Maryland LLC Cost

Documents you need

• Articles of Organization — Filed with SDAT Charter Division to create the LLC, online via Maryland Business Express or by mail; fee $100. The form's mandatory provisions include the LLC name, purpose, principal office address in Maryland (cannot be a P.O. Box), and the resident agent's name and address.
• Resident agent — The resident agent must be a Maryland citizen over eighteen, a Maryland corporation, or a Maryland LLC; the agent's address cannot be a P.O. Box and the resident agent must sign the Articles of Organization.
• Annual Report and Business Personal Property Return (Form 1) — Form 1 must be filed every year even as the combined annual report / personal property return; see annual_report.

How forming works in Maryland

1. Line up the agent: Resident agent — The resident agent must be a Maryland citizen over eighteen, a Maryland corporation, or a Maryland LLC; the agent's address cannot be a P.O. Box and the resident agent must sign the Articles of Organization.
2. File the Articles of Organization with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) — the filing fee is $100 at the cheapest channel (file online at the official portal linked below).

Annual report & ongoing costs

Maryland requires a annual report — fee $300.

Due April 15 each year (Form 1, Annual Report and Business Personal Property Return). Extensions of up to 60 days may be requested (to June 15).

Form 1 combines the Annual Report with the Business Personal Property Return in a single filing. The official 2026 Form 1 lists Domestic or Foreign Limited Liability Company (Dept. ID prefix W or Z) filing fee $300. The fee may be waived for a year for businesses approved by MarylandSaves in the preceding year (per Form 1 and its instructions). Filed online at Maryland Business Express or by mail.

Other state charges

Form 1 doubles as the Business Personal Property Return. The $300 Form 1 filing fee is the annual report fee shown above; any business personal property tax itself is assessed on the property reported and taxed at the county level, so no single statewide amount exists. The return must be filed even if the business owns no taxable property.

After you form

1. Get the free EIN from the IRS, then open a business bank account so company and personal money stay separate.
2. Stay compliant: the annual report costs $300 — diary the due date before you form.

• Employer Identification Number (EIN) — free from the IRS; a federal step that is the same in every state.

Compare Maryland with the rest of the country

Maryland's first-year minimum of $100 sits in the full ranking of all 51 jurisdictions — the cheapest first year is Montana at $35 and the most expensive is California at $870.