If I work in CA on behalf of my Nevada Corporation, do I have to pay the CA corporation fee?

Question

I've heard that if you have any corporate locations, or employees working in CA then you have to pay CA's fee. Is this true, and if not, why not?

thanks in advance

Answer 1

All depends on what kind of work you are doing in CA. For most states, anything beyond solicitation of sales will gain you nexus with the state and subject to you corporate taxes. If your employees are providing any type of service in CA then you will most likely be liable for taxes on the income generated in the state. This income is generally apportioned based on the level of activity in the state (i.e. sales to CA customers, payroll for CA employees, and property within the state). I would go to the CA state website and research the corporate tax laws to understand what constitutes nexus for business.

Answer 2

I don't believe that is true. You do have to qualify to do business in California -- which requires a filing and an annual fee -- but I don't know if its the same or different than the annual fee for a California corporation. I believe its slightly different.

If you have extensive California contacts you do become a quasi-California corporation but that deals mostly with corporate governance issues and not taxes.

Search using www.yahoo.com/search (you could search "quasi-California corporation" and you'll get hits on the matter).