Take-home pay in California by business structure

At $100,000 of profit, an owner in California keeps $76,823 as an LLC taxed as an S corp and $73,084 as a sole proprietor, after 2026 taxes and fees. Change the profit to see your own numbers.

$76,823 a year

kept from $100,000 of profit as an LLC taxed as an S corp in California, after every tax and fee counted here. That is $9,038 more than as a C corporation.

California, 2026: $100,000 profit, single filer

Structure	Taxes and fees	You keep	Share
Sole proprietorship	$26,916	$73,084	73%
Single-member LLC	$27,409	$72,591	73%
LLC taxed as an S corp most	$23,177	$76,823	77%
S corporation	$23,188	$76,812	77%
C corporation	$32,215	$67,785	68%

What California takes from a business owner

California taxes personal income in 10 brackets, from 1% to 13.3% (2025, single filer).ftb.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026
An LLC pays the state Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), $20 every two yearssos.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
California LLC annual tax applies to LLCftb.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
California LLC fee applies to LLCftb.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
California S corporation tax (1.5%) applies to S corp, LLC as S corpftb.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.
An S corp in California can elect to pay the state's income tax itself, a pass-through entity tax of 9.3%, and the owner gets a credit for it. The company deducts it on the federal return, so it is not held to the SALT cap. The calculator uses it when it lowers the totalftb.ca.gov.
An S corp owner on payroll pays California unemployment tax at 3.4% on the first $7,000 of salary in the first yearedd.ca.gov, checked Oct 23, 2026.

What you keep at each profit

Profit	Sole prop	LLC	LLC as S corp	S corp	C corp
$50,000	$39,274	$38,681	$38,353	$38,341	$36,201
$100,000	$73,084	$72,591	$76,823	$76,812	$67,785
$150,000	$103,521	$103,027	$110,103	$110,092	$94,257
$250,000	$166,514	$165,553	$174,351	$174,341	$148,984
$500,000	$296,021	$294,340	$317,752	$317,742	$282,505

Single filer, no other income, revenue 1.5 times profit, the default salary for S and C corps. The most kept at each profit is green.

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