California LLC Tax and Fee Calculator
A California LLC with $950,000 of total income owes $3,300 for 2026: the $800 annual tax plus a $2,500 LLC fee. The fee jumps by $3,500 at $1,000,000.
Last reviewed
Your LLC's tax, fee and dates
Tax and fee for the year
$3,300
Annual tax
$800
LLC fee
$2,500
Your LLC owes $3,300 for its 2026 taxable year: the $800 annual tax and a $2,500 fee on $950,000 of total California income.
Pay the tax by April 15, 2026 and the fee estimate by June 15, 2026, then file Form 568 by March 15, 2027.
Your $900 estimate is at least last year's $900 fee, so no penalty applies; $1,600 is left for the return.
$50,000 more total income would reach $1,000,000 and raise the fee by $3,500.
Your LLC
- total income = $760,000 + $190,000 = $950,000
- fee = $2,500 (band $500,000 to $999,999)
- annual tax = $800
- estimate $900 ≥ last year's $900, so penalty = $0.00
- left for Form 568 = $2,500 − $900 = $1,600
- total = $800 + $2,500 = $3,300
The LLC fee by total California income
| Total California income | LLC fee | Tax and fee | Fee jump at the start | Share at the start | Share at the end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $250,000 | $0 | $800 | None | No income | 0.32% |
| $250,000 to $499,999 | $900 | $1,700 | +$900 | 0.68% | 0.34% |
| $500,000 to $999,999your band | $2,500 | $3,300 | +$1,600 | 0.66% | 0.33% |
| $1,000,000 to $4,999,999 | $6,000 | $6,800 | +$3,500 | 0.68% | 0.14% |
| $5,000,000 or more | $11,790 | $12,590 | +$5,790 | 0.25% | Falls with income |
At $950,000, the tax and fee are 0.35% of total income. From $250,000 up, the share is highest where a band starts: 0.68% at $250,000 and $1,000,000.
Your 2026 payment and filing dates
| Step | Form | The 15th | Last day | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual tax | FTB 3522 | Wed, Apr 15, 2026 | Wed, Apr 15, 2026 | $800 |
| Fee estimate | FTB 3536 | Mon, Jun 15, 2026 | Mon, Jun 15, 2026 | $900 paid of $2,500 |
| Return and rest of the fee | Form 568 | Mon, Mar 15, 2027 | Mon, Mar 15, 2027 | $1,600 |
| Extended date to file | Form 568 | Fri, Oct 15, 2027 | Fri, Oct 15, 2027 | File only, pay nothing |
None of these dates falls on a weekend or a California holiday. The extension gives more time to file, not to pay.
What other fee estimates would cost
| Estimate paid | 10% penalty | Fee left for Form 568 | Tax, fee and penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0nothing paid | $250.00 | $2,500 | $3,300 + $250.00 |
| $899$1 under last year's fee | $160.10 | $1,601 | $3,300 + $160.10 |
| $900last year's fee, yours | $0.00 | $1,600 | $3,300 |
| $2,500the whole fee | $0.00 | $0 | $3,300 |
Paying last year's $900 fee by June 15, 2026 avoids the penalty on the whole $2,500 fee; $899 costs $160.10.
How the $800 tax and the LLC fee work
California charges a limited liability company two amounts a year. The first is the annual tax. Revenue and Taxation Code (R&TC) section 17941(a) sets it at the figure in section 23153(d), "a minimum franchise tax of eight hundred dollars ($800)." Section 17941(c) makes it due "on or before the 15th day of the fourth month of the taxable year," so April 15 for a calendar year. You pay it with form FTB 3522, before the year's income is known.
The second is the LLC fee of section 17942. It depends on total California income, and each band has one flat fee, not a rate. The fee is $0 under $250,000, $900 from $250,000, $2,500 from $500,000, $6,000 from $1,000,000 and $11,790 from $5,000,000 up. Section 17943 has kept those amounts since the 2001 taxable year, "notwithstanding the results of any study prepared by the Franchise Tax Board." No yearly table moves them.
The fee is paid in two steps. Section 17942(d)(1) has it "estimated and paid on or before the 15th day of the sixth month of the current taxable year," with form FTB 3536. Whatever is still owed goes with Form 568, the LLC's return. For the default 2026 calendar year, that means April 15 for the tax, June 15 for the estimate and March 15, 2027 for the return.
What counts as total California income
Section 17942(b)(1)(A) defines total income as "gross income, as defined in Section 24271, plus the cost of goods sold that are paid or incurred in connection with the trade or business of the taxpayer." Gross income already has the cost of goods sold taken off sales. Adding it back means that, for a business that sells goods, total income is close to its sales. Profit does not enter at all.
