Delaware franchise tax, both methods, no surprises.
Delaware bills you the scary Authorized Shares number by default; most companies legally owe far less under the Assumed Par Value Capital method. Enter your numbers and see both, computed exactly per the state's published rules. Free, no signup, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Authorized shares, by class
For the assumed par value method (usually the much lower tax)
Why the two methods differ so much
The Authorized Shares method taxes what your charter merely permits: $250 once you pass 5,000 shares, then $85 for every 10,000 authorized shares or portion of one, up to $200,000. A startup charter with 10,000,000 authorized shares owes $85,165 under that method even with nothing in the bank. The Assumed Par Value Capital method instead scales with issued shares and real assets: $400 per million dollars of assumed par value capital, minimum $400. Delaware lets you pay the lesser of the two, and for most operating companies that is the assumed par method by a wide margin. The March 1 annual report carries a $50 filing fee either way, and a $200 penalty plus 1.5% monthly interest if missed.
8 Del. C. §503 · corp.delaware.gov/frtaxcalc · corp.delaware.gov/frtax