Maryland Foreign Registration / Cost
What registering a foreign LLC in Maryland costs, and what staying registered costs
Registering a foreign LLC in Maryland costs $100 at SDAT, and each annual report afterward costs $300. Paying online adds a 3 percent technology fee, and faster review adds $50 for expedited or $325 for online rush. Our own charge for the filing work is $199, which checkout lists separately.
Every SDAT charge for a foreign LLC
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Registration of a foreign LLC | $100 | Base filing fee |
| Regular review | $0 | Reviewed in the second calendar month |
| Expedited review | $50 | Added to the base fee |
| Online rush review | $325 | Added to the base fee |
| Paper rush, two-hour service | $425 | Hard copy filings |
| Annual report (Form 1) | $300 | Due every year |
| Certificate of cancellation | $0 | Base fee waived |
| Re-registration after a forfeiture | $100 | Plus the expedited option |
The 3 percent technology fee applies to filings paid through Business Express with a card or PayPal. SDAT says paper filers can avoid it.
How the technology fee is charged
The technology fee is a percentage, so it grows with the other charges in the same payment. It is assessed by the state's eGovernment provider under a contract the Department of Information Technology administers, and it does not come back if a filing is rejected. Checkout lists SDAT's $100 on one line and the percentage fee on another, so you can see which part is the filing and which part is the payment method.
Paying for speed
The schedule prints non-expedited, expedited and rush columns beside each filing type. For a foreign LLC the non-expedited column is $0, the expedited column is $50 and the online rush column is $325. An LLC that chooses expedited therefore pays $150 to SDAT before the technology fee, and one that chooses rush pays $425 before it. A hard copy filing that asks for the two-hour service costs $425 more than the base fee.
What an LLC spends at SDAT
| Path | Total to SDAT |
|---|---|
| Registration only | $100 |
| Registration with expedited review | $150 |
| Registration with online rush review | $425 |
| Registration and the first annual report | $400 |
| Registration and three annual reports | $1,000 |
| Registration, three reports and cancellation | $1,000 |
These totals leave out the technology fee, our fee, the home-state certificate and any outside resident agent.
The cost of skipping it
Maryland charges a $200 civil penalty for doing business without registering, and the penalty can be reduced or abated. A larger cost can be the annual reports an unregistered LLC never filed: two missed years of reports would come to $600. The penalty page separates the penalty from the reports.
Certificates and copies
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Certificate of status | $20 |
| Certificate of compliance with registration requirements | $20 |
| Certificate of withdrawal of registration | $20 |
| Certified copy of a filing | $20 |
| Duplicate of a certificate issued at the same time | $1 |
| Acceptance of service of process by SDAT | $50 |
The certificate of status shows an LLC's current standing once it is registered. The statute sets these charges, and Maryland counties and Baltimore City are exempt from the service of process fee.
Name and agent filings
Reserving a limited liability company name costs $25. A trade name filing costs $25. Changing the resident agent or principal office on the schedule's resolution filing costs $25, and a certificate of correction costs $25. A returned check adds $30. The agent page covers the filings that change a foreign LLC's agent.
What our fee covers
For $199 we draft the registration from your answers, test the proof of good standing against its age, fill in the agent details, apply the review speed you want and submit through Business Express. SDAT's fee, the technology fee, a speed option and any outside agent's charge each get their own line.
Annual reports by entity
| Entity | Annual report |
|---|---|
| Foreign LLC | $300 |
| Foreign stock corporation | $300 |
| Foreign nonstock corporation | $0 |
| Foreign limited partnership or LLP | $300 |
| Certified family farm | $100 |
The personal property return that travels with the report has no fee of its own. A business can have the report fee waived for a year by showing that it complies with the state's retirement savings law or offers its own compliant arrangement.
Budgeting the first year
Plan the first year around five items: the registration, the technology fee, a speed option if the date matters, the home-state certificate and an agent's fee if you hire one. The first Form 1 is due the spring after you register, so the $300 arrives soon after. A Delaware LLC should plan on $850 in total and a Wyoming LLC on $460, with the build-up on those pages.
Registered agent: first year included, then $149 a year
$199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Questions about Maryland costs
Is the registration fee the same for an LLC and a corporation?
Yes. SDAT lists $100 for a foreign LLC and $100 for a foreign corporation.
Does the technology fee come back if a filing is rejected?
No. The online payment fee is not refundable.
Is the annual report cheaper for a nonprofit?
A foreign nonstock corporation shows $0 on the schedule.
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
- Maryland Business Express fee schedule
- Md. Code, Corps. and Ass'ns 1-203, fees
- Maryland Business Express, processing times
- Maryland Tax-Property 11-101, annual report
- Maryland Corporations and Associations 4A-1007, effect of not registering
- Delaware Division of Corporations fee schedule (PDF)
- Division of Corporations, certificates of status and entity status online
- Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division fee schedule
- Delaware Division of Corporations, LLC/LP/GP annual tax
Doing business in Maryland?
Give us the home-state details and we prepare the SDAT registration.