Key figures
Utah accounting
2026, with sources
A franchise tax on income
Utah calls its corporate tax a franchise tax, but it is measured by net income: 4.45% for tax years beginning in 2026, after S.B. 60 cut it from 4.5%, with a $100 minimum. It is the sixth straight year the legislature has cut the rate, so the rate for each year is worth checking against the Tax Commission’s forms rather than last year’s return.
Utah starts from federal taxable income, so federal deductions, including research expenditures under Section 174, generally flow into the Utah return unless the legislature adds a modification. Unitary affiliates file a combined report.
The TC-20 is due on the 15th day of the fourth month after year end — April 15 for a calendar-year company. The six-month extension is automatic, but it covers filing only: the tax, at least 90% of this year’s or 100% of last year’s, is due by the original date. A corporation whose Utah tax reaches $3,000 also pays quarterly estimates, on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th months of its year.
Apportionment
Most corporations apportion on a single sales factor. Receipts from services are sourced to Utah when the customer gets a greater benefit of the service in Utah than in any other single state, which for a SaaS company usually follows where its customers use the product.
The greater-benefit rule is all-or-nothing for each receipt: a contract whose benefit is spread across several states is sourced to the single state with the largest share, not split. That makes the customer’s footprint, not the company’s, what drives the Utah sales factor, and it is worth documenting for large multi-state customers.
What it does to the provision
Because Utah starts from federal taxable income, Utah deferred taxes mostly mirror the federal ones at the Utah rate, apportioned. The rate cuts matter here: a deferred tax asset measured at 4.5% has to be remeasured at 4.45% in the period the cut is enacted, which for S.B. 60 was the 2026 session, retroactive to January 1, 2026.
A two-person startup in Lehi with a federal loss still records the $100 minimum as current Utah tax expense, and a Utah NOL deferred tax asset that usually sits under the same valuation allowance as the federal one.
The federal baseline
This page covers what Utah adds. The federal rules underneath it apply here too.
Common questions
Is Utah’s “franchise tax” an extra tax?
The same thing, legally. Utah levies a corporate franchise tax on corporations doing business in Utah and an income tax on those that only earn income here, at the same rate and on the same base. It is a tax on net income, not on capital or gross receipts.
Do we pay anything in a loss year?
It is the floor. A corporation with no Utah taxable income, or a loss, still pays $100 a year with its TC-20.
Does the extension give us more time to pay?
Filing, yes; paying, no. Utah grants an automatic six-month extension to file the TC-20, but to avoid the extension penalty the corporation must pay at least 90% of the current year’s tax (or the $100 minimum, if more) or 100% of the prior year’s tax by the original due date, online through TAP or with Form TC-559.
Accounting next door
- IDIdaho accountingIdaho taxes corporations at a flat 5.3% with a $20 minimum, apportions by a single sales factor, and conforms to the Internal Revenue Code as of January 1, 2026, except bonus depreciation.
- WYWyoming accountingWyoming has no corporate, gross receipts or individual income tax; the only state-level levy on a corporation is the annual report license tax — $60 or $0.0002 per dollar of Wyoming assets.
- COColorado accountingA flat 4.4% corporate income tax on federal taxable income, apportioned on sales. Conformity is rolling, with a 2026 decoupling from the federal FDDEI deduction.
- AZArizona accountingA 4.9% corporate income tax with a $50 minimum, on an Internal Revenue Code frozen at a fixed date the legislature moves each year — to January 1, 2026 as of June 2026.
- NVNevada accountingNevada has no corporate income tax. It taxes Nevada gross revenue above $4 million a year through the Commerce Tax, and payroll through the Modified Business Tax.
- NMNew Mexico accountingA flat 5.9% corporate income tax from 2025, a $50 franchise tax per corporation, worldwide combined reporting by default and a three-factor apportionment formula.
Founder guides on this
- US GAAPUS GAAP for early-stage startups, in plain EnglishAccrual accounting, revenue recognition (ASC 606), leases (ASC 842), stock compensation and capitalized software: what each means for a small company.
- R&D taxThe R&D tax credit and Section 174A for startupsEngineering salaries can earn a federal R&D credit against payroll tax, and Section 174A lets you deduct US research again. What qualifies, what to track.
- FundraisingAudit-ready books before your Series AInvestors, lenders and auditors ask for the same things: accrual statements, reconciled accounts and support for every balance. How to be ready first.
More of the Utah guide
- ReceivablesReceivables and sales tax in UtahSales tax registration, economic nexus, whether SaaS is taxable, and collecting from customers
- PayablesPayables and contractors in UtahPaying vendors and contractors: 1099 filing, use tax, contractor tests and withholding
- PayrollPayroll taxes and employer rules in UtahWithholding, unemployment insurance, paid leave, minimum wage and the rules on paydays
- ComplianceCompliance and filings in UtahRegistering to do business, annual reports, franchise tax and the filing calendar
- AdvisoryAdvisory: credits and decisions in UtahCredits, incentives and the decisions that are cheaper to get right the first time
Sources
Checked against each agency’s own page on . Rates and thresholds change, usually on January 1.
General information for US companies, not tax, legal or accounting advice for yours. Rules and thresholds change; confirm the specifics with a CPA or the agency before you act on them.