How to Fill Out Form 568: California LLC Return, Fee, and Filing

To fill out Form 568, start with your LLC’s identifying information on Side 1, calculate your total California income on Schedule IW to determine whether you owe the LLC fee, then complete the sides and schedules that match your LLC’s structure — a disregarded single-member LLC fills out far less of the return than a multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership. Every California LLC that is organized in the state, registered with the Secretary of State, or doing business in California has to file this return each year with the Franchise Tax Board, even if it earned no income, as long as it has not formally canceled with the Secretary of State.¹²

What to Have in Front of You Before You Start

Form 568 pulls most of its numbers from your federal return, so finish federal first. Multi-member LLCs work from Form 1065; a single-member LLC owned by an individual works from the Schedule C or other federal reporting the owner uses. California mirrors many of the same income, deduction, and credit figures, and having the federal numbers next to you removes most of the guesswork.³

Pull together your California Secretary of State (SOS) file number and your federal employer identification number (FEIN). Newer LLCs may have a 12-character alphanumeric SOS ID beginning with the letter “B.” Both go near the top of the form, and an incorrect number can cause the FTB to reject the return outright.³

You’ll also want:

A profit-and-loss statement showing gross receipts, cost of goods sold, and all deduction figures for the tax year.
Each member’s legal name, address, taxpayer identification number, and ownership percentage.
Last year’s Form 568, for carryover items and year-over-year comparisons.
Copies of any FTB 3522 (annual tax voucher) and FTB 3536 (estimated fee) payments you already made.

Side 1: Entity Information and Tax Year

Enter the LLC’s legal name exactly as it appears on your Secretary of State registration. The FTB cross-references this name, and minor differences between the form and your SOS records cause processing delays.³ Below the name, put the current mailing address, the SOS file number, and the FEIN.

Enter the beginning and ending dates of the tax year. Most LLCs use the calendar year, January 1 through December 31; if your LLC has a fiscal year, use those dates instead. Wrong dates throw off every income figure on the return, so check them against your federal filing.

Line 1 on Side 1 asks for total California income. That figure comes from Schedule IW on Side 7, and it drives your LLC fee.

Schedule IW and the LLC Fee

Schedule IW is where you calculate the total California income used to determine the LLC fee. Complete it even if your income is well below the fee threshold, because the FTB uses Schedule IW to confirm whether the fee applies. Skipping it invites follow-up notices.³

For fee purposes, “total income” means gross income plus cost of goods sold. You do not subtract COGS before measuring where you fall in the tiers, which catches some product-based businesses off guard when they have high revenue but slim margins.¹

If total California income reaches $250,000 or more, the fee kicks in. The tiers, set by statute and unchanged since 2001, are:²

$250,000 to $499,999: $900
$500,000 to $999,999: $2,500
$1,000,000 to $4,999,999: $6,000
$5,000,000 or more: $11,790

Enter the fee on the designated line of Side 1 and reconcile it against any estimated fee payment you made with Form FTB 3536. Any balance is due when you file the return. The estimated fee itself is due by the 15th day of the sixth month of the tax year, which is June 15 for calendar-year LLCs; underpayment carries a 10 percent penalty, but paying at least the prior year’s full fee by that date puts you inside a safe harbor.⁴⁵

The $800 Annual Tax Is Separate

Every California LLC also owes an $800 annual tax, regardless of income.² You do not report or pay this tax on Form 568. It goes on Form FTB 3522 and is due by April 15 for calendar-year LLCs.⁶ The first-year waiver that ran from 2021 through 2023 has expired, so LLCs formed in 2024 or later owe the $800 starting in their first tax year. Confusing the $800 tax with the LLC fee is one of the most common filing mistakes.

Single-Member LLCs: Which Sides to Complete

If your LLC has one owner and is a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes, you still file Form 568, but the paperwork is lighter. A disregarded single-member LLC generally completes Side 1, Side 2, Side 3, and Side 7 (Schedule IW).³

The single member signs the consent on Side 3. With that consent in place, you do not prepare a Schedule K-1; the owner reports the LLC’s income and deductions on their personal return, typically Schedule C of Form 1040.³

If the single member is a nonresident and hasn’t signed the Side 3 consent, complete Schedule T on Side 4 as well.

