California llc filing service [Up To Date]

Last updated : Sept 9, 2022

Where do I file for an LLC in California?

To form an LLC in California, go to bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov, log in, select Register a Business under the Business Entities Tile, Articles of Organization - CA LLC and follow the prompts to complete and submit.

Where is the best place to file an LLC?

• Best Overall: ZenBusiness.
• Most Affordable: Incfile.
• Best for Legal Services: Rocket Lawyer.
• Best for Small Business: Northwest Registered Agent.
• Best for Entrepreneurs: Hashtag Legal.
• Best for Online Business: LegalZoom.
• Best for Real Estate Investing: Inc Authority.

Where is the cheapest place to file an LLC?

• Iowa — LLC Filing fee: $50.
• Montana — LLC Filing fee: $50.
• Utah — LLC Filing fee: $70.
• California — LLC Filing fee: $70.
• Delaware — Filing fee: $90.
• Indiana — Filing fee: $95.

How can I avoid $800 franchise tax?

Thus, the only way to avoid the tax is to dissolve the company. Additionally, another important detail to note is that if you change your business structure during the year–for instance, from an LLC to a C corporation–you would then be subject to the minimum franchise tax on both entities for that year.

How do I pay the $800 franchise tax?

The state requires corporations to pay either $800 or the corporation's net income multiplied by its applicable corporate tax rate, whichever is larger. You may pay the tax online, by mail, or in person at the California Franchise Tax Board Field Offices.

How long does it take for an LLC to be approved in California?

Mail filings: In total, mail filing approvals for California LLCs take 2-3 weeks. This accounts for the 3-5 business day processing time, plus the time your documents are in the mail. Online filings: In total, online filing approvals for California LLCs take 3-5 business days.

What are the 3 types of LLC?

• Single-member LLC for the sole-proprietorship (solo entrepreneur)
• Multi-member LLC (member-managed LLC or manager-member LLC)
• Domestic LLC and Foreign LLC.
• Series LLC.
• L3C Company (low-profit LLC)
• Anonymous LLC.
• Restricted LLC.
• PLLC and LLC.

Can I be my own registered agent California?

You can be your own registered agent in California, but you'll have to list your name and address in the public record. Many business owners don't want the hassle that comes with this (unsolicited phone calls, junk mail offers, etc.). Hiring a registered agent keeps your information out of the public record.

Do you have to pay the $800 California LLC fee the first year 2021?

California law generally imposes a minimum franchise tax of $800 on every corporation incorporated, qualified to transact business, or doing business in California. A corporation that incorporates or qualifies to do business in California is exempt from paying the minimum franchise tax in its first taxable year.

Does an LLC need a business license in California?

LLCs, Corporations, LPs, LLPs, or GPs operating in California need to register and form their legal entity with the California Secretary of State's Office, file appropriate taxes, register as an employer, and obtain business licenses and other permits from appropriate cities or counties.

Is LegalZoom worth the money?

It offers versatile legal services, great customer support, and access to ongoing legal advice for a flat monthly fee. Although its one-off services are not the cheapest out there, LegalZoom's lead-in formation packages allow businesses to form their businesses easily, without breaking the bank.

Which state has the lowest filing fee for an LLC?

Learn about LLC registration costs in your state in our LLC cost guides. Kentucky has the lowest LLC registration fee at $40 and Massachusetts has the highest LLC registration fee at $500.

What state is the easiest to form an LLC?

• Delaware is the most popular state to file an LLC in because it has a strong reputation for being business-friendly and offers a fast filing process with increased protection for owners.
• Wyoming offers low fees and great tax benefits for people looking to start an LLC.

What are the benefits of an LLC in California?

• Pass-through taxation.
• Tax options like S corp.
• Simplicity.
• Ownership flexibility.
• Increased credibility.
• Name registration.

Why is California LLC fee so high?

Every business pays the $800 annual franchise tax, which is applied to taxes owed, but LLCs are the only ones subject to California Gross Receipts tax. This is one of the biggest reasons why a California LLC is so expensive.

Do you have to pay the $800 California LLC fee every year?

Every LLC registered to do business in the state of California must pay an $800 annual fee called the Franchise Tax Board Fee or Franchise Tax.

Who is exempt from California Franchise Tax?

Under California law, taxpayers are exempt from the minimum franchise tax if they did not conduct business in the state during the taxable year and the taxable year was 15 days or less. An entity that qualifies under the 15-day rule does not count that period as its first tax year.

What happens if you don't pay California Franchise Tax?

The California Franchise Tax Board imposes a penalty if you do not pay the total amount due shown on your tax return by the original due date. The penalty is 5 percent of the unpaid tax (underpayment), plus 0.5 percent of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month it remains unpaid (monthly).

Where do I pay my California Franchise Tax?

To pay California state taxes, follow these steps: Navigate to the website State of California Franchise Tax Board website. Choose the payment method. Your payment options include drawing from your bank account, credit card, check, money order, or electronic funds withdrawal.

