Form 568 Instructions 2026: CA 568 Due Date, Extended Due Date, and Line-by-Line Guide + AI Agent Skill

Form 568, the California Limited Liability Company Return of Income, is due on the 15th day of the 3rd month after year end for an LLC taxed as a partnership and the 15th day of the 4th month for a single-member LLC owned by an individual, and both can extend filing to October 15 without submitting any form. For the 2025 return that meant March 16, 2026 (March 15 fell on a Sunday) or April 15, 2026, and the extended deadline is Thursday, October 15, 2026; the 2026 return is due March 15 or April 15, 2027. The extension covers the paperwork only: the $800 annual tax, the LLC fee, and any tax for nonresident members keep their original dates. This guide maps the 2025 Form 568 line by line, checked against the 2025 Form 568 and the 2025 Form 568 Booklet (revised March 2026) on ftb.ca.gov in September 2026.

Key numbers (2025 Form 568, filed in 2026):

Save this cheat sheet — key numbers in one image.

When Is Form 568 Due?

Form 568 is due on the 15th day of the 3rd month after the LLC's tax year ends if the LLC is taxed as a partnership or is a single-member LLC owned by a pass-through entity, and on the 15th day of the 4th month for every other single-member LLC, including one owned by an individual. A deadline that lands on a weekend or holiday moves to the next business day, which is why the 2025 partnership-LLC deadline was Monday, March 16, 2026.

California grants the extension automatically to any LLC in good standing; there is no extension form to file. The length differs by classification under R&TC Section 18567: LLCs taxed as partnerships get seven months, disregarded single-member LLCs get six, and a single-member LLC owned by a partnership gets seven. Because the S corporation owner's own return is due March 15, its single-member LLC extends only to September 15. A suspended or forfeited LLC gets no automatic extension at all.

The extension never moves a payment. The LLC fee balance and any nonconsenting nonresident members' tax are due on the original date of the return, and the $800 annual tax has its own date at the start of the year. So the question "what is the CA 568 extended due date?" has two answers: October 15 (or September 15) for the return, and the original March or April date for the money.

Find Your Form 568, $800 Tax, and Fee Dates

What Is Form 568 and Who Must File It?

Form 568 is the annual California return that an LLC classified as a partnership or as a disregarded entity files with the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) to report its income, compute the LLC fee, and account for the $800 annual tax. The LLC itself pays no California income tax on its profit; the members report their shares on their own returns, which is why estimated income tax runs through the members' California estimated tax payments.

Every LLC that is not taxed as a corporation files Form 568 if any of these is true:

• It is organized in California
• It is registered with the California Secretary of State as a foreign LLC
• It is doing business in California
• It has California-source income (a nonregistered foreign LLC in this position generally files Form 565 instead, and a nonregistered foreign single-member LLC that is not doing business files neither)

"Doing business" includes any transaction for financial gain in California, being commercially domiciled here, or California sales, property, or payroll above indexed thresholds. For 2025 the FTB's thresholds are $757,070 of California sales, $75,707 of property, or $75,707 of payroll (or 25% of the LLC's total); the FTB had not posted 2026 amounts as of September 24, 2026. A member or manager acting in California on the LLC's behalf is enough on its own, which is how Wyoming and Delaware LLCs run from a California home end up filing Form 568.

Three exceptions matter in practice. An LLC that elected corporate treatment files Form 100 or Form 100S instead. An LLC whose first tax year lasts 15 days or less and does no business in that window files nothing for that year. And an LLC registered with the Secretary of State but inactive, with no California income, still files: it completes the return, writes "SB 1106 Filing" at the top of Side 1, and enters its member count in Question K. Whatever the situation, an LLC that prepares Form 568 with tax software must e-file it (R&TC Section 18621.10).

What You Pay With Form 568: The $800 Tax, the LLC Fee, and FTB 3536

Form 568 reconciles three payments that are due on three different dates:

The fee is set by total California income from Schedule IW: gross income plus cost of goods sold, which in practice means gross receipts, not profit:

Our California LLC fee calculator runs the tier for your own receipts. An estimate below the final fee costs a 10% penalty on the shortfall unless the June payment at least equals the prior year's fee. The $800 is owed from the first year for any LLC formed in 2024 or later. For LLCs whose first taxable year begins in 2027 through 2029, the FTB lists a reduced first-year annual tax of $400. The full cost picture, including the S-corporation comparison, is in our guide to California LLC taxes. One deduction detail: Schedule M-1 lists the annual LLC tax (line 4c) among book expenses California does not deduct, while the LLC fee is deductible.

