Every California LLC owes an $800 annual tax to the Franchise Tax Board, and you pay it with Form FTB 3522, the LLC Tax Voucher. For calendar-year LLCs, the California LLC annual tax on Form FTB 3522 is due April 15. The charge applies whether your LLC made money, lost money, or did nothing at all, and it keeps coming every year until you formally cancel the LLC with the Secretary of State.1California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17941
Who Has to Pay
If your LLC is organized in California or registered to do business here, you owe the $800. If you’re doing business in California without registering, you still owe it.1California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17941 Revenue doesn’t change the number. Activity doesn’t change it. The $800 is a flat floor set by the state’s minimum franchise tax.2California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 23153
Two boundary points worth knowing before you plan around them. If your LLC’s first taxable year lasted 15 days or fewer and you did no business in those days, you don’t owe the annual tax or fee for that short year.3Franchise Tax Board. FTB Pub. 3556 Limited Liability Company Filing Information And the first-year exemption you may have read about has expired: it only covered LLCs organized between January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2024.4California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17941 An LLC formed in 2026 owes the full $800 for its first year.
When FTB 3522 Is Due
The annual tax is due on the 15th day of the 4th month of your LLC’s taxable year.1California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17941 Most LLCs use a calendar year, so for most people that’s April 15. Fiscal-year filers count four months from the start of their own accounting period.
New LLCs run on a different clock in year one. Your first taxable year begins the day you file your articles of organization with the Secretary of State, and the voucher is due by the 15th day of the 4th month after that date.5Franchise Tax Board. Limited Liability Company Form your LLC on June 18, and your first FTB 3522 payment is due September 15. Foreign LLCs that register or begin doing business in California after the 15th day of the 4th month of their taxable year owe the tax immediately upon registration.6California Taxes. Limited Liability Companies
One common mix-up: the FTB 3522 is a prepayment of this year’s annual tax, not a filing tied to your Form 568 income tax return. The return has its own deadline. Treating them as one filing is a fast way to miss the voucher date and start accruing penalties.
What to Put on the Voucher
FTB 3522 is a one-page voucher. You fill in a few identifiers so the FTB credits the payment to your LLC:7Franchise Tax Board. Instructions for Form FTB 3522 LLC Tax Voucher
- LLC name, exactly as it appears on file with the California Secretary of State
- SOS file number (the seven-digit number assigned when you registered)
- FEIN (your nine-digit Federal Employer Identification Number)
- The taxable year you’re paying for
Use black or blue ink on a paper voucher and print clearly. A name that doesn’t match the Secretary of State’s records can cause the payment to be misapplied. If you pay electronically through Web Pay, skip the paper voucher entirely.
How to Submit Payment
You have two options.
By mail, enclose a check with the completed voucher (don’t staple them together) and send it to:8Franchise Tax Board. About the Franchise Tax Board – Contact Us
Franchise Tax Board
PO Box 942857
Sacramento, CA 94257-0531
Electronically, use Web Pay for Businesses at ftb.ca.gov/pay. Link a business bank account, pick the voucher type, enter your LLC’s identifying details, and either pay immediately or schedule the payment up to a year ahead.7Franchise Tax Board. Instructions for Form FTB 3522 LLC Tax Voucher Don’t also mail the paper voucher if you’ve paid through Web Pay. Electronic funds withdrawal during e-filing is another option the FTB offers.9Franchise Tax Board. Payment Options
Penalties for Paying Late
California has two separate penalties, and both can apply.
If you file your return but pay late, the failure-to-pay penalty starts at 5% of the unpaid tax, then adds 0.5% per month until the balance is paid, capped at a combined 25%.10California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 19132 On the $800 tax, that’s $40 right away and $4 for each additional month, plus interest on top.
If you also fail to file the return, the failure-to-file penalty is much steeper: 5% of the tax owed per month, not per year, capped at 25%.11California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 19131 Both can run against you at once if you neither filed nor paid, though the FTB offsets them so you don’t get charged twice for the same months. The practical lesson: file on time even if you can’t pay, because the filing penalty is the larger one.
What Happens If You Keep Ignoring It
Unresolved tax, penalties, or missing returns can get your LLC suspended by the FTB. The Secretary of State can suspend you separately for not filing your Statement of Information, and both suspensions can be in effect at once.12Franchise Tax Board. My Business Is Suspended
A suspended LLC loses its legal powers in California. It can’t conduct business, sell or transfer real property, or defend itself in court.12Franchise Tax Board. My Business Is Suspended If someone sues your suspended LLC, you can’t respond until you fix the suspension. The liability shield you formed the LLC for doesn’t work during that window.
Reviving the LLC means filing every past-due return, paying all back taxes with penalties and interest, and then submitting a revivor request (Form 3557).13Franchise Tax Board. Application for Certificate of Revivor A Secretary of State suspension has to be cleared separately by filing the overdue Statement of Information.
How to Stop the Tax From Coming Back
The $800 bill shows up every year your LLC exists on paper, regardless of whether you’re using it. Filing a “final” tax return doesn’t stop it. The only way to end the obligation is to file a Certificate of Cancellation (Form LLC-4/7) with the Secretary of State.14California Secretary of State. Certificate of Cancellation Form LLC-4/7 There is no filing fee for cancellation.
A domestic LLC generally has to file a Certificate of Dissolution (Form LLC-3) first, or submit it with the cancellation. All final California tax returns need to be filed or on their way to being filed. If your LLC never actually operated and you catch it within a year of forming, the Short Form Cancellation (Form LLC-4/8) is available, and using it means you won’t owe the $800 for that first year.5Franchise Tax Board. Limited Liability Company If you’re winding down, file the cancellation paperwork before the next taxable year begins. Any year your LLC was active, even briefly, triggers another $800.
One Thing FTB 3522 Doesn’t Cover
If your LLC’s total California-source income reaches $250,000 or more, you owe an additional fee under a separate statute, paid using Form FTB 3536, not FTB 3522.15California Legislative Information. California Revenue and Taxation Code 17942 That fee runs from $900 up to $11,790 depending on the income bracket and is due by the 15th day of the 6th month of the current tax year.16Franchise Tax Board. When to File It’s a separate payment from your $800 annual tax, with its own voucher and its own deadline.