California — statewide
California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division
In short
California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division issues 5 permits we publish for California — statewide, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of Information (LLC)only if it applies to you | California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division | $20 per filing, biennial | biennial | 2026-09-03 |
| Articles of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division | $70 one-time filing | no expiry, but a Statement of Information is due biennially | 2026-09-03 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division | $100 one-time filing | no expiry, but a Statement of Information is due annually | 2026-09-03 |
| Statement of Information (Corporation)only if it applies to you | California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division | $25 per filing, annual | annual | 2026-09-03 |
| General Business License — California position (city or county, not state) | California Secretary of State, Business Programs Division | No fee | set by the issuing city or county | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Statement of Information (LLC)
$20 every two years for Form LLC-12, and the penalty for forgetting is twelve and a half times the fee: the Franchise Tax Board imposes a $250 penalty for failing to file. The initial statement is due within 90 days of registering. Reporting a change between filing periods costs nothing, so there is no reason to delay one. A corporation files the equivalent annually at $25.
Articles of Organization (LLC)
$70 to file Form LLC-1, and it is the cheapest part of forming a California LLC by a wide margin. The cost that catches people is the Franchise Tax Board's $800 annual tax, which is due for the FIRST year as well — the waiver that removed it applied only to tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2021 and before 1 January 2024, and it has lapsed, so a great deal of advice still circulating is wrong on this point. Budget $70 to the Secretary of State and $800 to the FTB by the 15th day of the 4th month after you register. Forming a corporation instead costs $100. A sole proprietor forms nothing and pays neither.
Articles of Incorporation
$100 for articles providing for shares — the figure to compare against $70 for an LLC. A nonprofit filing articles that do not provide for shares pays $30. One difference from the LLC worth knowing before choosing: a newly incorporated corporation is exempt from the $800 minimum franchise tax in its first taxable year, and that exemption has no stated sunset, whereas the equivalent LLC waiver expired for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2024. The corporation also files its Statement of Information annually rather than biennially.
Statement of Information (Corporation)
$25 a year for Form SI-200 — $20 filing plus a $5 disclosure fee. Annual rather than the LLC's biennial, which is the single most-missed difference between the two structures in California: an incorporated business files this five times in the period an LLC files twice. Amending between periods is free.
General Business License — California position (city or county, not state)
The state's Office of the Small Business Advocate states in its set-up guide that 'Most local governments require a business license': a business inside an incorporated city gets it from the city, and one in an unincorporated area gets it from the county. That guide names no statewide general business license, and CalGOLD, the state's official permit-assistance tool, routes it the same way, so this record carries no state fee. The figure that applies is your city's or county's, and both the fee and the renewal cycle differ between neighbouring jurisdictions.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- California — statewide
- Phone
- (916) 657-5448
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- California Office of the Small Business Advocate — setting up your business in CaliforniaGovernor's Office of Business and Economic Development · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- California Secretary of State Business Entities Fee Schedule (BE FEES, Rev. 06/2018)California Secretary of State · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other California statewide offices
- California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch
- California Board of Barbering and Cosmetology
- California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division
- California Department of Tax and Fee Administration
- California Franchise Tax Board
- California Veterinary Medical Board
- Contractors State License Board
California jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.