Which Parts of Form 568 a Single-Member LLC Completes

A single-member LLC that is disregarded for tax purposes completes only Side 1, Side 2, Side 3 (including the Single Member LLC Information and Consent), and Side 7, which is Schedule IW, then pays the $800 and any fee. The owner reports the LLC's income on their own return, usually a Schedule C attached to Form 540.

Schedules B and K become mandatory for a single-member LLC only when either of these is true:

• The income or loss on Schedule B, line 1 or lines 3 through 11, is $3,000,000 or more
• Schedule K, line 21a, is $3,000,000 or more, or a loss of $3,000,000 or more

Below that line, Schedule IW is still required, built from the owner's federal schedules. A single-member LLC never issues a Schedule K-1 (568) and never files FTB 3832; the owner consents to California's jurisdiction by signing the consent block on Side 3. If a nonresident owner does not sign it, the LLC must pay tax on the owner's income through Schedule T, the same as for a nonconsenting nonresident member.

Form 568 Side 1, Line by Line

Side 1 starts with identification items: A (California Secretary of State file number), B (FEIN), E (accounting method), F (date the business started in California), G (total assets at the end of the year), H (initial, final, amended, or protective claim), and Question I, three yes/no questions about changes in control of LLCs that own California real property (a "yes" can require the BOE-100-B statement). Then come the money lines. Complete Schedule IW on Side 7 first, because it feeds line 1.

Two lines cause most of the confusion. Line 3 reports the $800 you already paid in April 2025; the booklet tells you not to mail the $800 with Form 568, and the $800 for 2026 goes on the 2026 return, not this one. Line 8 collects every 2025 payment in one number, so pull the confirmation amounts from FTB Web Pay or your bank statements before you file.

Schedule IW: How Line 1 Is Built

Schedule IW, the LLC Income Worksheet on Side 7, adds up total income from all sources derived from or attributable to California, counting income and gains but never losses. Deductions never reduce it, so a loss year above $250,000 of receipts still owes a fee.

Income already charged the fee at another LLC is excluded, so a holding LLC does not pay twice on the same dollars. Receipts from services count as California income when the customer receives the benefit in California (market assignment under R&TC Section 25136), which pulls out-of-state LLCs with California clients into the fee.

Side 2 and Side 3 Questions That Matter for a Small LLC

Sides 2 and 3 hold 27 lettered questions, Items J through KK, most of them yes/no. A small LLC answers "no" to nearly all of them, but these deserve attention:

The Single Member LLC Information and Consent at the bottom of Side 3 asks for the owner's name, identification number, and entity type (individual, C corporation, pass-through, estate or trust, or exempt organization), and carries the owner's signed consent to California taxation.

Schedules for Multi-Member LLCs: B, K, K-1 (568), L, M-1, M-2, and T

A multi-member LLC completes the full return. Schedule B mirrors page 1 of federal Form 1065 using California law; depreciation comes from FTB 3885L, and California generally does not conform to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, so federal changes do not flow through automatically. Schedule K has three columns: the federal Form 1065 amount, California adjustments, and the California total, and each member's Schedule K-1 (568) repeats that structure. Our guide to the federal Schedule K-1 explains the federal side of the same numbers.

Schedules L, M-1, and M-2 can be skipped, along with Item G, when the LLC answered "yes" to Questions 4a through 4c on federal Form 1065, Schedule B, and has 10 or fewer members. Nonresident members sign FTB 3832, consenting to California tax on their share. For any member who does not sign, the LLC computes tax on Schedule T at 12.3% for individuals, partnerships, LLCs, estates, and trusts, 8.84% for C corporations, and 1.5% for S corporations, and pays it by the original due date. Separately, distributions of California-source income to domestic nonresident members carry 7% withholding on Form 592 once they exceed $1,500 in the calendar year.

Worked Example: A Two-Member LLC's 2025 Form 568

Ximena and Gideon run a two-member design studio LLC in Oakland, taxed as a partnership, with $620,000 of 2025 receipts from California clients and no cost of goods sold. Their 2024 total income was $410,000, so their 2024 fee was $900. Both are California residents. The example is illustrative.

On the return, Schedule IW line 17 is $620,000, so line 1 is $620,000 and line 2 is $2,500. Line 3 is $800 and line 7 is $3,300. Line 8 is $800 + $900 + $1,600 = $3,300, line 16 is $0, and line 21 is $0. Because their June payment equaled the full 2024 fee, the 10% underpayment penalty cannot apply even though the final fee was higher. Had they skipped the June payment, the penalty would have been 10% of $2,500, or $250. They attach two Schedules K-1 (568). They cannot skip Schedules L, M-1, and M-2: the federal Form 1065 Schedule B test behind that shortcut requires total receipts under $250,000, and theirs were $620,000.

