How to Start an LLC in Maryland: SDAT Steps and Fees

Maryland runs its business filings differently than most states, and the differences matter from the first form you touch. Every LLC document here is filed with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). Maryland has no Secretary of State business-filing office, so any guide pointing you toward one was not written with this state in mind. The formation document is the Articles of Organization, the state charges $100 to record it, and Maryland Business Express is the official state portal for the entire process.

Two Maryland Facts Worth Learning First

SDAT is the filing agency. The State Department of Assessments and Taxation reviews your Articles of Organization, maintains the charter record afterward, and collects the annual report each spring. Its main site is dat.maryland.gov.

The state's term is resident agent. Maryland statute uses "resident agent" for the role the rest of the country calls a registered agent. Same job, different label: the designated recipient for lawsuits, state notices, and official mail. This page says registered agent throughout and flags where Maryland's paperwork says resident agent instead.

The Seven Steps, in Order

1. Settle on a name that clears the state database. The name needs a limited liability company designator (LLC, L.L.C., or the phrase spelled out) and must be distinguishable from every entity already on SDAT's records. Run a search through Maryland Business Express before you commit to logos or a domain.
2. Appoint a registered agent, listed as your resident agent on Maryland forms. Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 4A-210 requires each LLC to keep a principal office in the state and a resident agent on record with SDAT. Under § 1-101, the agent can be an individual who resides in Maryland or a Maryland corporation, LLC, or limited partnership.
3. Prepare the Articles of Organization. This is Maryland's formation document for LLCs, and SDAT does not assign it a form number, so there is no numbered form to hunt for. Section 4A-202 authorizes the filing in a single sentence: "Any person may form a limited liability company by causing articles of organization to be executed and filed for record with the Department." The required contents come from § 4A-204: the company name, the address of the principal office, and the resident agent's name and address.
4. File with SDAT and pay the $100 fee. Submit online through Maryland Business Express or mail the paper Articles of Organization. The official Maryland filing fee is $100 either way. Online payments carry a 3% service fee, and SDAT offers optional expedited service for an extra $50.
5. Adopt an operating agreement. Maryland never asks you to file one, but banks ask for it, courts read it in disputes, and without one the default rules of the Maryland LLC Act (Title 4A) decide questions you would rather decide yourself.
6. Request an EIN from the IRS. The federal tax ID is free directly from IRS.gov, arrives in minutes for most applicants, and is required before opening a business bank account or hiring anyone.
7. Put April 15 on the calendar. Every Maryland LLC files the Form 1 annual report with SDAT: $300 each year, with the filing window opening January 1.

Maryland LLC Fees at a Glance

Where We Fit In

Filing directly with SDAT is entirely doable, and everything above is enough to get it done. If you would rather hand it off, our formation service is $199: we prepare the Articles of Organization, file with SDAT, and include your first year of registered agent service, which renews at $99 per year afterward.

Form Your Maryland LLC