In the state of California, you must pay $800 annually for any active LLC. You can pay it online easily. Here are the hidden SMB docs.
Time to fork it over. Photo by Emil Kalibradov on Unsplash
Go to https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/business/types/limited-liability-company/index.html#Annual-Tax
In the middle of the page, find the heading Paying Your Annual Tax. There are two online options:
- Bank Account (Web Pay): No fee, paid through a government website (I chose this one)
- Credit Card: 2.3% credit card fee, paid through a third party
Click Use Web Pay Business.
Select your business type. I’m filed as an S Corp for tax purposes, but my company is still listed as an LLC here.
Find your company entity ID. This is not your EIN. Go to https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business and search by your company name. The entity ID is the long number in parentheses next to your business name in the search results.
From there, it’s just enter your information, your business information and the routing number and account number for the bank account you want to use to pay.
It’s not hard, but hopefully this saves someone a few minutes of futzing around.