s) should be made payable to the Secretary of State.' No special-handling fee attaches to mail — mail is the slowest but cheapest paper route. (source)
• In person (counter drop-off, Sacramento): +$15 per filing request, +$10 per copy order — Special handling is charged on top of the filing fee, and 'special handling fees are retained whether requests are approved or rejected' — a rejected walk-in Articles of Organization still costs $15. Some services (4-hour Class A filing, 24-hour preclearance) are drop-off only and cannot be bought online. (source)
• Copies and certificates: Free online vs $5 certified — Plain copies of filed LLC documents are free to view, download and print at bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov; you pay $5.00 per document only for a certified copy, and $5.00 for a Certificate of Status. Ordering the same copy in person adds the $10 drop-off handling fee. (source)
• Statutory ceiling on expedite pricing: Expedite/preclearance fees may not exceed $1,000 — Gov't Code § 12182 lets the SOS set preclearance and expedited-filing fees by regulation but caps them: fees 'shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000).' The current top tier is the $750 same-day service. (source)

Miss the deadline: what it actually costs

California splits the annual obligation across two agencies, and each has its own late mechanic. (1) The $800 annual franchise tax goes to the Franchise Tax Board and is 'due and payable on or before the 15th day of the fourth month of the taxable year' (R&TC § 17941(a)). Miss it and R&TC § 19132 imposes a failure-to-pay penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax plus 0.5% per month of the remaining tax for each additional month or fraction thereof, for up to 40 months, with the total capped at 25% of the unpaid tax — plus interest. There is no automatic administrative dissolution on a fixed clock; instead the LLC is exposed to FTB suspension/forfeiture, and while suspended it loses the right to prosecute or defend a lawsuit and to enforce its contracts. (2) The $20 Statement of Information (Corp. Code § 17702.09) is the Secretary of State's side: due within 90 days of formation, then biennially. If the LLC does not file within 60 days after the SOS mails a notice of delinquency, the SOS certifies the delinquency to the FTB, which 'shall assess a penalty of two hundred fifty dollars ($250)' under R&TC § 19141 — a flat, final assessment on which no interest accrues — and the entity is subject to suspension or forfeiture. A separate 10% underpayment penalty applies to the estimated gross-receipts LLC fee under R&TC § 17942.

Recent fee changes

• 2027-01-01 — First-year annual tax cut from $800 to $400. R&TC § 17941(g)(2) provides that for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2027 and before January 1, 2030, a qualifying LLC pays the annual tax 'in the amount of four hundred dollars ($400) for its first taxable year' — first year only; year two reverts to the full $800. Unlike the 2021–2023 exemption in (g)(1), this $400 rate carries no Budget Act appropriation contingency. (source)
• 2024-01-01 — First-year $800 exemption expired. R&TC § 17941(g)(1)(A) reaches only an LLC that 'organizes or registers with the Secretary of the State … on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2024' (and the subdivision is operative only 'for a taxable year in which any budget measure appropriates one dollar ($1) or more to the Franchise Tax Board' to administer it). LLCs formed from 2024 onward owe the full $800 in year one — with no relief window until the 2027 $400 rate begins. (source)
• 2020-01-01 — Deployed-servicemember exemption from the $800 annual tax took effect for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2020, and is written to sunset for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2030 (R&TC § 17941(f)). (source)

What trips people up

• Walking away doesn't stop the $800 clock — only a filing does. R&TC § 17941(e) hangs the end of the annual tax on the Secretary of State actually filing a certificate of cancellation under Corp. Code § 17707.02, and the statute adds that nothing 'entitles a limited liability company to receive a reimbursement for any annual taxes or fees already paid.' The cancellation filing itself costs $0 under Gov't Code § 12190, so an LLC that quietly stops operating is paying $800/year to skip a free form. (source)
• There is a deployed-military waiver of the $800. R&TC § 17941(f) exempts an LLC from the annual tax for taxable years beginning January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2029 where the LLC is owned by a member of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed on active duty and the small business operates at a loss or ceases operation, subject to a $250,000 income ceiling. Almost no formation service surfaces this. (source)
• The gross-receipts LLC fee carries its own 10% underpayment penalty, independent of the $800. R&TC § 17942 sets the tiers ($900 / $2,500 / $6,000 / $11,790) and then adds: 'A penalty of 10 percent of the amount of any underpayment shall be added to the fee.' Guess low on the estimated-fee payment and a $6,000 tier LLC can eat a $600 penalty on top of the § 19132 late-payment penalty on the tax. (source)

Sources

• Official California fee schedule
• {'cite': "Cal. Gov't Code § 12190", 'topic': 'Master fee schedule for LLC filings — articles of organization $70, amendment $30, statement of information $20, name reservation certificate $10, dissolution/cancellation no fee, catch-all $30', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12190'}
• {'cite': "Cal. Gov't Code § 12182", 'topic': "Subdivision (a) lets the Secretary of State 'by regulation establish fees to be charged and collected for copying and special handling in connection with filing documents, issuing of certificates, and other services'; subdivision (c) allows separate preclearance and expedited-filing fees that 'shall not exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000)'", 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12182'}
• {'cite': "Cal. Gov't Code § 12178.1(a)", 'topic': 'Base copy fee for records on file: $1 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional page (separate from the $5 certification/certificate fees the SOS charges for business-entity records)', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12178.1'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Corp. Code § 17701.09(a)', 'topic': 'LLC name reservation — 60 days, not renewable for consecutive periods', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP&sectionNum=17701.09'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Corp. Code § 17702.09', 'topic': 'Statement of Information — due within 90 days after filing the original articles of organization, then biennially during the applicable filing period; must state the agent for service of process', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP&sectionNum=17702.09'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Corp. Code § 17713.09', 'topic': 'If an LLC fails to file the § 17702.09 statement within 60 days after the SOS notice of delinquency, the SOS certifies the delinquency and the Franchise Tax Board assesses the R&TC § 19141 penalty', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP&sectionNum=17713.09'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 17941', 'topic': 'Annual LLC tax ($800 via R&TC § 23153(d)); due the 15th day of the 4th month of the taxable year; deployed-Armed-Forces exemption; first-year rules', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=17941'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 17942', 'topic': 'Gross-receipts LLC fee tiers ($900 / $2,500 / $6,000 / $11,790) plus a 10% penalty on any underpayment of the estimated fee', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=17942'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 19141', 'topic': '$250 penalty assessed by the FTB on a § 17713.09 Statement-of-Information delinquency certification; final assessment due at time of assessment, no interest accrues on it', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=19141'}
• {'cite': 'Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 19132', 'topic': 'Failure-to-pay penalty: 5% of the unpaid tax plus 0.5% per month of the remaining tax for up to 40 additional months, capped at 25% of the total unpaid tax', 'sourceUrl': 'https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC&sectionNum=19132'}

Figures verified against official California sources. Fees change — the official schedule linked above controls. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice; FilingDesk is not a law firm.