Ezra's single-member LLC. Ezra, a web developer in San Diego, runs a single-member LLC with $140,000 of 2025 California receipts. He completes Sides 1, 2, and 3, signs the consent, and fills Schedule IW from his Schedule C: line 1 is $140,000, line 2 is $0 (under $250,000), line 3 is $800, and line 8 is the $800 he paid in April 2025, so line 21 is $0. His return was due April 15, 2026, or October 15, 2026 on extension.

Penalties for a Late or Incomplete Form 568

A two-member LLC that files four months late owes $18 × 2 × 4 = $144 under Section 19172 even if every dollar of tax and fee was paid on time. California's rule has no small-partnership exception like the federal one.

What Form 568 Does NOT Do

• It does not tax the members' income. Members report their distributive shares on Form 540 or 540NR; Form 568 only computes the LLC-level tax and fee.
• It does not apply to an LLC taxed as a corporation. Those LLCs file Form 100 or 100S and owe the $800 minimum franchise tax but not the LLC fee.
• It does not replace the Secretary of State filing. The $20 Statement of Information goes to the Secretary of State every two years, separately. The full list of state dates is in our California tax deadlines guide.

Common Form 568 Mistakes

Putting profit on line 1. Line 1 comes from Schedule IW, which is built from gross receipts. An LLC with $600,000 of receipts and a loss still owes the $2,500 fee.

Using FTB 3537 for the fee balance. FTB 3537 is for nonconsenting nonresident members' tax on an extended return. The unpaid LLC fee goes on FTB 3536, even when you pay it with the return.

Skipping Schedule IW on a single-member return. A disregarded LLC below $3,000,000 skips Schedules B and K, but Schedule IW is still required.

Leaving Question J blank. The form says "Do not leave blank" next to the principal business activity code, and a return missing required information can draw the Section 19172 penalty.

Relying on the extension while suspended. A suspended or forfeited LLC does not get the automatic extension, so its late-filing penalties run from the original date.

File Form 568 With an AI Agent Skill

Our open-source skill library at github.com/jupid-tax/jupid-skills includes a forms/ca-form-568 skill that walks an AI agent through this return: it confirms the LLC's federal classification and whether it is doing business in California, builds Schedule IW to find the fee tier, and drafts Form 568 with the FTB 3522 and FTB 3536 vouchers. Load it into Claude or another agent and check the draft against this guide and your own records before you file.

Receipts on Record Before Schedule IW: How Jupid Helps

Schedule IW asks for a number most owners reconstruct in a hurry: total California receipts for the year. Jupid is an AI accountant in WhatsApp and iMessage that connects to your bank and categorizes every transaction with 95.9% accuracy, so the receipts, cost of goods sold, and the April $800 and June estimate payments behind lines 1 and 8 are already sorted when the return is due. Ask "what did we pay the FTB in 2025?" or "how close are we to the $500,000 fee tier?" and get an answer from your actual books. Try Jupid.

Action Checklist

• On extension for 2025? E-file Form 568 by Thursday, October 15, 2026 (September 15 if an S corporation owns the LLC)
• Complete Schedule IW on Side 7 before entering line 1
• Total every 2025 payment from FTB 3522, FTB 3536, and FTB 3537 for line 8
• Single-member LLC: sign the Single Member LLC Information and Consent on Side 3
• Multi-member LLC: attach a Schedule K-1 (568) for each member and an FTB 3832 for each nonresident member
• Put the 2027 dates on the calendar: the 2026 return and any fee balance on March 15 or April 15, 2027, and the 2027 $800 on April 15, 2027

Sources

• FTB — 2025 Form 568, Limited Liability Company Return of Income
• FTB — 2025 Instructions for Form 568 (Booklet, revised 03/2026)
• FTB — 2025 Schedule K-1 (568) instructions
• FTB — Due dates: businesses
• FTB — Doing business in California
• FTB — 2026 Form FTB 3522, LLC Tax Voucher
• FTB — 2026 Form FTB 3536, Estimated Fee for LLCs
• FTB — 2025 Form FTB 3537, Payment for Automatic Extension for LLCs
• FTB — 2025 Form FTB 3832, LLC Nonresident Members' Consent
• FTB — What's new with tax forms
• FTB — e-file for business
• California R&TC Section 17942 — LLC fee
• California R&TC Section 18633.5 — LLC return due dates
• California R&TC Section 19172 — Failure to file
• IRS — Instructions for Form 1065

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This guide is for general educational purposes and does not constitute tax, legal, or accounting advice. It follows the 2025 Form 568 and booklet as published by the FTB and checked on September 24, 2026; the 2026 forms had not been released. For advice specific to your situation, consult a qualified tax professional.