A practical pointer list for California-based clients. Start with the state resources at the top; drop to the county list for local business tax / DBA filings; read the Be Alert section if you receive an official-looking letter asking for a fee — most such letters are misleading solicitations, not real filings.

California State

California Secretary of State — bizfile Online — file Statements of Information, formations, dissolutions, and every corporate/LLC filing directly with the state. Statements of Information cost $25 for corporations, $20 for LLCs. Any letter charging you more than that to file the same form is a middleman, not the state.

Franchise Tax Board (FTB) — annual franchise tax ($800 minimum for LLCs and corporations), tax returns, business estimated payments.

Employment Development Department (EDD) — payroll tax registration, quarterly wage reports (DE 9 / DE 9C), unemployment insurance.

CDTFA — sales & use tax — seller's permits and sales/use tax filings.

CalGold — permit assistance — enter your business type and city and CalGold returns the exact permits, licenses, and registrations required at every level of government. If you don't know where to start, start here.

California — all 58 counties

Note: in California most business licenses are issued at the city level, not the county. Counties handle unincorporated-area business tax certificates and (universally) DBA / fictitious business name filings via the County Clerk-Recorder. Each county name below is linked to that county's main .gov / .org site (look for Clerk-Recorder, Tax Collector, or Business Services). Cities in parentheses link to that city's official main site — most cities have a Business License section under Finance or City Clerk.

Alameda (Oakland, Berkeley, Fremont, Hayward, Alameda, Livermore, Pleasanton) · Alpine · Amador (Jackson) · Butte (Chico, Oroville) · Calaveras (Angels Camp) · Colusa (Colusa) · Contra Costa (Concord, Richmond, Antioch, Walnut Creek) · Del Norte (Crescent City) · El Dorado (Placerville, South Lake Tahoe) · Fresno (Fresno, Clovis) · Glenn (Willows) · Humboldt (Eureka, Arcata) · Imperial (El Centro, Calexico) · Inyo (Bishop) · Kern (Bakersfield, Delano)

Kings (Hanford) · Lake (Clearlake, Lakeport) · Lassen (Susanville) · Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Glendale, Burbank, Torrance, Inglewood, El Monte, Pomona, Compton, Whittier, Downey) · Madera (Madera) · Marin (San Rafael, Novato) · Mariposa · Mendocino (Ukiah, Fort Bragg) · Merced (Merced, Los Banos) · Modoc (Alturas) · Mono (Mammoth Lakes) · Monterey (Salinas, Monterey, Seaside) · Napa (Napa, American Canyon) · Nevada (Grass Valley, Nevada City, Truckee) · Orange (Anaheim, Santa Ana, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Fullerton, Orange, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa)

Placer (Roseville, Auburn, Rocklin) · Plumas (Portola) · Riverside (Riverside, Moreno Valley, Corona, Temecula, Murrieta, Palm Springs, Indio) · Sacramento (Sacramento, Elk Grove, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova) · San Benito (Hollister) · San Bernardino (San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Fontana, Redlands, Chino, Victorville) · San Diego (San Diego, Chula Vista, Oceanside, Escondido, Carlsbad, El Cajon, Vista, San Marcos, Encinitas, La Mesa) · San Francisco · San Joaquin (Stockton, Tracy, Manteca, Lodi) · San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Atascadero) · San Mateo (San Mateo, Redwood City, Daly City, South San Francisco, Menlo Park) · Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Goleta) · Santa Clara (San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, Milpitas) · Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Capitola) · Shasta (Redding, Anderson)

Sierra (Loyalton) · Siskiyou (Yreka, Mount Shasta) · Solano (Fairfield, Vallejo, Vacaville, Benicia) · Sonoma (Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Sonoma, Healdsburg) · Stanislaus (Modesto, Turlock, Ceres) · Sutter (Yuba City) · Tehama (Red Bluff) · Trinity · Tulare (Visalia, Tulare, Porterville) · Tuolumne (Sonora) · Ventura (Oxnard, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo) · Yolo (Davis, Woodland, West Sacramento) · Yuba (Marysville, Wheatland)

Watch for misleading official-looking mailers

If you get a letter that looks like it comes from a state agency but is actually asking you to pay a third party to file paperwork you can file yourself for $20–$25 — that's a misleading solicitation. Common trade names include CPS Filing Services and Workplace Compliance Services. They typically target LLCs, LLPs, and other newly-formed entities with return addresses on Florin Road in Sacramento. Real state filings go through bizfile Online directly.

Where to check what you actually owe, and where to report:

California Secretary of State — Customer Alert: Misleading Statement of Information Solicitations — the anchor authoritative page. Describes the mailer type, lists the real fees, and links to the Attorney General complaint form.

California Secretary of State — Misleading Solicitations: Legal Protections — companion page citing the California Corporations Code sections these solicitations violate.

Better Business Bureau — CPS Filing Services, Sacramento — third-party record of the CPS operation, its 1026 Florin Road #312 address, and complaint history.

Oregon Secretary of State — Business Alerts — a .gov page that names "C.P.S." and its sibling "Workplace Compliance Services" in the context of a related OSHA-manual solicitation.

More teeth: class-action notice from Finkelstein Blankinship regarding CPS Filing Services and Workplace Compliance Services — recent litigation against the same operators.

Rule of thumb: if a mailer includes a payment coupon and asks you to send $150+ to a P.O. Box or private street address for a Statement of Information, or a labor-law poster, or a corporate compliance certificate — it isn't the state. File directly with the agency at the links above and, if you like, report the mailer to the California Attorney General.