Interactive formation tool

Home-State Nexus & Foreign-Qualification Checker

Most “form in Wyoming for privacy” advice buries the catch: if you live or operate from a US state, forming elsewhere usually means foreign-qualifying back home and paying BOTH states forever — and California’s $800/yr minimum tax applies even at $0 profit. Answer a few questions to see where you likely have nexus, what a second registration costs, and the FTB-verified California reality. It runs entirely in your browser.

Open the checker California FTB (official)

Questions: 6; plain-English nexus signals
Privacy: Local; no PII, browser-only
CA $800: Verified; ftb.ca.gov 2026-06-23

Forming in Wyoming or Delaware does NOT avoid your home state. If California is your home or operating state, expect the $800/yr FTB minimum tax even at $0 profit — verified live on ftb.ca.gov on 2026-06-23. Confirm before you rely on it.

Where will you form, and where do you live?

Where will you form the LLC? The state where you file the Articles/Certificate of Organization. Does any owner live in the US? Living and running the company from a US state is the strongest doing-business trigger. If an owner lives/works in the US, which state? The state where an owner physically lives or runs the company from.

Physical footprint

Office, staff, or inventory in a state is classic nexus. A registered-agent address alone is NOT physical presence. Tick all that apply.

None - fully remote, no US physical footprint Home office in a US state Rented office or coworking in a US state Employees or contractors working in a US state Inventory / warehouse / fulfillment in a US state Retail storefront in a US state

Which state holds that office / staff / inventory? Usually the state that expects foreign qualification.

California activity

California taxes you as doing business if CA sales/property/payroll exceed the annually indexed amount OR 25% of your total. Education only — the threshold is a signal, not a determination.

Will your California sales, property, or payroll be significant?

Workflow

How to use it

1 Pick where you will form the LLC, and say whether any owner lives or works in a US state.
2 Tell us about any office, staff, inventory, or California sales — the classic nexus signals.
3 See a decision-first result: whether the $800 applies, whether you owe foreign qualification, and the second-state cost.
4 Save the PDF, copy the summary, or open the cost-by-state tool to compare forming at home vs. elsewhere.

Why this matters

The most common founder mistake is thinking a Wyoming or Delaware LLC lets a US-based owner escape their home state. It does not. If you live in and run the company from a state, that state generally treats you as “doing business” there regardless of where you filed — so you foreign-qualify and pay both states’ fees forever. California is the sharpest case: an LLC doing business in OR registered in California owes the $800/yr FTB minimum tax even at $0 profit, and Public Law 86-272 does not avoid it. This tool surfaces the dated, FTB-verified California reality and pulls the second-state cost from Lanzamo’s 50-state dataset, framed as “expect this bill” — the specific, sourced answer that generic blog posts and AI summaries hand-wave past. It is education and an estimate, not a determination of your specific obligation.

Questions founders ask

Does forming in Wyoming or Delaware avoid my home state’s LLC fees?

Usually no. If you live in and run the company from a US state, that state generally treats the LLC as “doing business” there regardless of where you formed. That typically means foreign-qualifying (registering as a foreign LLC) in your home state and paying BOTH that state’s fees and the formation state’s — two registered agents and two annual filings, forever. A registered-agent address in WY/DE does not create real presence there. This is general information, not legal advice.

How much is the California LLC tax, and can I avoid it by forming elsewhere?

Every LLC doing business in OR registered in California must pay the $800/yr minimum franchise tax to the FTB, due even at $0 income, every year until the LLC is cancelled (this figure was verified on ftb.ca.gov on 2026-06-23). Forming in Wyoming or Delaware does not avoid it, and Public Law 86-272 does not avoid it either — those entities can still be “doing business” and owe the $800. There is also a separate CA LLC fee once CA income reaches $250,000+.

When do I owe foreign qualification in another state?

Broadly, when you transact business in a state other than the one you formed in — typically because you live there, have an office, employees, or inventory there. You register as a foreign LLC and pay that state’s filing fee plus its ongoing annual fee. The exact trigger varies a lot by state, so the tool gives the general rule and that state’s fee from Lanzamo’s dataset, and tells you to confirm with that state’s Secretary of State or a CPA — it does not make the determination for you.

Do contractors in a state create nexus?

It is genuinely fact-specific — independent contractor vs employee, and payroll thresholds, all matter. The tool treats “contractors in a US state” as a watch item to confirm, not a settled obligation or a hard blocker.

Is this checker legal or tax advice?

No. It is educational information and an estimator, not an individualized legal or tax determination, and it creates no attorney-client relationship. Whether your specific facts create nexus or trigger a state’s “doing business” test is fact-specific; the tool flags that for review rather than deciding it. Confirm with the state’s Secretary of State / Franchise Tax Board and a CPA or attorney before filing or skipping a registration. (IRS Circular 230: nothing here is intended to be used to avoid tax penalties.)

Keep going

LLC Cost by State Compare forming at home vs. forming elsewhere plus foreign qualification. Where to Incorporate Weigh the all-in cost of each jurisdiction before you file. Find Your Jurisdiction Answer six questions to rank your best-fit country. Company Setup Report Sequence country, state, EIN, banking, and compliance in one report.

The non-resident founder’s U.S. company checklist

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