California Foreign Registration · Wyoming LLC in California
Registering a Wyoming LLC in California
A Wyoming LLC that does business in California files Form LLC-5, pays $70 and attaches a Wyoming certificate of good standing issued within 6 months. Wyoming's yearly minimum does not reduce the California bill, because the Franchise Tax Board charges every registered LLC $800 a year. Our charge for the California filing is $199, added to the state fee.
Wyoming and California side by side
| Wyoming (home) | California (registration) | |
|---|---|---|
| Filing | Formation already done | Form LLC-5, $70 |
| Annual cost | Annual report and license tax, $60 minimum, due first day of your anniversary month | $800 LLC tax, due by the 15th day of the 4th month after the taxable year begins |
| Report | Wyoming annual report | Statement of Information every 2 years, $20 |
| Agent | A Wyoming registered agent | A California agent for service of process, separate |
| Good standing certificate | Free online from the Wyoming Secretary of State | Required, issued within the last 6 months |
The Wyoming certificate
Wyoming issues its certificate of good standing online without a fee, so it adds nothing to this registration. The certificate reports the LLC's standing at home, so bring the annual report and license tax current before ordering it; Wyoming's report is due first day of your anniversary month.
Completing Form LLC-5 for a Wyoming LLC
Enter the LLC name in item 1a as the Wyoming certificate prints it. In item 2, Wyoming is the jurisdiction, and the authority statement is pre-printed and left as it is. The principal office in item 3a can be anywhere with a street address. Item 4 is the California agent. A Wyoming registered agent does not serve California: the California agent must be a California resident or a registered corporate agent.
The cost comparison people ask about
Wyoming's yearly minimum for the annual report and license tax is $60. But once the LLC registers in California, it also pays $800 to the Franchise Tax Board and $20 for a Statement of Information every 2 years, plus the one-time $70. An LLC whose California income reaches $250,000 also owes a graduated LLC fee. The Wyoming saving applies to Wyoming, not to California activity.
Registration is not the same as California tax
A Wyoming LLC with no California registration can still owe the Franchise Tax Board if its California sales, property or payroll cross the Franchise Tax Board's thresholds, which are adjusted every year and listed on the registration test page. See the California registration test for how registration and tax differ.
Members who run the company
A common Wyoming structure has owners who live in other states and manage the LLC from there. The Franchise Tax Board's LLC instructions say a member of an LLC doing business in California is itself treated as doing business here when the member has any ability to influence or take part in the management of the LLC (Form 568 instructions). So a member who directs the California operations can have a personal tax filing question of their own, apart from the LLC's registration. That is a point for the LLC's accountant, and the registration does not change it.
Keeping both states current
Diary two calendars. Wyoming's report is tied to the anniversary of formation; California's Statement of Information follows the registration month and its six-month window; the Franchise Tax Board tax is due by the 15th day of the 4th month after the taxable year begins. A missed Wyoming report can put the LLC out of good standing at home, and California then asks for a certificate that no longer exists. Keep the Wyoming status clean for as long as the California registration stands.
Leaving California without closing Wyoming
When the LLC stops operating in California, cancel the California registration on Form LLC-4/7, which the state files for nothing. The Wyoming LLC continues. Cancelling matters because the $800 tax runs for each taxable year until the cancellation is filed. See the cancellation page for the steps.
Registering your Wyoming LLC in California
File the Wyoming annual report
So the home-state record is current.
Download the Wyoming certificate
Free online, valid for California for 6 months.
Arrange the California agent
A California resident or a registered corporate agent.
File Form LLC-5
With the $70 fee through bizfile Online.
Calendar California
Statement of Information inside 90 days and the FTB tax by the 15th day of the 4th month after the taxable year begins.
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.
Wyoming LLC in California questions
Can my Wyoming registered agent also be my California agent?
Only if that company is registered as a California corporate agent. A Wyoming appointment does not carry over.
Is the Wyoming certificate valid forever?
No. California takes a certificate of good standing issued within the last 6 months, so download it close to the filing date, not months ahead.
Does California treat a Wyoming LLC differently?
No. The fee is $70 and the annual tax is $800, the same as for any foreign LLC.
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)
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division
- Wyoming Secretary of State, foreign LLC application for certificate of authority and instructions
- Wyoming Secretary of State, business questions and answers
- California Secretary of State, Form LLC-12 (Statement of Information) and instructions
- Franchise Tax Board, limited liability company
- California Secretary of State, Business Entities fee schedule
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.