Multi-Member LLCs: K-1s, Schedule Q, and Schedule R

A multi-member LLC prepares a Schedule K-1 (568) for each member and attaches copies to the return. Each K-1 reports that member’s share of income, deductions, and credits, along with the member’s legal name, address, taxpayer identification number, and year-end ownership percentage.⁷³

Capital accounts on each K-1 must use the tax basis method. That has been required since the 2021 tax year, so if you were previously using GAAP or Section 704(b) book, convert your records before preparing the K-1s.⁷

Schedule Q is a series of yes-or-no questions about the LLC’s operations: changes in ownership or control, member withdrawals, interests in other pass-through entities. Every answer is made under penalty of perjury. Read each question rather than defaulting to “no.”³

If the LLC has income from both inside and outside California, complete Schedule R (Apportionment and Allocation of Income) to determine the California-source portion.² Because the California-source figure feeds Schedule IW and the LLC fee calculation, do Schedule R first.

Nonresident Members: Consents and Withholding

Every nonresident member must sign Form FTB 3832, which grants California jurisdiction to tax that member’s share of California-source income. If the nonresident member has a spouse or registered domestic partner, that person signs too. If a nonresident member refuses to sign, the LLC itself pays tax on that member’s distributive share at the member’s highest marginal rate, and the bill falls on the LLC, not the member.⁸

Separately, when total California-source payments or distributions to a nonresident member exceed $1,500 in a calendar year, the LLC withholds 7 percent. Report the withholding on Form 592-PTE and give each affected member a Form 592-B showing the amount withheld.⁹

How to File the Return

California requires any business entity that prepares its return using tax preparation software to e-file. Under SB 711, enacted in late 2025, the state conforms to federal rules that lowered e-filing thresholds, so almost every LLC that isn’t filling out the form by hand must e-file.¹⁰

If you do file on paper, the mailing address depends on whether you are enclosing a payment. The only difference is the last four ZIP digits, so double-check before sealing the envelope:¹¹

Without payment: Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942857, Sacramento, CA 94257-0500
With payment: Franchise Tax Board, PO Box 942857, Sacramento, CA 94257-0501

If you owe a balance, the FTB accepts direct bank transfers through Web Pay at ftb.ca.gov and credit card payments through approved processors.

Deadlines, Extension, and Late Costs

A multi-member LLC taxed as a partnership files by the 15th day of the third month after the close of its tax year (March 15 for calendar-year filers). A single-member LLC owned by an individual or a non-pass-through entity files by the 15th day of the fourth month (April 15 for calendar-year filers). If the date falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day.¹²

The FTB automatically grants a seven-month extension to file, with no application required. The extension covers only the return. It does not extend the deadline to pay any tax or fee. If you expect a balance, send payment with Form FTB 3537 by the original due date to avoid penalties and interest.¹³

Late filing costs $18 per member for each month or partial month the return is overdue, up to 12 months. For a five-member LLC, that’s $90 per month, capped at $1,080, on top of any separate penalty for late payment.¹⁴

Stay delinquent long enough and a California-organized LLC faces suspension; an out-of-state LLC registered here faces forfeiture. A suspended LLC loses the right to defend lawsuits, enforce contracts, or conduct legal business, and any contract it signs while suspended can be voided by the other party. Reinstatement requires paying all back taxes, fees, penalties, and interest in full.¹⁵

1
Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Instructions for Form 568 Limited Liability Company Return of Income
2
Franchise Tax Board. Limited Liability Company
3
Franchise Tax Board. 2024 Instructions for Form 568 Limited Liability Company Return of Income
4
Franchise Tax Board. 2026 FTB 3536 Estimated Fee for LLCs Instructions
5
Franchise Tax Board. FTB Pub 1024 Penalty Reference Chart
6
Franchise Tax Board. 2026 Instructions for Form FTB 3522 LLC Tax Voucher
7
Franchise Tax Board. 2025 Members Instructions for Schedule K-1 568
8
Franchise Tax Board. 2023 Instructions for Form FTB 3832
9
Franchise Tax Board. Withholding on Nonresidents
10
Franchise Tax Board. e-File for Business
11
Franchise Tax Board. Mailing Addresses
12
Franchise Tax Board. Due Dates: Businesses
13
Franchise Tax Board. Extension to File
14
Franchise Tax Board. FTB 7268 LLC Limited Liability Company Collections Information
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Franchise Tax Board. 2023 Instructions for Form 568 Limited Liability Company Return of Income