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California LLC: Statement of Information and the $800 Annual Tax

California has no document called an annual report for LLCs. It has something stricter: a Statement of Information every two years, and an $800 tax every single year, collected by the Franchise Tax Board. Here is how each one works.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The Statement of Information (Form LLC-12)

Item	California rule
Fee	$20
First filing	Within 90 days of your registration date
After that	Every two years, during your filing period: the calendar month of your original filing, plus the five months before it
Late penalty	$250 for a delinquent Statement, collected by the Franchise Tax Board for the Secretary of State
Where	bizfile Online, the Secretary of State's portal
What it lists	Business address, managers or members, and your agent for service of process. It is public.

The Statement of Information is California's version of the annual report most states use. It keeps your public record current, and it is the filing that makes your registered agent's address a matter of public search, which is why the agent decision matters. File the first one as soon as your Articles are approved rather than waiting for day 89.

Skip it and the consequences stack up quietly: a $250 penalty per delinquent Statement, and, if the Statement stays unfiled, suspension. A suspended LLC cannot legally operate, defend itself in court, or enforce its contracts until it is revived, and banks freeze relationships with suspended entities. Suspension comes in two flavors in California: the Secretary of State suspends for the missing Statement, and the Franchise Tax Board suspends for unfiled returns or unpaid balances. The fix is called revivor, covered at the end of this page.

The $800 annual tax

Item	California rule
Amount	$800, every year
Who collects it	The Franchise Tax Board, not the Secretary of State
First payment due	15th day of the 4th month after you file with the Secretary of State
Later payments due	15th day of the 4th month of each tax year
How you pay	LLC Tax Voucher, FTB 3522
Applies even if inactive?	Yes. The FTB states the tax is due even if you are not conducting business, until you cancel the LLC.

Two different agencies, two different obligations, and founders constantly conflate them. The Secretary of State keeps your entity alive on paper. The Franchise Tax Board collects $800 a year for the privilege, plus regular income tax through the owners, plus the income-based LLC fee once California income reaches $250,000 (tiers are on the cost page). Pay the tax late and the FTB adds penalties and interest, as it does with any California tax.

A working California calendar

• Day 0: Articles approved. File the Statement of Information this week, not at day 90.
• Month 4, day 15: First $800 tax payment (FTB 3522). Then the same date every year.
• Month 6, day 15: If California income will reach $250,000, the estimated LLC fee (FTB 3536) is due.
• Every two years: Statement of Information again, $20.
• Every year: the LLC files its California return, Form 568, by its due date. The $800 tax voucher is a payment slip, not a substitute for the return.
• When you are done: Cancel the LLC formally. The $800 meter runs until you do.

Suspended? The revivor process

California does not reinstate with a single form; it revives. If the Secretary of State suspended you for the Statement of Information, file the delinquent Statement ($20) and pay the $250 penalty the FTB collects. If the Franchise Tax Board suspended you, the path is longer: file every past-due return, pay every balance (the $800 for each year, plus penalties and interest), then file FTB Form 3557, the Application for Certificate of Revivor. There is no flat revivor fee; the cost is whatever you owe. One hard deadline to know: an LLC left FTB-suspended for 60 consecutive months or more can be administratively cancelled by the FTB, after which there is no reviving it. Our dissolution guide covers closing properly so you never need this section.