Forming an LLC in Maryland: SDAT Filing Steps and Fees
Ask a generic guide where LLC paperwork goes and it will say the Secretary of State. In Maryland that advice leads nowhere, because the charter agency here is the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, known as SDAT. Get that one fact right and the rest falls into place quickly: a $100 filing, a document called the Articles of Organization, and an online portal named Maryland Business Express that handles the whole thing.
Where does a Maryland LLC actually get filed?
With SDAT, always. The department records the charter, keeps your agent designation on file, and runs the April 15 annual report cycle year after year. Bookmark two addresses: dat.maryland.gov for the agency itself and Maryland Business Express for the filing portal.
What is the paperwork called?
The Articles of Organization. SDAT leaves the document unnumbered, so anyone quoting you a numbered Maryland LLC form is improvising. The authority behind it is Md. Code, Corps. & Ass'ns § 4A-202, which lets any person create an LLC by executing articles of organization and filing them for record with the department, and § 4A-204 dictates what goes inside: name, principal office address, and the agent designation.
The six moves, in order
Ready to get started?
Get Started- Run your name through Business Express before anything else. It needs an LLC designator and cannot collide with a name already sitting in SDAT's database, so search first and fall in love second.
- Line up a registered agent. Maryland's statutes use the older label "resident agent" for the identical role. Section 1-101 defines who qualifies: "an individual residing in this State or a Maryland corporation, limited liability company, or limited partnership," with the designation filed as part of your record.
- Fill out the Articles of Organization. Online through the portal, or on the unnumbered paper form SDAT publishes as a PDF. Either version asks for the same short list of contents.
- Submit to SDAT with $100. Card payments online pick up a 3% service charge, and a $50 expedite is available when you want SDAT to move your filing up the queue.
- Write the operating agreement while you wait. Nothing gets filed with the state, but the agreement settles ownership splits, voting, and exits before a dispute makes those questions expensive. Skip it and Title 4A's default rules answer for you.
- Grab your EIN, then mark April 15. The IRS issues EINs at no charge through IRS.gov. April 15 matters because Form 1, Maryland's annual report, comes due then every single year at $300, with the window opening each January 1.
What will the state collect over time?
- $100 once, when the Articles of Organization are recorded
- $300 every year for the Form 1 annual report
- $25 whenever you change the resident agent or principal office
- 3% on online card payments, plus $50 if you choose expedited handling
Want it handled instead?
Our formation package runs $199 and folds in year one of registered agent service, with the agent renewing at $99 a year afterward. We prepare the articles, file them with SDAT, and hand you back a finished company.