How to Reinstate a California LLC
The short answer. If your California LLC has been suspended, you restore it by filing an application for certificate of revivor with the California Franchise Tax Board.
California LLC Reinstatement at a Glance
| What California calls the status | Suspended |
| What you file | Application for Certificate of Revivor |
| Filed with | California Franchise Tax Board |
| How to file | Online or paper |
| Reinstatement fee | Not confirmed |
| Time limit to reinstate | Depends (see Deadline) |
| Tax clearance | Not confirmed |
| Retroactive | Depends (see What reinstatement does) |
Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.
Why California Would Suspend an LLC
The Franchise Tax Board may suspend an LLC that fails to file a required tax return or to pay tax, penalty or interest by the statutory deadlines. The Secretary of State separately suspends an LLC that has missed a Statement of Information, has filed none in the preceding 24 months, and has been certified for the missed-statement penalty.
The Franchise Tax Board must mail a notice preliminary to suspension at least 60 days before the suspension date it names. For a missing Statement of Information, the Secretary of State suspends the LLC 60 days after its notice unless the statement is filed.
How Long You Have to Reinstate
An LLC that has been suspended by the Franchise Tax Board for at least 60 continuous months may be administratively canceled after the Secretary of State posts a 60-day notice. A written objection to the Franchise Tax Board within those 60 days gives the LLC 90 more days (extendable once by 90) to file, pay and apply for revivor.
Once administratively canceled, the LLC's rights, powers and privileges cease, and its qualified taxes, interest and penalties are abated.
How to File
You file an application for certificate of revivor with the California Franchise Tax Board. You can file it online or on paper. Go to California's filing page.
What It Costs
We have not confirmed the fee for the application for certificate of revivor; check with the California Franchise Tax Board.
The LLC must file every required tax return and pay all tax, additions to tax, penalties and interest owed to the Franchise Tax Board, and file a current Statement of Information with the Secretary of State if that office also suspended it.
We have not confirmed whether California requires a tax clearance to reinstate; check with the California Franchise Tax Board.
Registered Agent Options
If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether Californiawants that updated as part of reinstatement. You do not have to buy a service for it: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one option and not the only one. The California registered agent requirements set out what California itself asks.
Registered agent services for California LLCs
Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.
This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.
- Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
- Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
- ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
- LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price
Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.
Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →
What Reinstatement Does
Revivor reinstates the LLC without prejudice to any action, defense or right that accrued because of the suspension. Contracts made while suspended stay voidable unless the LLC separately obtains relief from contract voidability from the Franchise Tax Board.
If another business has taken the LLC's name in the meantime, the LLC needs a name that is still available to reinstate.
Worth Knowing in California
If the Secretary of State also suspended the LLC, file a current Statement of Information first and send the Secretary of State's Proposed Relief Letter with the revivor application to the Franchise Tax Board. An LLC suspended only by the Secretary of State is relieved by filing a current Statement of Information, unless the Franchise Tax Board also holds it in suspension.
More for California LLCs
- California LLC annual report, to keep the LLC in good standing once it is reinstated.
- California annual report late fee, for what a late report costs before it comes to dissolution.
- California certificate of good standing, to prove the LLC is active again.
- How to dissolve an LLC in California, if you would rather close the LLC properly than reinstate it.
- Annual report deadline finder, to see when the next report is due.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and filing office say about bringing back an LLC the state has dissolved, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you where your own LLC stands: that turns on why and when it was dissolved, what it still owes, and whether anyone has since taken its name, and fees and deadlines change between our reviews. Confirm your LLC's status and the current requirements with the filing office or tax agency named on this page, and ask a lawyer about anything the LLC did while it was dissolved. In many states a missed deadline ends the right to reinstate, so do not wait.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified California 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.
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=23305Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 23305, Relief from suspension; certificate of revivor
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=23305aCal. Rev. & Tax. Code 23305a, Name endorsement; effect of revivor
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=23301Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 23301, Suspension for nonpayment
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=23301.5Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 23301.5, Suspension for failure to file a return
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=21020Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 21020, Notice preliminary to suspension
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP§ionNum=17713.10Cal. Corp. Code 17713.10, Suspension for failure to file a Statement of Information
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CORP§ionNum=17713.10.1Cal. Corp. Code 17713.10.1, Administrative cancellation
- ftb.ca.gov/help/business/my-business-is-suspended.htmlFranchise Tax Board, My business is suspended (last updated 12/23/2025)
- sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entities/faqsCalifornia Secretary of State, Business Entities FAQs (suspension/forfeiture)
- leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=RTC§ionNum=23305.1Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code 23305.1, Relief from contract voidability
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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.