Take three LLCs, each with $150,000 of gross income. A consultant with no cost of goods sold has $150,000 of total income and owes $800. A shop that also spent $250,000 on the goods it sold has $400,000 and owes $1,700. A wholesaler with $1,050,000 of goods has $1,200,000 and owes $6,800, even if its other costs leave it with a loss.
Only income from California counts. Section 17942(b)(1)(B) assigns sales to the state by the rules of sections 25135 and 25136, the rules a business uses on Schedule R. Income an LLC gets as a member of another LLC that already paid the fee on it is left out.
Why one dollar can change the fee
Because each band charges one flat fee, the fee jumps where a band starts. At $999,999 of total income the fee is $2,500; one dollar more makes it $6,000, a rise of $3,500.
So the tax and fee take a larger share of a small LLC's income. They are 0.68% of income at $1,000,000 but 0.14% at $4,999,999, the same $6,800 spread over five times the income. The fee chart above gives each band's share at its start and its end.
When a due date falls on a weekend or holiday
The FTB's instructions for form FTB 3522 say: "When the due date falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline to file and pay without penalty is extended to the next business day." Government Code section 6707 says the same of a document due at a state agency on "a Saturday or holiday." Section 6700 lists the state's holidays, and section 6701 adds a Monday for some that fall on a Sunday.
Of the holidays set by a date or a weekday, only Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the third Monday in February can fall on the 15th or on the Monday after a weekend 15th. So in 2025, June 15 was a Sunday, and the fee estimate was due Monday, June 16, 2025. For a year that begins October 1, 2027, the 15th day of the fourth month is Saturday, January 15, 2028. The next Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, so the tax is due Tuesday, January 18, 2028.
Section 6700 also lists Lunar New Year and Diwali, which follow lunar calendars, and Good Friday from noon to 3 p.m. The page does not move a date for those, so the date it shows is never later than the law allows.
The tax, fee and penalty as formulas
total income = gross income + cost of goods sold (Schedule IW line 17) fee = $0 under $250,000; $900 from $250,000; $2,500 from $500,000; $6,000 from $1,000,000; $11,790 from $5,000,000 annual tax = $800 ($400 in a first year that begins in 2027 to 2029); $0 when exempt penalty = 10% × (fee − estimate paid) when an estimate is due and short of the fee; $0 if, after the first year, the estimate is at least last year's fee due date = the 15th of the month, or the next business day
Worked examples
A growing LLC. Last year its total income was in the first band, so its fee was $900. This year it has $1,500,000, so the fee is $6,000 and the total is $6,800. An estimate of $900 by June 15, 2026 meets last year's fee: no penalty, and $5,100 is due with the return. An estimate of $899 loses that, and the penalty is $510.10.
A one-member LLC owned by a person. It files Form 568 by the 15th day of the fourth month after its year ends, a month later than a partnership. For the default 2026 figures that is April 15, 2027. With an extension it can file by October 15, 2027, but the fee is still due in April.
A one-member LLC owned by an S corporation. Its return is due March 15, 2027, like a partnership's, but its extension runs only to September 15, 2027. The FTB's due dates page gives that owner's extended date as the "15th day of the 9th month after the close of your tax year."
Check your Form 568 and form FTB 3536
Your figures follow the order of Form 568. Schedule IW, on the form's seventh side, adds up total California income on line 17. "Line 17 may not be a negative number," and it goes on Form 568, line 1: $950,000 in the default case. Line 2 is the fee, $2,500, and line 3 the annual tax. The form asks for "Whole dollars only," which is why this page does too.
The tax itself is not mailed with the return. The Form 568 Booklet says "do not send the $800 annual tax with Form 568," since it was already paid with form FTB 3522. The payments line then counts that tax and the $900 estimate, so $1,600 of the fee is left to pay when you file.
On form FTB 3536, the estimate is the fee you expect to put on line 2. The FTB's penalty page says the penalty applies when you "did not pay the lesser of" this year's fee or "100% of the required LLC fee for the preceding year." Section 17942(d)(2) sets it at 10% of the whole underpayment, not only the part under last year's fee. So $899 paid against last year's $900 fee costs $160.10 on the $1,601 still owed.
When the tax or fee works differently
A new LLC's first year
The FTB's form FTB 3522 instructions say "The first taxable year of an LLC begins when the LLC files its articles of organization with the SOS." The tax is due on the 15th day of the fourth month counting that month. The first-year waiver of section 17941(g)(1)(A) covered only LLCs formed "on or after January 1, 2021, and before January 1, 2024." A first year that begins in 2024 to 2026 owes the full annual tax.
