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What Does an LLC Cost in South Dakota?

South Dakota: $150 in state fees to form online, $165 on paper, and $55 a year after that for the annual report. No state income tax, no franchise tax, and no other flat entity charge on a default LLC. The expensive mistakes are at the edges: a $55 late fee that doubles a delinquent report to $110, a $150 reinstatement that also demands every back report and a tax clearance certificate, and a $750 registration fee for a foreign LLC.

By the LLCForming research teamFees checked Nov 8, 2026

Year one: what you pay to exist

Year-one cost in South Dakota	Amount
Articles of Organization, Secretary of State	$150 online, $165 on paper
EIN from the IRS	$0
Operating agreement (you write it, not filed)	$0
Registered agent (you or another eligible person serves)	$0
Total state cost, year one	$150 online, $165 on paper

That is the complete required state charge to form, and the $15 paper difference is explained on the Secretary of State's own materials: articles filed via paper that could otherwise be filed online incur an additional $15 paper processing fee. Nothing else is owed in year one. No publication is required for formation, and the first annual report is not due until the 1st day of the anniversary month in the following year on the Secretary of State's administered schedule. Articles containing a series notice cost $200 instead of $150 under SDCL 47-34A-212(c). The optionals are priced plainly. A name reservation is $25 for 120 days. A fictitious name (DBA) registration is $10 per name for 5 years, with renewal at $10, an amendment at $10, and cancellation at no fee. Serving as your own registered agent, or naming another eligible South Dakota resident, costs nothing; hiring a commercial registered agent service is a market purchase, not a state fee.

Every year after: the cost of staying alive

Recurring cost in South Dakota	Amount
Annual report, due on the 1st day of the anniversary month	$55 online, $70 on paper
State income tax on a default LLC	$0. South Dakota imposes no state income tax, corporate or personal
Franchise or other flat entity tax on a default LLC	$0. None applies; the annual report fee is a filing fee, not a tax
Sales and use tax	Activity based; excluded from the flat total, see below
Typical recurring total	$55/yr online

A recurring $55 a year comes with a precise calendar attached. The annual report is due on the 1st day of the anniversary month, filing opens 2 months before the due date, and the $55 late fee is assessed when the report has not been filed 2 months following the due date, so a June 1 report left unfiled means delinquency and late fees begin August 1; nonprofit corporations are exempt from the late fee, and that exemption does not apply to LLCs. A delinquent entity is not in good standing and cannot obtain a Certificate of Good Standing, which the Secretary of State sells only for an active entity in good standing; the statutory fee for a certificate of existence is $20 under SDCL 47-34A-1206(f). Under SDCL 47-34A-809, the Secretary of State may commence a proceeding to dissolve a company administratively if it does not pay any fees, taxes, or penalties within 60 days after they are due, or does not deliver its annual report within 60 days after it is due, and the Secretary of State also lists failure to keep a valid registered agent on file and declined or rejected payments among its practical grounds. Reinstatement is $150 plus all delinquent reports, fees, and penalties, and a Department of Revenue tax clearance certificate, which the Department emails directly to the Secretary of State and which must be received before the reinstatement paperwork can be processed. A foreign entity gets none of this: foreign business entities cannot be reinstated and must file for a new Certificate of Authority.

What drives the South Dakota total, year one vs. later

Year one is a single filing fee, $150 online or $165 on paper, and later years are a single $55 annual report fee online, $70 on paper. Nothing else recurs. The Department of Revenue states that South Dakota does not impose a state income tax and does not impose a corporate income tax, and no franchise tax, privilege tax, or other flat entity level charge on an ordinary LLC appears in SDCL 47-34A-212, SDCL 47-34A-1206, or the Department's business tax materials, so a default LLC's South Dakota total is two numbers and stays two numbers. What moves the total is lateness and status, not revenue. A report still unfiled 2 months after its due date draws the $55 penalty in SDCL 47-34A-212(b), doubling the online cost of that report to $110. Administrative dissolution leads to a $150 reinstatement plus every back report, fee, and penalty and a Department of Revenue tax clearance certificate. And the state's one genuinely large fee is not in the domestic total at all: a foreign LLC pays $750 to obtain a certificate of authority, five times the domestic formation fee, and $750 again to amend that certificate.

The South Dakota fees around the formation

Most South Dakota LLC fees sit in SDCL 47-34A-212 and SDCL 47-34A-1206, with the $15 paper processing fee added to any filing made on paper that could be filed online. These are the lines a South Dakota LLC is most likely to meet:

South Dakota filing	Fee
Name reservation (120 days)	$25
Statement of change of registered office or registered agent	$10 online, $25 on paper
Amendment or restatement of the articles of organization	$60
Articles of merger	$60
Certificate of existence	$20
Certificate of Authority (foreign LLC registering)	$750 online, $765 on paper
Amendment of a certificate of authority (foreign LLC)	$750
Notice of Cancellation of Certificate of Authority (foreign LLC withdrawal)	$10
Fictitious name (DBA) registration, per name, 5 years	$10
Articles of Termination	$10
Reinstatement after administrative dissolution, plus back reports, fees, penalties, and a tax clearance certificate	$150

The South Dakota taxes that are not in the flat total

Start with the tax that does not exist. The Department of Revenue's Individuals, Taxes page states that South Dakota is one of seven states that does not impose a state income tax, and its Businesses, Taxes page states, under Corporate Income Tax, that South Dakota does not impose a corporate income tax. There is therefore no entity level income tax on a default LLC, no pass-through income tax return to the state, and no state income tax on members, and no flat entity charge takes their place.

Sales and use tax is different in kind: it is a tax on the business's own sales activity, collected on transactions, and it is excluded from the flat totals on this page. The Department of Revenue states that the sales tax applies to the gross receipts of all retail sales, including the sale, lease, or rental of tangible personal property or any product transferred electronically, and the sale of services, at a state rate of 4.2%. Any business with a physical presence in South Dakota is required to be licensed for sales tax collection, and a business without a physical presence must obtain a license and pay tax if its gross revenue from sales into South Dakota exceeded $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year, under SDCL 10-64 for remote sellers and SDCL 10-65 for marketplace providers. Municipal sales and use taxes and industry excise taxes are likewise activity and location based, and the $55 annual report late penalty is conditional on delinquency, so all of them sit outside the flat total.

Run your own version, with an optional registered agent added, in the LLC cost calculator. Every state's year-one and recurring totals sit in one table on the national cost hub, and if a service would act as your agent, the registered agent price tracker follows what that costs at each tracked provider. If you would rather a service handled the filing, the services comparison prices that honestly, renewals included.