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FoundationsConcept 12 of 15

Part 1 of 3, 0 done
LLCTAX DAY

Rules · 14 min

Who sets the rules for your business?

Before your first sale you pick a legal shape for the business, and the taxes follow from it. Where you are decides the rest.

Ticket 01 · The guess

What does an empty year cost?

Say you form an LLC (a limited liability company) in California for your café, and in its first full year it makes nothing at all. What does the state still charge it for the year?

$400
$0$2,000
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

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Sources and every number (4)

Sources

  • Limited liability company: annual tax · California Franchise Tax Board, 2026
  • Limited Liability Companies - California (Domestic): forms and fees (Articles of Organization, Form LLC-1) · California Secretary of State, 2026
  • Form 205, Certificate of Formation, Limited Liability Company (instructions and filing fee) · Texas Secretary of State, 2026
  • LLC Fees · Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, 2026

Every number

  • $800ca.gov ·2026 · California's annual tax on every LLC doing business or organized in the state, at the time of writing.
  • $70ca.gov ·2026 · California's fee to file Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1), at the time of writing.
  • $300tx.us ·2026 · Texas's fee to file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC (Form 205), at the time of writing.
  • $125fl.gov ·2026 · Florida's fee for a new LLC: the filing fee plus the registered agent fee, at the time of writing.
  • $138.75fl.gov ·2026 · Florida's annual report fee for an LLC, filed each spring, at the time of writing.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Foundations
  • ·Before this: Whose money starts a business?
  • ·Next: What could go wrong?
Skip to the lesson

FoundationsConcept 12 of 15

Part 1 of 3, 0 done
LLCTAX DAY

Rules · 14 min

Who sets the rules for your business?

Before your first sale you pick a legal shape for the business, and the taxes follow from it. Where you are decides the rest.

Ticket 01 · The guess

What does an empty year cost?

Say you form an LLC (a limited liability company) in California for your café, and in its first full year it makes nothing at all. What does the state still charge it for the year?

$400
$0$2,000
Words to know

Spot something wrong?

Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

0 / 1000

We'll also send this page, the lesson, ticket 1, so we can find it. Nothing else. Privacy

·
Sources and every number (4)

Sources

  • Limited liability company: annual tax · California Franchise Tax Board, 2026
  • Limited Liability Companies - California (Domestic): forms and fees (Articles of Organization, Form LLC-1) · California Secretary of State, 2026
  • Form 205, Certificate of Formation, Limited Liability Company (instructions and filing fee) · Texas Secretary of State, 2026
  • LLC Fees · Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, 2026

Every number

  • $800ca.gov ·2026 · California's annual tax on every LLC doing business or organized in the state, at the time of writing.
  • $70ca.gov ·2026 · California's fee to file Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1), at the time of writing.
  • $300tx.us ·2026 · Texas's fee to file a Certificate of Formation for an LLC (Form 205), at the time of writing.
  • $125fl.gov ·2026 · Florida's fee for a new LLC: the filing fee plus the registered agent fee, at the time of writing.
  • $138.75fl.gov ·2026 · Florida's annual report fee for an LLC, filed each spring, at the time of writing.
  1. Lessons›
  2. Foundations
  • ·Before this: Whose money starts a business?
  • ·Next: What could go wrong?