Section 17941(g)(2), added by a 2026 law, sets the tax at "four hundred dollars ($400) for its first taxable year" for years that begin in 2027 to 2029. An LLC formed in 2027 with $180,000 of total income owes $400 for that year.
A first year that starts in August or later ends before its sixth month. The form FTB 3536 instructions say then "no estimated fee payment is due," and the fee goes with the return. In a first year that is not that short, the estimate has no earlier fee to compare with. This page reads section 17942(d)(2) as giving a first year no safe harbor: nothing paid on a $2,500 fee costs $250.00. If the missing year's fee counted as zero, no penalty would apply; section 17942(d)(2) leaves that open.
Forming late in December: a year of 15 days or less
Section 17946 says "A limited liability company shall not be subject to the taxes and fees imposed by this chapter if the limited liability company did no business in this state during the taxable year and the taxable year was 15 days or less." An LLC formed on December 16, 2026 has a first year of 16 days, so it owes $800 by March 15, 2027 and another $800 for 2027 by April 15, 2027.
Formed a day later, with no business in December, its 15-day first year owes nothing, and 2027 costs $800. Formed on January 1, 2027, its first year is 2027 itself, so it pays the $400 first-year tax. The December LLC does not get that rate: its first year began in 2026.
A deployed owner's LLC
Under section 17941(f), an LLC "solely owned by a deployed member of the United States Armed Forces" owes no tax for a year the owner is deployed and the LLC "operates at a loss or ceases operation." It must be a small business, with "two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or less" of total California income. The Form 568 Booklet says to "enter zero on line 2 and line 3 of Form 568" for this exemption, so no fee is owed either.
For an LLC owned by the deployed member alone, at $180,000 the exemption leaves $0 to pay. At $950,000, it does not apply, and the full $3,300 is due. The exemption ends for taxable years that begin on or after January 1, 2030.
Paying or filing late
Section 19132 adds "Five percent of the total tax unpaid" when a payment is late, then "0.5 percent per month" of what is still unpaid for each further month or part of one, "not to exceed 40 months." On the $800 tax that is $40 at once and $4 a month, and the total stops at $200, 25% of it. The FTB's penalty page says that for an LLC this penalty "is computed on the underpayment of annual tax, LLC fee, and non-consenting non-resident (NCNR) tax, if applicable." Interest runs too.
A late return costs more. Section 19131 adds 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of one, up to 25%, counted from the original due date once the extended date has passed. On top of that, section 19172 charges "Eighteen dollars ($18), multiplied by" the number of members for each month the return is late "(but not to exceed 12 months)." An LLC with 2 members that files 3 months after its extended date owes $108. For the federal partnership return's own penalty, use the partnership late filing penalty calculator.
Closing the LLC, and LLCs owned by the same people
The FTB's LLC page says of the $800 tax: "This yearly tax will be due, even if you are not conducting business, until you cancel your LLC." Section 17947 spares the next year's tax when the LLC files a timely final return, does no more business and files its cancellation "before the end of the 12-month period beginning with the date the final annual tax return was filed." An LLC that cancels within a year of forming can use the short form, and the FTB's LLC page says "Your LLC will not be subject to the annual $800 tax for its first tax year."
Splitting a business into several LLCs to stay under a band does not always work. Under section 17942(b)(2), the FTB may add up the income of LLCs in which the same people own "more than 50 percent of the capital interests or profits interests," if they were formed mainly to cut the fee. If your LLC also does business in Texas, the Texas franchise tax calculator works out that state's tax.
Assumptions and limits
- Total California income is whole dollars, as Form 568 asks, and already assigned to California. The page does not work out Schedule R.
- Unless you choose the 15-day year, each taxable year after the first is 12 months that start on the 1st of the month you choose. A first year starts in the month the LLC filed and ends in December. The 15-day year also needs no business in California that year, which the page takes on your word.
- A one-member LLC uses its owner's taxable year, as section 18633.5(i)(4) says it should.
- The deployed-owner exemption needs an LLC solely owned by a deployed member of the Armed Forces that runs at a loss or closes. The page applies it only to an LLC owned by 1 person with $250,000 or less of total income, and takes your word for the rest.
- Dates move past Saturdays, Sundays and the holidays of Government Code sections 6700 and 6701 set by a date or a weekday. They do not move past Lunar New Year, Diwali or the Good Friday afternoon.
