You probably need to file other paper work later (like you do with a Corporation), but the actual articles you can file and be on your way. If your in LA or Sacramento you can drop them off at the Sec. Of States office for faster filing. If not, you mail them in. Hope that helps.
Yup, just have to get an address there. There are companies specifically setup for the purpose of opening businesses in other states. One major one is in Delaware, I think, where a tiny house has THOUSANDS of business registered at that address and some of them trace back to BIG corporations.
You will still pay tax in your state on your personal income but depending how the business is setup you might pay taxes to the state it is registered in if the money stays in the business.
Just Google search for "Delaware LLC" you will find it all. I say Delaware because it seems to be popular for this. So is Nevada and Wyoming I think.
I don't have a need for it yet so I don't do this but I can certainly see how it would be helpful. It's cheap too.
California: A $20 reporting fee and a statement of information are required 90 days after formation and then every two years. An annual $800 LLC tax is due 75 days after formation and every year thereafter. There is a minimum annual fee of $865 if the LLC's net income exceeds $250,000.
Question: so $800 yearly and another $865 only if net exceeds $250k correct?
No, not at all. Big companies like Microsoft, Google and many others do stuff like this too. You can do B&M stores in CA and register in another state.
You will then just need to file a foreign qualification in the state you will ACTUALLY be conducting business in and having employees in. Which is normally cheap.
California: A $20 reporting fee and a statement of information are required 90 days after formation and then every two years. An annual $800 LLC tax is due 75 days after formation and every year thereafter. There is a minimum annual fee of $865 if the LLC's net income exceeds $250,000.
Question: so $800 yearly and another $865 only if net exceeds $250k correct?
It sounds like it is just $65 more if your business is that big but I dont know CA law that well. It appears that foreign qualification of a business in CA is only $100. So maybe look into registering in Delaware for $100 or less and then file the foreign qualification in CA for another $100.
Maybe there are more fees Im missing as I have not looked into it very far but this seems the way to go from what I see so far.
California: A $20 reporting fee and a statement of information are required 90 days after formation and then every two years. An annual $800 LLC tax is due 75 days after formation and every year thereafter. There is a minimum annual fee of $865 if the LLC's net income exceeds $250,000.
Question: so $800 yearly and another $865 only if net exceeds $250k correct?
This seems to be the cheap route for opening a business in CA. You will still pay A tax on income derived from there BUT you should not have the $800 yearly fee. Also if you structure properly you may be able to flow your corporate income through Delaware tax free until you pay it out as a dividend to yourself then pay tax on it on your state income tax form for CA. That's what it appears like but you will want to check with a tax CPA in CA about that.
Last edited by temptation84; 10-25-2014 at 12:36 PM.