And you can form an LLC in South Dakota (annual fee: $50) in about as much time. Florida is also good, well designed web app and it’s all laid out nicely, but the annual is $138 if I remember right.

If you do business in CA you're required to file as a foreign corporate entity, and still pay the $800 in taxes. You can't open a bank account in a CA bank without proving that you've made that filing.

> You can't open a bank account in a CA bank without proving that you've made that filing.

I have not found this to be the case, at all.

I did it less than a year ago with a Florida LLC. Walked into a California branch of a very large international bank and walked out twenty minutes later with a temporary ATM card and checks.

If your business is headquartered in another state I'm not sure why you'd need a California bank account unless you want to use a bank that only exists in California.

Off topic: but South Dakota has a cottage industry of relatively untraceable companies. I am unsure of the exact term for the type of company, but it seems to be pretty popular to distance yourself from your assets