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How to Form an LLC in South Carolina

South Carolina charges $110 to form an LLC, and every dollar of it goes to the Secretary of State. Most guides split that $110 into $85 to the Secretary of State plus a $25 Form CL-1 charge, and that split is wrong for an LLC. It is the corporation pattern. For a default LLC there is no CL-1 at formation, no annual report to the Secretary of State, and no recurring flat state charge at all.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

The South Carolina filing steps

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

   Search the Secretary of State's Business Entities Online system at businessfilings.sc.gov before you file. A South Carolina LLC name must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C.", or "LC". "Limited" may be abbreviated as "Ltd.", and "company" may be abbreviated as "Co." The name must be distinguishable upon the records of the Secretary of State from other entities on file and from reserved or registered names. A search does not reserve the name. If you want to hold a name while you prepare, South Carolina offers an optional name reservation for $25, good for a nonrenewable 120-day period, but most founders who are ready to organize skip it and file the Articles directly.

2. Choose your registered agent

   South Carolina calls this role the agent for service of process, and every domestic LLC and every foreign LLC authorized to do business in the state must designate and continuously maintain a designated office and an agent in South Carolina. The agent must be an individual resident of this State, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in this State, and the filing must give the agent's street address. Changing the designated office or the agent takes a statement of change filed with the Secretary of State for $10. An agent may resign by filing a statement of resignation, and the agency terminates on the thirty-first day after the statement is filed. If an LLC fails to appoint or maintain an agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the agent's address, the Secretary of State is an agent of the company upon whom process, notice, or demand may be served.

3. File the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State

   File the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State through Business Entities Online at businessfilings.sc.gov, or on the paper forms available in that system. The fee is $110, and that is the complete statutory Secretary of State formation fee for a default LLC. No CL-1 and no license fee is bundled with it. The Articles state the name, the address of the initial designated office, the name and street address of the initial agent for service of process, the name and address of each organizer, whether the company is a term company, whether it is manager-managed and who the initial managers are, and whether any member is liable for the company's debts under section 33-44-303(c). South Carolina Business One Stop states that after an online application is submitted, you should receive your filed documents back within 24 to 48 business hours. No separate expedite fee appears in the statutory fee schedule in section 33-44-1204. Unless a delayed effective date is specified, capped at the 90th day after filing, the existence of the LLC begins when the Articles are filed.

4. Get an EIN from the IRS

   Free, online, and takes minutes once your South Carolina 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 S.C. Code section 33-44-103(a), all members may enter into an operating agreement, which need not be in writing, to regulate the company's affairs and govern relations among the members, managers, and the company. It is not filed with the Secretary of State. To the extent the operating agreement does not otherwise provide, Chapter 44 governs those relations by default, and section 33-44-103(b) lists provisions an agreement may not vary. An unwritten agreement plus statutory defaults is still a reason to write yours down 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. South Carolina has no single statewide general business license issued by the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State filing is not your local business license. Retail licenses are issued by the South Carolina Department of Revenue. Professional licenses, such as contractor and certified public accountant licenses, are issued by the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Business licenses are issued at the county or city level, where the business is located, and local fees vary.

Filing details that trip people up

• The $85 plus $25 split in most guides is the corporation pattern, not the LLC pattern. The $110 Articles of Organization fee in section 33-44-1204(a)(1) is payable in full to the Secretary of State. Form CL-1, the Initial Annual Report of Corporations, does not apply to a default LLC at all. The CL-1 form itself states that LLCs should only complete it if they are taxed as a corporation, and the Department of Revenue lists an LLC not taxed as a corporation as not subject to the annual report or the license fee. An LLC reaches a CL-1 only if it elects corporate taxation, and then the $25 minimum license fee is paid to the Department of Revenue within 60 days after commencing business in South Carolina.
• Foreign LLCs pay $110 in South Carolina, not $250. The Application for a Certificate of Authority to Transact Business costs $110 under section 33-44-1204(a)(4). A home-state certificate of existence is required with it, authenticated by the Secretary of State or other official having custody of company records in the home state, and the Secretary of State's published rejection reasons require that certificate to be dated not more than 30 days old. Missing or stale certificates are one of the most common reasons these applications are rejected.
• No publication requirement. Nothing in Chapter 44 imposes a newspaper publication or advertising step for organizing an LLC. Formation is complete on filing the Articles. The chapter's only publication mechanism is optional and comes after dissolution, when a dissolved LLC may publish notice of its dissolution to bar unknown claims after five years.
• There is no DBA filing for a South Carolina LLC. The Secretary of State's own FAQ answers the question directly: the Secretary of State's Office does not register DBA or trade names. A South Carolina LLC that wants to operate under a different name has no state DBA form to file and no state DBA fee to pay. The fictitious name a foreign LLC files when its real name is unavailable in South Carolina is a qualification document, not a DBA registration. Our DBA guide covers the local and trademark steps that can still apply.
• The agent record is a $10 fix, so keep it current. A statement of change of designated office or agent for service of process costs $10 under section 33-44-1204(a)(9). That small filing, plus keeping the underlying fees and taxes paid, is what keeps a South Carolina LLC out of the administrative dissolution process described on the report page.

After your South Carolina LLC is approved

Get the EIN, open the business bank account, and handle the Department of Revenue return your tax classification requires. A multi-member LLC not taxed as a corporation files Form SC1065, the Partnership Return, due by the 15th day of the third month following the end of the taxable year, March 15 for a calendar-year filer, with no license fee and no Schedule D annual report attached. A single-member LLC not taxed as a corporation is disregarded and files no SC1065 of its own. There is no Secretary of State annual report to calendar. What you calendar instead is agent upkeep and tax payment: keep the agent and designated office current on the $10 statement of change, and pay every fee and tax on time, because nonpayment is the one ground South Carolina gives the Secretary of State to dissolve an LLC administratively.

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

South Carolina LLC questions