Maryland Foreign Registration / From Delaware

A Delaware LLC's path to a Maryland registration

Year one for a Delaware LLC that registers in Maryland runs $850: $100 to SDAT, $50 for a short Delaware certificate, $400 for Delaware's annual tax and $300 for the first Maryland report. The Delaware certificate is the document SDAT reads as proof of good standing, and Delaware withholds it while the LLC's annual tax is unpaid.

Two states, side by side

Item	Delaware	Maryland
Yearly charge	$400 tax	$300 report
Date it is due	June 1	April 15
Cost of being late	$200 penalty plus interest	From $30 up to $500, then growing
Proof of standing	$50 short, $175 long	Attached to the registration

Short certificate or long

Delaware prices two versions of its certificate. The short one confirms good standing, and the long one adds a history of the LLC's filings. Maryland's statute asks only for proof that it accepts of good standing in Delaware, so the short version fits. Pay for the long one if a bank or buyer is asking for the filing history. Time the order close to the day you file, since the paper form puts a 60-day ceiling on age.

Clear the Delaware tax before ordering

While its annual tax stays unpaid, an LLC cannot make other Delaware filings, and Delaware will not hand it a good standing certificate. An LLC that stays unpaid long enough can lose its Delaware registration altogether. So the $400 payment, due June 1, comes before the certificate order. A tax paid late carries $200 on top.

Carrying the Delaware facts across

Use the exact Delaware name, ending included, and take the formation date from the certificate. For the home office, Maryland's statute asks for the address of the office the formation state requires the LLC to keep, and for a Delaware LLC that is normally its Delaware registered office. Describe the Maryland business in a sentence that matches what the LLC really does here, for example owning and leasing a rental duplex.

The Delaware agent will not do

A Maryland agent is an individual residing in Maryland or a Maryland corporation, LLC or limited partnership whose name, address and designation are filed with the Department. A Delaware registered agent that holds only a Delaware office does not meet that, so choose a person in Maryland or a Maryland entity that offers the service. The agent page lays out the choices.

If the Delaware record changes later

Renaming the LLC in Delaware, or changing the facts the application gave, leaves the Maryland filing out of date. The statute then expects a prompt corrective certificate, and SDAT's schedule lists a certificate of correction at $25.

Adding up year one

Line	Amount
Delaware annual tax	$400
Delaware good standing certificate (short)	$50
SDAT registration	$100
First Form 1 the next spring	$300
Total before our fee and options	$850

What the total leaves out

The $850 figure leaves out our fee, SDAT's technology fee for online payment, any expedited or rush option and the cost of an outside Maryland agent.

Dates to put side by side

Delaware's tax lands June 1 and Maryland's Form 1 lands April 15, roughly six weeks apart. List both in one place once the registration is accepted, and note who pays which.

Example: a duplex in Towson

A Delaware LLC owns a rented duplex in Towson. In May it pays Delaware's tax and orders the short certificate. A Maryland company agrees to serve as agent, the manager signs, and the package goes through Business Express with $100. The next April the LLC files Form 1 and pays $300, and it completes the property part only if it owns personal property at or above the threshold.

From Delaware to a Maryland registration

Pay Delaware
$400, due June 1.
Line up a Maryland agent
A Maryland resident or a Maryland entity.
Order the certificate
The short one is $50.
Complete the application and sign
An authorized person signs, from anywhere.
Submit
$100 to SDAT, plus any speed option.

The signer can live anywhere

The application is executed by an authorized person, and nothing in the statute ties that person to Maryland.

Writing the business description

Maryland wants the general character of the business it proposes to transact in Maryland. A holding company can say it owns and leases real property. An online seller can say it sells goods to customers and keeps stock in the State. Keep to one or two plain sentences.

If a Wyoming LLC is the alternative

Maryland charges a Wyoming LLC the same $100 and $300. The gap is at home, where Wyoming's costs are lower. The Wyoming page adds them up.

Delaware-to-Maryland questions

Is the short Delaware certificate enough for SDAT?

SDAT asks for proof it accepts of good standing, and the short certificate states standing.

Does registering in Maryland change my Delaware bill?

No. The $400 tax is still due June 1.

Can my Delaware agent act in Maryland?

Only if the same entity also meets the Maryland definition.

Our fee and SDAT's

SDAT's $100 and any speed option you choose are listed on their own lines at checkout. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.

Register in Maryland

$199

+ $100 SDAT fee

The SDAT registration for a non-Maryland LLC, completed from your answers
Your home-state proof of existence checked before anything is sent
A Maryland resident agent, either ours or the one you name
Submission through Business Express and the SDAT acknowledgment returned to you
Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year

Sources

Doing business in Maryland?

Give us the home-state details and we prepare the SDAT registration.