California LLC receipts $0 – $249,999: $800 total
Quick answers
- What does a California LLC with $0 – $249,999 in receipts pay?
- $0 tier fee plus the $800 annual tax, $800 total. Estimated by June 15 via Form 3536.
- Would an S-corp pay less California tax at $0 – $249,999 of receipts?
- No. Below $250,000 of receipts the LLC pays only the $800 minimum, and an S-corp also pays at least $800.
The math
Total California income (gross receipts + COGS on Schedule IW) of $0 – $249,999 lands the $0 tier. Add the flat $800 (§ 17941) for $800. Deductions and net losses do not reduce either number.
When and how to pay
$800 via FTB 3522 by April 15; the $0 estimated via Form 3536 by June 15 (prior-year safe harbor kills the 10% penalty); true up on Form 568.
The cliff at the edges of this tier
The fee is a step, not a rate, so the edges matter more than the middle. This is the no-fee tier: only the $800 applies. At the top, reaching $250,000 moves the fee to $900 — another $900. Project the year's receipts before June 15 so the Form 3536 estimate lands in the right tier — or pay at least last year's fee to stay inside the safe harbor.
LLC or S-corp at this level?
At the state level, never an S-corp in this tier: the LLC pays only the $800 minimum and an S-corp pays at least $800 too. Any case for an S election here rests on federal self-employment tax savings, which usually need profit well above a reasonable salary.
Five years in this tier
An LLC that stays here pays $4,000 to the FTB over five years before any income tax on its owners — $4,000 of it the $800 minimum, the rest the § 17942 fee. Compare Wyoming ($62 a year) and Delaware ($400) only if the business genuinely has no California presence: California-sourced receipts are taxed here regardless of where the LLC was formed.
Try your own receipts
Other fee tiers
Sources
- Cal. Rev. & Tax Code §§ 17941–17942; FTB Form 3536/568 + Schedule IW instructions