I formed my LLC two years ago with a simple online filing and paid about $100. Now I'm shutting it down because I'm moving on to other work, and it's turning into a nightmare. The state wants a dissolution filing, there's a final tax return, I have to notify my registered agent, and apparently I need to deal with the publishing requirement in my county. It feels like closing is ten times harder than opening. Has anyone else dealt with this?
LLC
Closing an LLC turned out to be more complicated than forming one
The publishing requirement got me too. I had to run a notice in a local newspa per for three weeks. Cost me almost $200 and nobody reads that paper. Total waste.
Did you have any debts or assets in the LLC? If it was just you and no real activity, some states have a simplified dissolution. Might be worth checking if you qualify
I went through this last year. The final federal return is not that bad, but don't forget to file it even if you had zero income. Also, the IRS wants you to check the final return box. I missed that and got a letter six months later.
Quiet_storm, it was just me, no employees, no inventory. I did have a business bank account that I already closed. I'll look into the simplified option, thanks.
Your registered agent might charge a fee for handling the dissolution paperwork. Mine wanted $150 just to sign off. I ended up doing it myself after reading the state's instructions three times.
Also make sure you cancel any local business licenses or permits. I forgot one and kept getting renewal notices for a year. It was annoying but not a big deal.
One more thing: keep your records for at least three years after dissolution. The state can still audit you. I know someone who got a sales tax audit two years after closing.
If you're in California, the franchise tax board is the real headache. They want a final return and a $800 minimum tax for the year you close, even if you made nothing. That's what tripped me up.
Did you already file the articles of dissolution? In my state, you have to do that before you can close the bank account officially but the bank closed mine anyway when I told them. Not sure if that was a mistake.