California Foreign Registration · Cost
What it costs to register in California, line by line
The state charges $70 to register a foreign LLC in California, and we add $199 for preparing and filing it. A stock corporation pays $100 and a nonprofit $30. The state fee is only the beginning of the California bill, because a registered LLC owes the Franchise Tax Board $800 a year, so this page prices the first year as well as the filing.
Secretary of State registration fees
| Entity type | Filing | Charge |
|---|---|---|
| Limited liability company | Form LLC-5 | $70 |
| Stock corporation | Form S&DC-S/N | $100 |
| Nonprofit corporation | Form S&DC-S/N | $30 |
| Professional corporation | Form S&DC-PC | $100 |
| Limited partnership | Form LP-5 | $70 |
California does not price registration by the number of members or authorized shares; each entity type has one fee.
Paying the state for speed
| Service | State charge | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Filing online or by mail | No extra charge | Forms pages list 5 days or less for online filings and 10+ days for paper |
| 24-hour filing service | $350 | Online or drop-off in Sacramento; the answer is guaranteed within 24 hours, weekends and holidays excluded |
| Same-day filing service | $750 | Online or drop-off; the document must arrive by 9:30 a.m. and the answer comes by 4:00 p.m. |
| 4-hour filing service | $500 | Drop-off in Sacramento only, and the document must be precleared first |
| 24-hour preclearance | $500 | Drop-off only; a review before the intended filing date |
| Drop-off special handling | $15 | Per filing, kept whether the filing is approved or rejected |
The expedite tiers are for a contract signing or a bank account that is waiting on the certificate.
What our fee covers
$199 pays for our part of the job: going through your formation papers, deciding between Form LLC-5, Form S&DC-S/N and Form LP-5, checking the name for an alternate-name problem, ordering the home-state certificate, filling in every item, filing on bizfile Online and sending you the approved registration. It includes a California agent for service of process if you want ours.
Costs that sit outside the filing fee
The home-state certificate is paid to the home state that formed the company, not to California. A Delaware certificate of good standing costs $50; Wyoming issues its online certificate at no charge. Other states set their own price. The certificate must be recent, since California only takes one issued within 6 months of the filing.
After approval come the recurring costs. The Statement of Information is $20 for an LLC and $25 for a corporation. The Franchise Tax Board charges an LLC $800 a year, and an LLC whose California income reaches $250,000 pays a graduated LLC fee running from $900 to $11,790. Certified copies of a filed document cost $5 each, and a certificate of status is $5.
Worked examples with the state fees added up
| Scenario | State fees | Made up of |
|---|---|---|
| Delaware LLC, standard filing | $120 | $70 registration plus a $50 Delaware certificate |
| LLC with 24-hour filing service | $420 | $70 registration plus $350 for the 24-hour service |
| LLC with same-day filing service | $820 | $70 registration plus $750 for the same-day service |
| LLC delivered to the Sacramento counter | $85 | $70 registration plus $15 special handling |
| LLC, first year at the Secretary of State | $90 | $70 registration plus the first $20 Statement of Information |
| LLC, first year including the annual tax | $890 | $70 registration, $20 Statement of Information and the $800 tax |
| Stock corporation, first year at the Secretary of State | $125 | $100 registration plus the first $25 Statement of Information |
Totals leave out the home-state certificate except in the first row, and they leave out our fee, which checkout shows as its own line.
What a missed Statement of Information costs
An LLC that does not file its Statement of Information gets a delinquency notice. If nothing is filed within 60 days of that notice, the statute adds a $250 penalty (Corp. Code 17713.07(b)), so a late statement ends up costing $270 in state charges instead of $20. The notice itself tells the LLC it may ask for relief for reasonable cause or unusual circumstances.
The first-year picture
For an LLC registering today, expect three state-level bills in the first year: the registration, the Statement of Information inside 90 days, and the annual tax to the Franchise Tax Board. Because the tax is prepaid for the privilege of doing business, an existing foreign LLC whose normal due date has already gone by pays the tax at once on registering instead of waiting. A first-year exemption once existed for registrations in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but it has ended and does not apply to a registration filed now.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
California cost questions
Is the California state fee the same for every LLC?
Yes. $70 for Form LLC-5, whatever the size or number of members.
Does California charge a separate certificate fee?
No. The registration fee covers the filing and the certificate of registration. Certified copies are extra at $5 per document.
Do I pay the Franchise Tax Board when I register?
Not at the Secretary of State. The $800 tax is paid to the Franchise Tax Board, normally with FTB 3522, and it is owed by every LLC that holds a California registration.
Are special handling fees refundable?
No. The state keeps them whether a request is approved or rejected.
Our fee, plus the state fee at cost
Register in California
California$199
+ $70 Secretary of State fee
- Form LLC-5 for an LLC or the Statement and Designation by Foreign Corporation for a corporation
- A current certificate from your home state, which we order
- Submitted to Sacramento through bizfile Online
- A California agent for service of process: ours, or the one you name
- The certificate of registration, sent to you once issued
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Checkout lists our fee and the state fee as separate lines. The state fee is charged at cost. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Where these facts come from
- California Secretary of State, foreign LLC forms and fees
- California Corporations Code 17708.02 (application to register)
- California Secretary of State, Business Entities FAQs
- California Secretary of State, foreign corporation forms and fees
- California Secretary of State, foreign limited partnership forms and fees
- California Secretary of State, Form LP-5 (Application for Registration, Foreign LP)
- Franchise Tax Board, Form FTB 3522 instructions (LLC tax voucher)
- Franchise Tax Board, Form 568 booklet (annual LLC tax)
- California Secretary of State, special handling and expedited filing services
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- California Secretary of State, Form SI-550 (Statement of Information, stock and foreign corporations)
- Franchise Tax Board, limited liability company
- California Secretary of State, Form LLC-12 (Statement of Information) and instructions
- California Corporations Code 17713.07 (Statement of Information penalty)
- Franchise Tax Board, Form FTB 3522 instructions (LLC tax voucher)
Registering an out-of-state company in California?
Order online, and we prepare the filing, get the certificate from your home state and file in Sacramento.