California Business Overview

Starting a Business in California

The Basics

We have prepared a number of helpful tips and suggestions for those looking to form a California LLC or a California corporation.  Prior to filing your articles or incorporation or articles of organization, we do a preliminary name search – which is included in our ordering process.  This must be done because you can waste valuable time if you submit a filing for a company name that is not available.  While a name reservation is not always necessary, we do preliminary name research prior to submitting any of our filings.

California Secretary of State
Document Filing Support Unit
P.O. Box 944228
Sacramento, CA 94244

Doing Business in California

Business Maintenance

All California Corporations and LLCs Must File: 

• Articles of Incorporation
  File your Articles of Incorporation or Articles of Organization with the California Secretary of State and pay the filing fee. California state processing can take up to 14 business days for corporations submitted by mail and 7 business days for LLCs filed online (the mailed filing option isn’t available for corporations), so you may want to consider faster options. California will process articles hand-delivered to its Secretary of State’s Sacramento office in around 8 business days if you pay a $15 counter drop-off fee. You can also pay the state $350 for 1-day expedited processing.
• Initial Statement of Information
  California corporations and LLCs must file the Initial Statement if Information within 90 days after formation. The initial fee is $25 for corporations or $20 for LLCs.
• Subsequent Statement of Information
  California business entities, including corporations and LLCs, have to file additional Statements of Information to stay compliant. California corporations must file and pay the $25 fee every year. California LLCs pay $20 and file the statement every other year.

California Business Taxes

Personal Income Tax
The maximum California individual income tax rate is 12.3%.

Corporate Business Tax
The tax rate for California corporations is 8.84% on taxable income.

California Franchise Tax
The minimum tax is $800.

California Business License

California does not require a state business license. We do suggest using CalGold to find out which local licenses and permits you will need.