Last updated: 2026-08-13 · Reviewed by the CorpFacts editorial team
Two separate obligations get confused with each other constantly, and missing either one has the same consequence. The Statement of Information goes to the Secretary of State. The $800 franchise tax goes to the Franchise Tax Board. They have different deadlines, different rules and different agencies, and filing one does nothing for the other.
Who must file
- Corporation Statement of Information (annual) — applies to corporation, nonprofit.
- LLC Statement of Information (biennial) — applies to llc.
- Minimum franchise tax — applies to corporation, llc, lp.
When it is due
- Corporation Statement of Information (annual)
Due every year at the end of the month you registered in. The filing window is that month plus the 5 months before it, so it opens 6 months early. - LLC Statement of Information (biennial)
Due every OTHER year at the end of the month you registered in — in years matching the year you registered, so an entity registered in an odd year files in odd years. The window is that month plus the 5 months before it. - Minimum franchise tax
Due on the 15th day of the 4th month of your taxable year — April 15 if your tax year is the calendar year.
Work out your own date
Optional. This is worked out in your browser — the date you type is not sent anywhere and is not stored.
What it costs
Corporation Statement of Information (annual)
- $20
Government Code § 12186 sets the statement-of-information filing fee at $20 for domestic corporations and $20 for foreign corporations. ⚠ The Secretary of State publishes a $25 total for stock corporations; the $5 difference is described elsewhere as a disclosure fee, which we have NOT been able to verify against a readable statute or fee schedule — so the statutory figure is what is stated here and the page links the Secretary of State’s own fee page for the amount charged.
LLC Statement of Information (biennial)
- $20
Filing changes to a statement of information: no fee.
Minimum franchise tax
- $800
A corporation that incorporates or qualifies to do business in California on or after January 1, 2000 is not subject to the minimum franchise tax for its first taxable year. That first-year exemption does not extend to limited liability companies or limited partnerships.
How to file
File the statement of information with the California Secretary of State: bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov
File the annual franchise tax with the California Franchise Tax Board: www.ftb.ca.gov
If you miss it
- Corporation Statement of Information (annual)
Failure to file may result in penalties assessed by the Franchise Tax Board and suspension or forfeiture of the entity’s powers, rights and privileges. - LLC Statement of Information (biennial)
Failure to file may result in penalties assessed by the Franchise Tax Board and suspension or forfeiture of the entity’s powers, rights and privileges. - Minimum franchise tax
Unpaid tax accrues penalties and interest and can lead to suspension or forfeiture of the entity’s powers, rights and privileges.
What the filing asks for
Corporation Statement of Information (annual)
- The name of the corporation and the Secretary of State file number
- The names and complete business or residence addresses of the incumbent directors, and the number of board vacancies if any
- The names and complete business or residence addresses of the chief executive officer, secretary and chief financial officer
- The street address of the principal executive office, and the mailing address if different
- If the principal executive office is outside California, the street address of the principal business office in California, if any
- A statement of the general type of business that is the principal business activity
- A statement of whether any officer or director has an outstanding final judgment for a wage or labor violation
- The agent for service of process — a natural person resident in California, or a qualified corporate agent
Required by statute — source, checked .
Check your entity's current status
We hold the California business register , as of . Whether a filing has actually been recorded is a question about the register, not about the deadline — search the California register to see what the state currently publishes about your entity.
Which one you owe, when, and why the dates never line up
The Statement of Information keys to YOUR registration month, not to the calendar. The filing period is a six-month window: the month the entity was originally registered plus the five months before it, so an entity registered in September files between April and September. Corporations file every year. Limited liability companies file every other year, and the years alternate from the year of registration rather than from any fixed cycle: an LLC registered in an odd-numbered year files in odd-numbered years, permanently. That is the detail that most often produces a missed filing, because the year an LLC files in is a property of the LLC and not of the calendar.
The franchise tax has nothing to do with any of that. It is due on the 15th day of the fourth month of the taxable year — April 15 for a calendar-year filer — and it is owed whether or not the business earned anything. The first-year relief is asymmetric: a corporation that incorporated or qualified on or after January 1, 2000 is exempt for its first taxable year, and that exemption does not extend to limited liability companies or limited partnerships. A new LLC owes the $800 where a new corporation does not.
Being a single-member LLC does not change either obligation. For federal income tax the IRS treats a single-member LLC as a disregarded entity — its activities are reported on the owner’s own return, and it generally uses the owner’s Social Security number or EIN for income-tax reporting. But “disregarded” is a federal income-tax classification and nothing more: the entity still exists in California’s register, still files its own Statement of Information, and still owes its own $800.
The same split decides which number you use where. The IRS requires a single-member LLC to use its OWN name and EIN for employment taxes, and again to register for and report excise taxes on Form 637 — so an LLC with employees needs an EIN even though its income is reported under the owner’s number. If you are not sure which identifiers exist for your entity, the IRS issues EINs free and we publish a lookup for the public ones.
The first Statement of Information is separate from the recurring one: a newly registered entity files within 90 days of registering, and the annual or biennial cycle runs from there. Filing changes to a statement already on file costs nothing.
Information, not tax or legal advice. Filing is free to do yourself using the links above.