Your California LLC Is Doing Business in Another State
The short answer. You keep one LLC. It stays registered in California, which charges $810 a year to keep it in good standing, and a state that finds you are doing business there adds its own registration and its own filings on top. Whether your activity counts is decided by that state's own rule, not by this page. All 47 other states that have one figure to compare cost less in year-one registration than California's own first-year total of $880. Tennessee and Washington are outside those figures: Tennessee's fee scales with member count from $300, and Washington's $180 is before back fees, so neither has one figure to compare.
What you keep paying in California
When the Biennial Report is due. Due within 90 days of initial registration and every two years thereafter, filed during the applicable filing period: the calendar month in which the Articles of Organization were filed plus the immediately preceding five calendar months
Every California fee behind these figures is broken out on what an LLC costs in California.
What a second state adds
These are the states closest to California’s own cost line, plus the three dearest to enter. Each figure is that state’s first-year registration cost for an out-of-state LLC, beside what it charges every year after. Whether your activity counts as doing business there depends on the facts, and each state defines it differently.
| State | Year one to register | State charges, each year after | Against your year one ($880) |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | $750 | $55/yr | $130 less |
| Texas | $750 | None | $130 less |
| Massachusetts | $500 | $520/yr | $380 less |
| Nevada | $425 | $350/yr | $455 less |
| Alaska | $350 | $50/yr | $530 less |
| Oklahoma | $300 | $25/yr | $580 less |
| Tennessee | at least $300 | from $400/yr | not comparable, this is a floor |
| Oregon | $275 | $100/yr | $605 less |
A state charge of None is not a tax of none. The column is the recurring charge our fee dataset records, and a state that asks for no recurring filing may still levy an entity-level tax that sits outside it.
Nevada's figure is the mandatory first-year bundle (filing fee, initial list and state business licence), not the $75 filing fee alone.
What we verified about California's own costs
Our notes, from California's published fee schedules and statutes.
California's Secretary of State charges only $70 for Articles of Organization (LLC-1) and $20 for the Statement of Information, but the Franchise Tax Board's $800 annual LLC tax is the real cost and it applies in year one for any LLC formed today. The Statement of Information is biennial, not annual: the first is due within 90 days of registration and later ones during a six-month window ending in the anniversary month. Missing it triggers a $250 penalty collected by the FTB plus possible suspension. First-year state cost for an LLC formed in 2026 is therefore $890 ($70 + $20 + $800), and an LLC with $250,000 or more of California income owes an extra income-based LLC fee starting at $900. Expedited filing is separately priced at $350 for 24-hour, $500 for 4-hour (preclearance required) and $750 for same-day service.
$800 FTB annual tax applies in year one. The first-year exemption covered only tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2021 and before January 1, 2024. An LLC formed today owes $800 by the 15th day of the 4th month after its SOS filing date, more than eleven times the $70 formation fee.
Statement of Information is biennial but the first one is due in 90 days. The $20 LLC-12 is due within 90 days of registration and then only every two years, so many owners miss the initial deadline and get hit with the $250 FTB-collected penalty.
The $800 keeps running until you formally cancel. The FTB states the annual tax is due even if you are not conducting business, until the LLC is cancelled; a dormant California LLC still accrues $800 a year. Cancelling within one year of organizing via Short Form Cancellation (LLC-4/8) avoids the first-year $800.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.