Every official charge for forming an LLC in California in 2026: the filing fee, the other mandatory state costs, the documents you need, and the filing office's own contact details — taken from the state's published sources, not from a filing service.
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Filing fee — Articles of Organization | $70 |
| Annual LLC tax (minimum franchise tax) — California Franchise Tax Board | $800 |
| First-year minimum total | $870 |
The total is the cheapest filing channel plus the fixed mandatory charges that fall due in year one. Variable charges are listed at “No fixed fee” and are not folded into the total.
| Standard filing | $70 |
Flat fee of $70.00 on the Secretary of State's official domestic LLC forms page for 'Formation - Articles of Organization', Form LLC-1; the same $70.00 is shown for online submission and PDF form.
File through the official portal above — third-party filing services charge extra for the same filing.
Articles of Organization: Form LLC-1, filed with the California Secretary of State.
California requires a biennial report — fee $20.
Initial Statement of Information due within 90 days of initial registration, then every two years thereafter (Form LLC-12).
California calls this filing the Statement of Information, not an annual report. The Secretary of State's domestic LLC forms page lists: 'Statement of Information: Due within 90 days of initial registration and every two years thereafter' — Form LLC-12, fee $20.00. The $20 fee applies to all limited liability companies (SOS customer alert on misleading solicitations).
Once the LLC is formed, these pages work out what it keeps: California Tax Brackets · California Income Tax Calculator · California Paycheck Calculator.
California's first-year minimum of $870 sits in the full ranking of all 51 jurisdictions — the cheapest first year is Montana at $35 and the most expensive is California at $870.
Official sources — fees verified 3 November 2026:
https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entities/forms/limited-liability-companies-california-domestic
https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2026/2026-3522.pdf
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/be/faqs.htm
Forming an LLC in California? This page lists every official state charge for 2026 — filing fee, mandatory extras, the annual report and the documents — with the filing office's own phone, website and portal.
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Every official charge for forming and keeping an LLC in California in 2026: a $70 filing fee for the Articles of Organization, a first-year minimum of $870, the documents the state asks for, and the filing office's own phone, website and portal — read from the state's published sources, not a filing service's price list.
Forming an LLC in California: you pay $70 to file the Articles of Organization with the California Secretary of State. With the mandatory year-one charges counted, your first-year minimum is $870; after that the recurring state cost is $20 biennial report.
Every figure comes from the state's own published fee schedule or statute (the page lists its official sources) and was checked on 3 November 2026. The first-year minimum is the cheapest filing channel plus the fixed mandatory charges that fall due in year one; annual report fees fall due after year one, and variable charges such as newspaper publication have no fixed amount, so both are shown separately rather than folded into the total.
Filing the Articles of Organization costs $70 at the cheapest channel. Counting the mandatory state charges that fall due in year one, the first-year minimum is $870. Registered-agent services and local licences are extra and are not state charges.
California requires a biennial report costing $20. Initial Statement of Information due within 90 days of initial registration, then every two years thereafter (Form LLC-12).
Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1); Statement of Information (Form LLC-12); Agent for service of process (registered agent); Operating agreement. You will also need a free EIN from the IRS — a federal step that is the same in every state.
You file with the California Secretary of State, Business Programs — Business Entities. Phone: (916) 653-6814. No email address is published — the office takes enquiries through the contact form on its website. File online at https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov.
Beyond the filing fee, California charges: Annual LLC tax (minimum franchise tax) — California Franchise Tax Board ($800). Each is itemised on this page with its rule.
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