Register your business in Maryland

LLCs and corporations file with the Charter Division of the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation¹. A sole proprietorship is registered under the owner’s name. It has no articles. The filing creates the company. Licenses and permits is the step that covers permission to do the work.

What’s different in Maryland

• The filing office is the Department of Assessments and Taxation. It is not the Secretary of State. File in Maryland Business Express¹.
• An LLC’s principal office on the articles has to be in Maryland. The resident agent also needs a Maryland street address. A post office box is not accepted¹.
• The annual report is not a small anniversary fee. Form 1 is $300 for an LLC or a stock corporation, due April 15. A nonstock corporation shows no filing fee on Form 1⁹.
• Two official pages describe the rush fees differently. The May 2026 LLC form prints totals. The fee schedule prints add-ons. For a $100¹ LLC they add up. The review times do not match. Details are in the steps below.
• A DBA is a trade name, and it is optional. It costs $25² and lasts five years, and a renewal lasts another five years⁴. It does not create the company, and it is not a trademark.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, general partnership, or sole proprietorship. Pick an entity compares them. Filing the form is not legal or tax advice, and SDAT staff cannot give either¹.
2. Check the name in Maryland Business Express. An LLC name must include Limited Liability Company, LLC, L.L.C., LC, or L.C. It has to be distinguishable from other active businesses on file with SDAT¹. Search the web and the federal trademark database too. A state name check is not a trademark clearance.
3. Reserve the name only if you are not ready to file. It is $25² and lasts 30 days. The statute also lets the holder transfer that reservation once, for another 30 days⁵.
4. Choose a resident agent with a Maryland street address. The agent is a person, or a business already on file with SDAT. The resident agent has to sign a consent¹. A later change of the agent’s name or address is $25² on the fee schedule, for a domestic or foreign entity.
5. File the formation document. Use Maryland Business Express. You can also mail it or use the drop box at 123 Market Place, Baltimore, MD 21202. Online payments add a 3% service fee on top of the filing fee. The May 2026 articles form mails to 700 E. Pratt Street, Suite 2700, Baltimore, MD 21202¹. The fee schedule still prints 700 East Pratt Street, 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202².* Use the address on the form you are sending, and check the department’s site if the two still disagree.
6. Put April 15 on a calendar. The first Form 1 is not due a few weeks after you form. It is due the next April 15⁹ if the company existed on January 1. Details are on Stay compliant.

By structure

LLC

File Articles of Organization for $100. The form contains only the minimum the law requires. You can add more if it is consistent with Maryland law. The principal office has to be in Maryland¹.

The May 2026 form prints expedited filing at $150, reviewed in 7 to 14 business days, and same-day filing at $425 online or $525 on paper. Standard review on that form is 6 to 8 weeks¹.

The fee schedule prints the same speeds as add-ons: $50 for expedited review in 7-10 business days, $325 for online same-day service, and $425 for paper same-day service. It also says non-expedited paper review may take 4 - 6 weeks, while online non-expedited review is 6-8 weeks².* For a $100¹ LLC, the form’s totals match the filing fee plus those add-ons. The two pages do not agree on how long review takes. Check the total and the timing on the screen or the form you submit.

A certificate of good standing, if you order one, is $20² on the fee schedule.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation for $100². You also pay an organization and capitalization fee that starts at $20 when aggregate par value is not over $100,000, and the statute's schedule charges more as that value rises. A corporation with no capital stock also pays $20⁶. Read the schedule in the statute before you authorize a large number of shares. Shares with no par value are folded into that schedule by the statute’s definition of aggregate par value.

A nonstock corporation that will seek tax-exempt status under IRS sections 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), or 501(c)(6) pays an additional $50². That money goes to the Maryland Not-For-Profit Development Center Program Fund. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

S corporation status is a federal election on Form 2553¹⁰. Maryland’s treatment of a pass-through is on Get your tax IDs. This page does not pick the election.

Partnership

The fee schedule lists a certificate of limited partnership at $100 and a domestic limited liability partnership certificate at $100². A general partnership has no certificate on that schedule. Like a sole proprietorship, it is registered under the name of the owner or owners, and a business name is a separate trade name filing⁴. Use the form that matches the kind of partnership you have.

Sole proprietorship

No articles. A sole proprietorship is registered under the name of the owner or owners, and a business name is a separate trade name filing. You still register for the taxes that apply on Get your tax IDs, and you still check local licenses. The yearly filing for a sole proprietorship or a general partnership registered with the department is Form 2, with no fee⁴.

Business names

A trade name is an optional doing-business-as name. It is not a trademark, and it does not create the company. The fee is $25². It lasts five years, and a renewal lasts another five years. It is forfeited if it is not renewed before the expiration date, and you then have to register a new one⁴. Register and renew it in Maryland Business Express. The owner has to be in good standing if the owner is an LLC or a corporation.

That registration is not a substitute for the federal trademark search.

Formed in another state

A foreign LLC files a Limited Liability Company Registration for $100. Include written proof of existence from the home state, equivalent to a certificate of good standing, issued within the last 60 days. If the company has already done business in Maryland, the form requires a $200 penalty with the registration. The name you use in Maryland, if it differs from the home name, must include Limited Liability Company or LLC. You still need a Maryland resident agent at a street address. If you name no resident agent, or the agent cannot be found, the Department is appointed, for no additional fee⁷. A foreign corporation’s qualification is $100² on the fee schedule. If you are not sure the work counts as doing business, check with a legal professional. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs.

What you get back

A filed company you can use for your EIN and your bank, and a department ID number. The annual report is a later filing. If the charter is forfeited, reinstatement of a domestic LLC is $100² on the fee schedule, and the department’s current notice says you also file the missing reports. Those rules are on Stay compliant.