Does a single member LLC need to file form 568?

SMLLCs, owned by an individual, are required to file Form 568 on or before April 15. You and your clients should be aware that a disregarded SMLLC is required to: File a tax return (Form 568) Pay the LLC annual tax.

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Write a comment

so you want to form an llc in california let me show you exactly how to do it directly with the state let's open up a new tab and go to sos.ca.gov this will take you to the california secretary of state website the next thing that we're going to do is we're going to scroll down to business and we're going to click on this little arrow this will take us to the business section of the website the next thing that we want to click on is biz file online if you want to learn more you can click on these links down here but biz file online will get you to where you want to go we have a couple categories here entities liens info trademarks we're going to stick to the business entity section and we're actually going to click on register a business however remember the screen it's important because every year you have to file a statement of information with the state so if you have an llc make sure you come back here every year and fill this out i think it's like 20 bucks if you want to reserve a name you can do that here but we're just going to go ahead and register the business so let's click on the top option ok we have all kinds of stuff on this page so which one should you choose well if you want to just reserve a name you can do that by clicking these but what we want to do is limited liability company initial filings this is the category we're looking for so now you have three options you can register it if you're an out of state llc and you need to register in california you can do that there if you want to convert your corporation into an llc you could do that here or if you want to form a new one you can do that right here the articles of organization or california llc you can see that it's going to cost us about 70 bucks to do it this is the cheapest method go ahead and click file online i'm going to create an account sign in and show you how to do the rest three hours later great you made an account and you got to this page the system just recently changed with the secretary of state this right here is the privacy warning basically telling you that everything that's contained in your application is public the refund policy intellectual property rights etc you have to agree to it to get to the next step now we're going to get to the submitter information the submitter information is whoever is actually filling out the paperwork this is not public this is just for this state to communicate with you on this specific application now we're at the professional services notice section so what this is telling you is that not all professional services can be llc's in california llcs offer so much protection that they don't want doctors and chiropractors and people that practice a licensed trade to have that much protection so in order to find out if that's you you need to go to this website right here which looks like this very useful tool i highly suggest you put in your trade to see what kind of licenses and permit requirements are required for you as a good rule of thumb if you're someone who has a high chance of getting sued for malpractice like chiropractors dentists doctors lawyers things like that definitely double check on this section we're going to hit next step and we're not going to worry about it we're going to form an llc anyway okay now we're getting to the naming part so if you've already reserved a name you can click yes and it will give you the option to select your reserved name for your account but if you haven't reserved a name for your limited liability company click on no and then we're going to type in the name here in this case we're going to do vanitar business school because i have one and then we're going to confirm the name as well uh i didn't put an llc or a valid designation at the end that's because you have to put the words llc ltd l.l dot c something like that i always stick to the default llc because it's the easiest to type it's the least amount of characters and it looks the best so once you have llc at the end of your name it will accept it and you can hit next this next part is the street address of the principal office of the llc so wherever your business headquarters are going to be you need to use that as an address you can't use po boxes but you can use your house you can also use ups mailbox as long as it's not a po box just know that whatever address you put in here it is going to be public record anybody that looks up your company on the california website will be able to see your address if you don't want to use your home address or if you want to pay somebody to use their address for you you can abandon this process here and go to inkfile.com i'll leave a link in the description below it's a website or in a service that helps you file llcs but also gives you the option of paying them 20 a month and they'll use their own address for you so you can remain anonymous whenever you get mail they scan it open it email it to you it's great that way you don't have to be tied to one address or if anonymity or having your stuff public is important to you it's a great option you can also go get a virtual address in california and use the virtual address in this section if you want to but some people still like to use their homes i'm going to fill all this out and we're going to go to the next section 3 hours later we've now reached the agent for service of process also known as a registered agent registered agents exist to accept mail on your behalf in case the government needs to reach you or send you something important they don't want to have to go track you down in cancun if you're on spring break they want to be able to get it to you directly so we every business has to have a registered agent you can be your own registered agent that's totally fine as long as you're willing to accept mail and there's someone there to take it if you don't want to be your own registered agent you can do a couple things you can hire another company and set up something with them for like 100 bucks a year and they will give you their address to use and be a registered agent you can ask your attorney to be a registered agent you can ask a parent or a friend who is always at home to be a registered agent you can be your own registered agent or once again you can bail on this process go over to inkfile.com using the link below and during the application process they will give you the option to just click a button and use them as your registered agent i think they charge about 100 a year and the first year is free lots of options choose whatever is best for you if you choose a corporate agent you'll have to choose them from the list because there's a list of approved agents if you're going to choose an individual just go ahead and put the address in right now i'm going to do this now we'll move on three hours later this part's fun this is how your llc is actually set up and who's in control you have three options you have one manager you have more than one manager or all members all members is the most common choice it's considered a member managed llc when all members of the llc have equal rights you can choose all llc mem

