Maryland LLC formation starts with a $100 state filing fee, but that fee is rarely the largest first-year cost. What you actually spend depends on your business structure, privacy needs, and compliance preferences: the $300 annual report fee alone is triple the filing fee, before you add resident agent service or a county trader's license.
Required Maryland LLC formation costs
Every Maryland LLC pays the Articles of Organization fee and must name a resident agent in its formation documents. The operating agreement is an internal document, so what it costs depends entirely on how you draft it.
Core formation cost | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
State filing fee | $100 (nonrefundable) | State law sets the amount; you pay it to SDAT |
Resident (registered) agent | $0 if a member serves / annual fee for a commercial service | Required under § 4A-210(a); hire a service if you do not serve yourself |
Operating agreement | Low-cost template services / $500-$2,000+ (attorney-drafted) | Template services cost less but are not attorney work |
The $100 fee comes from § 1-203(b)(4) of the Corporations and Associations Article, and filing online through Maryland Business Express adds a 3% EGov portal fee on the payment amount.
Optional formation costs
Attorney-assisted formation runs $250 to $2,000+ per Lawful.com, and online business formation services for LLCs add a flat service fee to state fees. Entity tax planning runs $150 to $450 an hour per FigsFlow, so a one to two hour session costs $150 to $900.
The fees below come from the SDAT fee schedule dated May 2024 unless noted:
Name reservation costs $25 for 30 days, plus $20 for expedited handling.
Expedited processing adds $50 for a $150 total, reviewed within 7 to 10 business days. Standard, non-expedited review takes 6 to 8 weeks for online filings or 4 to 6 weeks for paper filings, per the SDAT fee schedule.
Same-day service costs $325 online for a $425 total if submitted by 2:30 p.m.
Paper and dropbox same-day delivery costs $425 for a $525 total, delivered by 10:00 a.m. and picked up by 3:45 p.m.
Trade name (DBA) registration costs $25 per the trade name application, for a five-year term.
Certified copies cost $20 each plus $1 per page at recordation, the version banks and lenders usually want.
An EIN is free from the IRS, with IRS EIN limits of one per responsible party per day.
Each Clerk of the Circuit Court issues the trader's license, priced on wholesale retail inventory value plus a $2 issuing fee; Carroll County's schedule runs from $15 for inventory up to $1,000 to $800 above $750,000, and Baltimore City's fee tops out at $2,125 under Md. Code, Business Regulation § 17-1807.
Ongoing annual costs
Maryland is one of the states that require an annual report, and SDAT's charter FAQ says the obligation applies whether or not the LLC owns property or earns revenue in Maryland.
Maryland annual report filing requirements center on Form 1, generally due April 15 each year (confirm the exact date against current SDAT instructions annually), and the 2026 Form 1 sets the fee at $300. SDAT waives it for each year a business qualifies under MarylandSaves, and Tax-Property § 14-704(c) permits SDAT to grant a 60-day extension to June 15 if you request one electronically through the SDAT extension portal by April 15 (or by paper by March 15).
Form 1 doubles as the Business Personal Property Return, but the 2026 Form 1 instructions require that section only at $20,000 or more in original cost, up from $2,500, a threshold SDAT raised effective 2022 per its newsroom announcement. Filing the report alone attests that you fall below the threshold, per Maryland Business Express.
File late and you owe a penalty of one tenth of one percent of the county assessment plus interest under Tax-Property § 14-704(a). SDAT also certifies a list of non-filing LLCs after September 30 under § 4A-911(c), a step that precedes Comptroller notice and forfeiture.
Maryland registered agent services charge an annual fee, and an agent who resigns without a named successor stops serving 10 days after filing. Circuit Court business licenses run statewide from May 1 through April 30, with fees prorated for mid-year starts, per the Comptroller's State License Bureau.
Maryland imposes no franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the franchise taxes in Tax-General Title 8 reach only public service companies and financial institutions, and other states have their own franchise tax rules worth checking separately.
Under Comptroller guidance, a partnership-taxed LLC files Form 510, a disregarded single-member LLC files no separate Maryland return, and a C corporation election means Form 500. An LLC may also elect the state's pass-through entity tax, 8.75% on individual member shares and 8.25% on entity member shares; these rates carry into 2026 since the state budget reconciliation act delayed new PTET calculation changes until 2027.
Simplify Maryland LLC formation costs with Discern
Every Maryland LLC carries a resident agent requirement and an annual report deadline on top of the formation fee itself. Discern handles registered agent coverage and annual report filing for your Maryland LLC from one platform, so the ongoing costs above stay tracked instead of scattered across separate vendors and renewal notices.
For businesses running entities in Maryland and other states, that same platform tracks good standing, due dates, and filings across every jurisdiction. Instead of coordinating registered agents state by state, Discern gives multi-entity businesses one dashboard for annual report compliance and agent coverage nationwide.
Get started with Discern today.
FAQs about LLC formation costs in Maryland
These answers cover the fee questions Maryland LLC owners raise most often once the Articles of Organization are filed.
Can I get a refund if my filing is rejected?
Not automatically. You have 60 days from SDAT's initial rejection to correct and resubmit at no extra charge; after that, a resubmission costs a full new fee. If you decide not to refile, SDAT keeps the fee unless you request a refund in writing within 60 days. Common rejection triggers: a missing resident agent signature on the Articles of Organization form, a P.O. box address, and a name already in use.
Can I avoid registered agent fees legally?
Generally yes. Maryland law does not prohibit a member from serving as resident agent, though no statute expressly authorizes an LLC to designate itself. Under § 1-101(x) the agent must be an individual residing in Maryland or a Maryland corporation, LLC, or limited partnership on file with SDAT. SDAT form instructions require a physical Maryland street address, not a post office box. Serving yourself avoids a commercial agent's annual fee but puts lawsuits and state notices at your own door.
Are there ongoing tax obligations specific to Maryland LLCs?
An LLC with $20,000 or more in personal property by original cost must complete the personal property section of Form 1. SDAT assesses the value, but the county or municipality applies its own tax rate and issues the bill. Income tax follows federal classification, and an LLC that owns no Maryland personal property still owes the annual report fee.
Updated on
2026-09-14
