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How to Form an LLC in Maryland

Maryland charges $100 to form an LLC, then $300 a year for an Annual Report that many guides price wrong in both directions. Standard processing runs 6 to 8 weeks unless you pay to speed it up, every LLC needs a resident agent who signs the Articles, and closing the company, unusually, costs nothing at all.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The Maryland filing steps

1. Check your name on the state's own search

   Search SDAT's entity search on Maryland Business Express at egov.maryland.gov before you file. Under Corp. and Ass'ns section 1-502, a Maryland LLC name must include one of these designators: "limited liability company," "L.L.C.," "LLC," "L.C.," or "LC," and under section 1-504 it must be distinguishable upon the records of the Department from the names of other entities organized or authorized to transact business in Maryland, from names reserved or registered under the same subtitle, and from assumed names disclosed by foreign entities. A search does not reserve the name. A reservation costs $25 and holds the name for only 30 days, the shortest window in this guide, so most founders who are ready to file skip it and file the Articles directly.

2. Choose your resident agent

   Maryland calls this role the resident agent, and every LLC must have one, along with a principal office in Maryland, under Corp. and Ass'ns section 4A-210. The resident agent may be any Maryland citizen who is over eighteen, a Maryland corporation, or a Maryland LLC, and the agent must sign the Articles of Organization, which is how Maryland takes the agent's consent. Neither the principal office address nor the resident agent's address may be a post office box; both must be Maryland addresses. Losing the agent is not a technicality: SDAT's good standing materials treat having no active resident agent, or no active principal office, as a loss of good standing, curable only by a paper Resolution filing. To change the resident agent or the principal office, file a Resolution to Change Resident Agent or Principal Office with SDAT for $25; the change takes effect when the Department accepts the signed statement for record.

3. File the Articles of Organization with the SDAT

   File the Articles of Organization with SDAT's Charter Division, online through Maryland Business Express at egov.maryland.gov, or on paper to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, Charter Division, 700 East Pratt Street, Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202. The fee is $100. The articles state the LLC's name, the address of its principal office in Maryland, and the name and address of its resident agent, under section 4A-204. Under section 4A-202(b), the LLC is formed when the Department accepts the articles for record, or at a later time specified in the articles. Speed is where Maryland gets expensive: standard processing runs 6 to 8 weeks, expedited service adds $50 and cuts processing to 7 to 10 business days, and same-day rush filing adds $325 if filed online or $425 if delivered to SDAT's office. Paying online by credit card or PayPal adds a 3% technology fee on top, so the $100 base filing paid by card online totals $103.

4. Get an EIN from the IRS

   Free, online, and takes minutes once your Maryland filing is approved. Never pay a service for this. See EIN for an LLC for the walkthrough and the one IRS rule (a real person as responsible party) that surprises people.

5. Write your operating agreement

   Under Corp. and Ass'ns section 4A-402, the members of a Maryland LLC may enter into an operating agreement to regulate or establish any aspect of the affairs of the LLC or the relations of its members, provided it is not inconsistent with the Articles of Organization. Maryland does not require the agreement to be in writing unless the articles of organization specifically require otherwise, and if the agreement provides no method for its own amendment, all members must agree to any amendment. It is not filed with SDAT; only the articles are. Permissive is not the same as wise: an unwritten agreement is how multi-member LLCs end up arguing about what they meant, so write it at formation.

6. Open the business bank account and handle licenses

   Bring your approved formation document and EIN letter. Then check your city and county for a general business license and your industry for state permits. Maryland issues no single statewide general business license through SDAT; SDAT handles the entity record, not licensing. Businesses register for tax accounts with the Comptroller of Maryland, industry specific licenses come from the relevant state agency or board, and local governments add their own requirements. One Maryland specific point belongs in every operating budget: if the business will own, lease, or use personal property in Maryland, that property runs through the Form 1 system described on the cost and report pages, whether or not any separate license applies.

Filing details that trip people up

• The $300 Annual Report is real, and guides get Maryland wrong in both directions. Some guides claim Maryland's annual report is free, confusing the LLC with the entities that do pay $0, such as nonstock corporations, sole proprietorships, and general partnerships. Others fold a personal property tax into every LLC's bill. The verified position: the $300 is the Annual Report filing fee for domestic and foreign LLCs alike, set in Corp. and Ass'ns section 1-203(b)(3)(ii) and printed on SDAT's Form 1. The Business Personal Property Return filed with it has no fee of its own, and the personal property tax applies only if the LLC owns taxable business personal property in Maryland. The report page separates all three pieces.
• Standard processing is 6 to 8 weeks. Speed costs extra. The $100 Articles fee buys the slow lane. Expedited service adds $50, for 7 to 10 business day processing. Same-day rush service adds $325 online or $425 for a filing delivered to SDAT's office. Paying online by credit card or PayPal adds a 3% technology fee to whatever total you choose.
• Foreign LLCs pay $100, and the home-state certificate is required. A foreign LLC registers with SDAT for $100 under section 4A-1002, and the statute requires proof acceptable to the Department of good standing in the jurisdiction where the LLC is organized; SDAT's registration form requires that proof to have been issued within the last 60 days. An LLC that did business in Maryland before registering owes a $200 penalty with its filing. Doing business unregistered is worse: the LLC may not maintain a suit in a Maryland court, and each member and each agent who transacts business for an unregistered foreign LLC is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable on conviction by a fine of up to $1,000.
• A trade name is a $25 state filing that lasts five years. Maryland trade names are filed with SDAT, not at the county, for $25. The filing is effective for five years from acceptance, it may be renewed during its last six months for another $25 and another five years, and if it is not renewed the Department forfeits the trade name and a new application is required. Acceptance gives the owner no greater right to the name than the owner already has. Our DBA guide covers when you need one.
• Cancelling a Maryland LLC costs $0. Section 1-203(b)(14) sets no processing fee for documents filed to dissolve, cancel, or terminate an entity, and SDAT's fee schedule prices Articles of Cancellation at $0. The optional expedited and rush add-ons still apply if you choose them. What cancellation does not do is excuse the past: an LLC that simply stops operating, without filing cancellation, remains legally active and keeps owing the $300 Form 1 every year until it files or is forfeited.

After your Maryland LLC is approved

Get the EIN, open the business bank account, and register for tax accounts with the Comptroller of Maryland. Then set the recurring reminder that defines Maryland compliance: Form 1, the combined Annual Report and Business Personal Property Return, $300, due April 15 every year, with the first one due April 15 of the year after formation. If you need more time, SDAT may extend the deadline to June 15, requested electronically on or before April 15 or on paper on or before March 15, and a paper extension request costs $20. Keep the resident agent and principal office current with SDAT, since a change costs only $25 and losing either one costs the LLC its good standing.

The full recurring picture for Maryland, with fees and due dates, is on the Maryland annual report and compliance page, and the money view is on the Maryland LLC cost page.

Maryland LLC questions