Two years ago I started my startup under an LLC in Simi Valley. Before I had a single client, before a dollar came in, California sent me a bill for $800.

I paid it. I paid it again the next year. That's $1,600 the state took from a business that hadn't turned a profit yet. Money that would have gone to buying components, towards tariff based expenses.

Here's what stings. California charges $800 whether you made a million dollars or nothing at all. It's the highest minimum LLC tax in the country. Delaware charges $300. Most states charge under $100. And if you're late paying it, because you didn't have it, the penalties stack on top: a $250 fine for a late Statement of Information that costs $20 to file, plus percentage penalties and interest that compound monthly. The state charges you for existing, then fines you at multiples of the original amount for being slow to pay for existing.I know people who've dissolved their California LLCs over this. I know others who registered in Nevada instead and now do their business from there. Every one of them wanted to build something here.

Small businesses are the overwhelming majority of employers in this state. We are asking California to stop treating them like a revenue source before they've earned a cent.

Specifically, we're asking Governor Newsom and the California Legislature to:

1. Reduce the $800 annual minimum franchise tax to $200

2. Waive it entirely for LLCs with under $50,000 in total income

3. Cap penalties so they can never exceed the underlying fee

I'm not asking to be let off the hook. I'll pay my share when I'm making money. I'm asking California to stop charging me to fail.

Sign if you think this state should make it easier to build something here.