I need some advice on what to do about 2 california s-corporations I
need to close down.

One corporation was created back in 11/2003.  I did nothing with the
corp, no sales, no bank account, nothing whatsoever.  I have not filed
any tax returns for this corporation.  The question is - do I have to
file 2003, 2004 and 2005 returns to kill this corporation?

Next S-corporation was active back in 1999 and I sold my stake in it
to my partners.  They have since let it slide - not filing returns
since 1999 and it is now listed as suspended with the secretary of
state.  Similarily, to kill this corporation, do we need to file every
past return up until current day?

Basically, I want to know if we owe those $800 minimums for every year
these corps have not filed or can we file, for example, a 2000 FINAL
return to kill it in the past.

Dear Yarbles,

The State of California would like you to believe that you must
file each back year and pay the annual $800 fee AND all the 
penalties and interest related to that fee. They also will want
all the fees and penalties for not keeping up with the annual 
report of officers taht the Secretary of State requires.
(That's a $20 fee if you file it on time; $250 penalty if you don't.)

However, under the Ralite case, where the owner of the
corporation was permitted to walk away from all these liabilities,
by simply doing nothing. Do NOT file the closure paperwork with
the State Franchise Tax Board or Secretary of State. Do nothing.

You can read the particulars here. 
http://www.boe.ca.gov/legal/pdf/90_sbe_004.pdf

You may want to have your tax professional review the case and
make sure that you qualify. In fact, they may be happy to see this
for their files. It's a very valuable piece of information that 
most people don't seem to know. 

Just be patient. The notices will stop. Someday.

Best wishes, 

Your TaxMama-ga

Thank you very much.  My own accountant wants me to pay the fees, etc
and did not know about this case.