- The page leaves out the pass-through entity elective tax, the tax for members who do not consent, series LLCs, an LLC taxed as a corporation and the 2021 to 2023 waiver years.
These figures are estimates for learning and planning, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Terms of use.
What to do with your figures
Pay at least last year's fee as your sixth-month estimate. With last year's fee at $900, paying it by June 15, 2026 avoids the penalty though the fee is $2,500; $899 would cost $160.10. For your federal payments that quarter, use the quarterly estimated tax calculator.
Watch the band edges near the year's end. At the default figures you are $50,000 under $1,000,000, where the fee rises by $3,500. The LLC's profit is taxed again on your own return, so check that too with the California income tax calculator.
Form a new LLC after the year turns if you can wait. Formed on January 1, 2027 it owes $400; formed on December 16, 2026 it owes $1,600 by April 2027. The date difference calculator counts the days of a short first year.
Weigh the fee against the payroll tax an S corporation could save once the fee reaches $2,500 or more. The S corporation payroll tax savings calculator compares that tax, and the self-employment tax calculator shows what you pay now.
Questions about the California LLC tax and fee
Do I have to pay the $800 California LLC tax in the first year?
Yes, if the first year begins in 2024 to 2026, since the waiver covered only LLCs formed in 2021 to 2023. For a first year that begins in 2027 to 2029, the tax is $400. A first year of 15 days or less with no business owes nothing.
Is the California LLC fee based on gross receipts or net income?
Neither exactly: it is based on gross income plus cost of goods sold, which for a seller is close to its sales. A wholesaler with $1,200,000 of total income owes $6,800 even at a loss. Expenses other than the goods sold are never subtracted.
When are the $800 tax and the LLC fee due?
For the 2026 calendar year, the tax is due April 15, 2026 and the fee estimate June 15, 2026. The rest of the fee goes with Form 568: March 15, 2027, or April 15, 2027 when one person or C corporation owns the LLC. A date on a weekend moves to the next business day, so the 2025 estimate was due June 16, 2025.
What is the penalty for underpaying the LLC fee estimate?
It is 10% of the fee not paid by the 15th day of the sixth month. The FTB's penalty page puts it as "10% of the underpaid fee." After the first year, it does not apply if the estimate is at least last year's fee; with nothing paid on a $2,500 fee, it is $250.00.
Does a single-member LLC pay the $800 tax and file Form 568?
Yes. Section 18633.5(i) has a one-member LLC file a return that shows its tax and fee, and it owes both like any LLC. Owned by a person, it files by April 15, 2027 for the 2026 calendar year.
What is the 15-day rule of section 17946 for a California LLC?
A taxable year of 15 days or less with no business in California owes no tax or fee. An LLC formed on December 17, 2026 has a 15-day first year, so it owes nothing for 2026. One formed on December 16 owes $800.
What is the penalty for paying the California LLC fee late?
Section 19132 starts at 5% of the unpaid amount and adds 0.5% for each further month, for up to 40 months, so it stops at 25%. On the default $1,600 left for the return, that is $80 at once and $8 a month, at most $400. Interest is charged on top.
Does the California LLC fee go up with inflation?
No. Section 17943 keeps the fee amounts the same each year, with no change for prices. The fee on $950,000 of total income is $2,500 in every year this page covers.
Sources
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17941, annual tax of a limited liability company (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17942, LLC fee by total income and the estimated fee (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17943, fee amounts kept from 2001 (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17946, taxable year of 15 days or less (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 17947, final return and cancellation (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 18633.5, LLC return and its due date (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 19131, penalty for a late return (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 19132, penalty for late payment (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 19172, penalty per member for a late partnership return (current version)
- California Revenue and Taxation Code section 23153, minimum franchise tax (current version)
- California Government Code section 6700, state holidays (current version)
- California Government Code section 6701, holidays that fall on a Sunday or Saturday (current version)
- California Government Code section 6707, filing deadline on a Saturday or holiday (current version)
- California FTB, 2025 Limited Liability Company Tax Booklet (Form 568 Booklet) (page modified Jun 17, 2026)
- California FTB, 2026 Instructions for Form FTB 3522, LLC Tax Voucher (page modified Dec 15, 2025)
- California FTB, 2026 Instructions for Form FTB 3536, Estimated Fee for LLCs (page modified Dec 15, 2025)
- California FTB, Limited liability company (page modified Mar 5, 2026)
- California FTB, Due dates: businesses (page modified Mar 18, 2026)
- California FTB, Penalties and interest (page modified Jun 17, 2026)
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