California LLC vs Montana LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in California.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Montana is the cheapest state to open at $35, and its annual report currently costs nothing when filed between January 1 and April 15. That waiver is administrative rather than statutory: the published fee schedule still prints $20 for an on-time report, and one filed after April 15 costs $35, so budgeting $0 forever is not safe. California's $70 filing fee is twice Montana's, and its $800 annual tax takes year one to $880 and later years to $810. For a California business, Montana's saving is undone by the $70 it costs to register the LLC here.
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Compare California LLC vs Montana LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 23, 2026
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| Factor | California | Montana |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $70 | $35 |
| Processing Time | Live queue, not fixed | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $20 (biennial) | $0 (waived when filed by April 15; $35 after) |
| Annual Report Due | Anniversary month | April 15 |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $70 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: California LLC cost and Montana LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: California anonymous LLC guide and Montana anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: California vs Montana
| Factor | California | Montana |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 53.7% (#12 of 51) | 53% (#16 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +14.7% YoY (#2 of 51 by volume) | +13.4% YoY (#40 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: California vs Montana
California
Montana
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
California charges $70 to form an LLC, while Montana charges $35. Montana is $35 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Montana but operate in California, you must also register as a foreign LLC in California (a $70 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Montana (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Montana route at roughly $255, versus $70 for simply forming in California. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither California nor Montana publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: California vs Montana
Both California and Montana levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Montana doesn't change what a California-based owner pays. Montana levies a two-bracket individual income tax; under a 2025 Montana law the top rate drops from 5.9% to 5.65% effective January 1, 2026, with the 4.7% lower rate applying up to $47,500 single/$95,000 joint (Montana Department of Revenue). California LLCs owe an $800 minimum annual franchise tax to the Franchise Tax Board, plus an LLC gross-receipts fee above $250,000 of California income. No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither California nor Montana offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. Montana law requires your LLC's annual report to state the names and business mailing addresses of the managers (if manager-managed) or of the members (if member-managed), and these reports are public. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.
Annual Maintenance Costs
California LLCs file a biennial report ($20, due in the anniversary month, every two years), and Montana LLCs file a free annual report (due April 15). If you form in Montana while operating in California, you maintain filings in both states, Montana's report plus California's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Montana registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Montana route to roughly $170 a year, versus about $820 to keep a domestic California LLC in good standing. The taxes inside those totals: California LLCs owe an $800 minimum annual franchise tax to the Franchise Tax Board, plus an LLC gross-receipts fee above $250,000 of California income. No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
When Montana Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Montana makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Montana, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Montana in the near future. For a typical small business based in California, none of these usually apply. Registering a Montana LLC to do business back home means $70 in California foreign-registration fees, on top of Montana's $35 formation fee, while California's own biennial report runs $20 and is due in the anniversary month, every two years. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
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Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- Montana law: HB 337 (2025) (income tax rate cut)
- Montana statute: MCA 35-8-208 (annual report contents)
- sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entitiesCalifornia Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entities/forms/limited-liability-companies-california-domesticCalifornia LLC filing fees
- sosmt.gov/business/Montana Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sosmt.gov/business/fees/Montana LLC filing fees
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.