California LLC Annual Report: Due Date, Fee and Late Penalty

California LLC statement of information rules at a glance

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Deadlines, penalties and dissolution rules are California's, read from its statutes and the pages of the California Secretary of State; the statutes are cited in the text.

How California's statement of information works

California splits the job most states do with one annual report across two agencies. The Secretary of State takes the Statement of Information (Form LLC-12): an initial one within 90 days of formation, then one every two years during the six-month window that ends on the last day of the formation month. The state fee is $20. The Franchise Tax Board takes the $800 annual LLC tax, due by the 15th day of the fourth month of the tax year, plus a gross-receipts fee for LLCs with California income over $250,000. Both run on their own calendars.

The Statement of Information asks for the LLC's principal office, mailing address, agent for service of process, the names and addresses of the managers (or the members if member-managed), the chief executive officer if there is one, and a description of the business. Since August 1, 2026 it is filed through a bizfile Online account that has been granted access to the entity's record.

The $20 for the statement does not vary, but California is one of three states whose yearly cost cannot be quoted as a single number, because the $800 tax and the income-based fee ride alongside it. The first-year $800 exemption that applied to LLCs formed in 2021 through 2023 has expired.

Who files it and what the form asks

Every California LLC on the state's active record owes the statement of information for each report year, whether or not it did any business; an LLC that has stopped trading still owes it until it files articles of dissolution. A member, manager or someone they authorize signs it, and in practice the owner, the registered agent or the company's accountant files it.

The form confirms what the state already holds: the principal office and mailing address, the registered agent and registered office, and the people who run the LLC, with the California-specific fields described above. What matters is that anything that changed during the year is corrected here, because the state sends its notices, including the next year's reminder, to the addresses on the report.

Changing the registered agent is best treated as a separate filing in California: the statement of information confirms the agent on record, and the state's statement of change names the new one. Owners who switch agents usually file the change first so the report shows the right agent. We can make the switch for you, and the California registered agent rules cover who may serve. Every state's change form and fee is in how to change a registered agent.

When the California statement of information is due

California keys the deadline to the LLC's own formation date: the statement of information is due on the last day of the anniversary month, every second year (counted from the formation year). Two LLCs formed in different months have different deadlines, which is why the state cannot put one date on a poster and why an owner who formed late in the year sometimes assumes the report is a January task when it is not. The formation date is on the articles the state returned and on its business search. The state starts accepting the report five months before the anniversary month.

There is no grace period: the day after the due date the report is late. California keeps accepting that year's report through December 31 of the report year; after that the consequences below take over.

Your first statement of information

The initial Statement of Information is due within 90 days of the date the articles were filed. After that the statement is due every two years, in the six-month window ending on the last day of the formation month, counted from the formation year: formed in 2026, the initial statement is due in 2026 and the next in 2028.

The state fee and the late penalty

California's fee is not one number: $800/year franchise tax + $20 report every 2 years. The state's own payment screen is the final word on what a particular LLC owes, which is why no one should quote it without the company's details.

The late penalty in California: $250, assessed by the Franchise Tax Board. The state's response to a missed report is otherwise the status change and dissolution process described next.

If you missed the California statement of information

A late Statement of Information draws a $250 penalty, assessed and collected by the Franchise Tax Board rather than the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State can suspend the LLC's powers until a current statement is filed. Lifting a Secretary of State suspension means filing the statement, for the $20 state fee, and settling the FTB penalty; an LLC whose status reads FTB suspended has back taxes to clear first, and both agencies must act before the LLC is in good standing again.

The ladder is the same everywhere: a late fee where the state has one, then loss of good standing (which blocks a certificate of good standing and the loans, contracts and registrations that need one), then administrative dissolution or revocation, then reinstatement. Our guide to reinstating a dissolved LLC walks through the steps and the state fees in every state, and we file reinstatements. Until the LLC is dissolved, the cheapest fix is almost always to file the report now.

Before you file the California statement of information

The filing itself takes minutes once the details are to hand; most of the time lost on a statement of information is spent hunting for them. Have ready:

• The LLC's California file or entity number, as it appears on the articles or on the California Secretary of State business search; the California Secretary of State requires an online account tied to the record, so set that up before the deadline week.
• The registered agent's current name and California street address; if the agent has changed, file the change first.
• The principal office and mailing address as they should read for the coming year.
• The names and addresses the California form asks for (above), spelled as the state has them.
• The company details that set the fee ($800/year franchise tax + $20 report every 2 years).
• The signer's name and capacity: member, manager or authorized person.

Save the state's confirmation when it arrives. It is the proof of filing a bank, a lender or a buyer will ask for, and the date on it is the date the state goes by.

How California compares with its neighbors

California's statement of information is due the last day of the anniversary month, with a fee that depends on the company. Next door:

• Oregon: an annual report due the anniversary date of formation ($100 state fee, no late fee).
• Nevada: an annual list due the last day of the anniversary month ($350 state fee, $175 late penalty).
• Arizona: no LLC annual report at all.

An LLC registered to do business in more than one of these states owes each state's report on each state's calendar; the formation state's filing never covers a foreign registration, and the due dates rarely line up.