Thanks for your comment Hans Marsha, have a nice day.
- Zona Crescenzo, Staff Member

hey this is attorney elizabeth weinstein and today we're going to go over how to create an llc in california using california's new online filing system so an llc or limited liability company is a kind of business entity that you can create in every state in the united states and in california like in many states if not every state by now there's an online filing system this online filing system to create the llc changed in april of 2022 and so while i have done tutorials like this before it needs to be re-recorded because the system is now different so let's get into how you would create your llc in california so the first thing you're going to do is go to the biz file online website so if you go to the actual secretary of state's website you click on business then you can click on biz file online but i'll put a direct link in the description in the comments so when you go on here it's going to tell you that the first thing you need to do is to create a login so you click on login i of course have a login already but you'll just click on don't have an account sign up you just need to put in your email a password first and last name and then you have a login it's not really a big deal so now you're in biz file on online and you're actually logged in you're going to go to forms to create your llc so first thing is name reservations you do not have to reserve a name before you create an llc or corporation this is if you're not going to create the llc or corporation right now and you want to do it way ahead of time and make sure the name's gonna go through this can also be if you're trying to create a llc or corporation with the name that you don't know if it's gonna comply with the rules and you want them to approve it the element of liability company initial filings is articles of organization articles organization with statement of conversion that's if you're converting your llc from being in another state you're changing where it's domesticated and then a registration of an out of state llc so today we're doing the articles of organization so there's going to be online processing fee of 70 let's click on the filing online so first all the filings and contents are available to the public so everything that you put in this filing your address all that stuff is available to the public so this is just letting you know that it's going to be in a database and people are going to download it and send you spam i mean that's what happens and it also gives you information about how you can't use this for fraud et cetera et cetera you should everyone should read this and i've gone through this multiple times already and i've read that okay so submitter information this is something that's optional but i recommend you put this in here with your name and your email and your phone number because if something goes wrong they theoretically contact you and literally never had the state call me on the phone but this new system they might email you i don't know yet because it literally started last week but under the old system they would send you a letter and that just sucks it took forever typically you could call them though so under this new system they might send you an email something messes up so i'm going to put in my name and email and phone number all right so this is just giving you a notification that you cannot use an llc for professional services professional services are typically things like you're a lawyer you're a doctor you're a therapist you've taken some tests to be licensed to practice your profession in your state and typically you usually need to have a professional llc or a professional corporation if you're licensed as a professional in california they don't have a professional llc it's just professional corporations i'll do a video in the future on what is a professional corporation and who needs to do that and how do you do that because it's much more detailed than we need to go into now so let's assume you're not a professional corporation let's say you're doing consulting for the sake of the argument and there's no previously rever reserved name so now you need to put in the llc company name i'm going to make up a name pots weinstein consulting llc pots weinstein consulting llc this is my fictional llc name it's probably searching it to make sure it's not taken and then the address this is my business address for my law firm and then we're going to copy the same address which is so convenient that they let you do that you can also put in a attention if you there are multiple people who could get mail at that address and you want to come to you let's go to the next step who is going to be the agent for service of process so every llc or corporation in california and in most other states not all needs to have a registered agent who is a person or an entity that's not the llc or corporation itself who can accept legal documents on behalf of the llc or corporation and the idea is someone's there like in person to get served with documents this almost never happens but it can happen so that it has to be on file so it could be you the human person who owns the business and you could also instead hire a service like northwest registered agent services which is who i refer a lot of people to and you pay them and then they're the ones who handle that for you and they tip people typically charge 100 to 300 a year for that and you can definitely go on the low end you do not need to pay the big bucks for it in this case i'm going to say that i'm the registered agent so i'm going to put in my name i'm going to copy over the address there you go now the management structure okay so you have three options for the management structure the llc will be managed by one manager by more than one manager by all llc members so here's kind of the difference the idea is all llc members means everybody who owns the business can run the business make decisions about the business if it's just one person that's probably fine right and if it's two of you that might be fine too but let's say there's five or 10 or 20 people who own this llc or maybe there's one person who owns it and then the other person is more of a passive investor they're not there running it on a day-to-day basis or maybe one person owns it and there's another person who does work in the business but they only own five percent of the shares five percent of the ownership so a manager is anybody doesn't have to be one of the owners who runs the business on a day-to-day basis this can also work if the owner of the llc isn't a human the owner is another corporation if it's a your revocable living trust if it's some other kind of entity that's not a human person so it can't run the thing then the manager is the human person who actually runs it you can hire someone else to it or it can just be you and obviously it can be one manager or more than one so i'm just going to say all llc members in this case because it's just me doing this fictional consulting business the filing date so most of the time you're going to do the current date today when you're filing this and when it when they r

Thanks Breann your participation is very much appreciated
- Zona Crescenzo

About the author

Zona Crescenzo

I've studied cosmology at University of Miami in Coral Gables and I am an expert in relativity. I usually feel bittersweet. My previous job was geography professor I held this position for 16 years, I love talking about stripping and paintball. Huge fan of Tammy Hembrow I practice flag football and collect insects.