How to Start an LLC in Maryland (2026): Step-by-Step Guide

Published: June 2026 · Updated for the 2026 tax year

Starting an LLC in Maryland is the cheap part — $100 to file, no publication notice, no franchise tax. The expensive part comes back every year: a flat $300 Annual Report, due April 15, filed not with a Secretary of State but with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) — and that same form doubles as a Business Personal Property Return. This guide walks through every step, what a Maryland LLC actually costs year by year (not just the headline filing fee), how to form one from outside the US, and the fixed April 15 deadline that quietly forfeits LLCs that miss it.

Form your Maryland LLC for free with Jupid. We prepare and file your Articles of Organization — you pay only the state's $100 filing fee, with no service markup. Start your Maryland LLC →

A note from Slava

I'm Slava, co-founder and CEO of Jupid. Before this I co-founded and scaled an AI-powered accounting platform to around $30M in revenue and more than 100,000 business users — the kind of company that ends up filing a lot of paperwork in a lot of states and watching customers trip over the same potholes again and again.

Maryland's pothole isn't the cost of opening — it's the calendar. Most "how to start an LLC in Maryland" articles get the $100 filing fee right and then wave at "a $300 annual fee" without telling you the two things that actually bite. First, it's due on a fixed date — April 15 — not your anniversary, which is the opposite of how almost every other state works, so people who set an "anniversary reminder" miss it. Second, the Annual Report and the Business Personal Property Return are the same form (Form 1), and whether you owe anything beyond the $300 turns on a $20,000 threshold most guides never mention. Get one of those wrong and you can drift into forfeiture — which costs far more to undo than to avoid.

So this guide does the things the others skip: it puts the $300 / April 15 / SDAT reality up front, explains the Form 1 double-duty in plain terms, adds up the real cost over time, spells out the non-resident path, and hands you a dated checklist so the April 15 deadline doesn't catch you. Everything here is current for 2026, with links to the official sources so you can verify before you file.

Maryland LLC at a glance

Sources: Maryland SDAT — corporate charter fee schedule, SDAT — 2026 Form 1 instructions (Annual Report & Business Personal Property Return), Comptroller of Maryland.

Should you actually form your LLC in Maryland?

If you live in Maryland and run your business from Maryland, you should almost certainly form your LLC in Maryland. The popular advice to "form in Wyoming or Delaware instead" doesn't help you here: an out-of-state LLC that does business in Maryland has to register as a foreign LLC with SDAT — which means the same $300 Annual Report anyway, plus a second set of fees and a registered agent in the other state. You end up paying more for more paperwork, and you've added a state.

Forming elsewhere makes sense in a narrower set of cases: you genuinely don't operate in Maryland (no office, employees, or significant activity here), you're a non-resident with no US footprint at all, or you have a specific reason — outside-investor expectations, for instance — that points to Delaware. If you're weighing it, our best state to form an LLC tool walks through the trade-offs, and our Wyoming LLC guide covers the non-resident case in detail.

For everyone else: Maryland it is. Here's how.

How to start an LLC in Maryland, step by step

1. Choose and check your LLC name

Your name has to include "Limited Liability Company" or an abbreviation — "LLC," "L.L.C.," "LC," or "L.C." ("Limited" can be shortened to "Ltd." and "Company" to "Co.") — and it has to be distinguishable from every other entity on SDAT's records. Search the Maryland Business Express entity database before you get attached to anything. Need ideas or want to check a few options at once? Our Maryland business name generator is built for exactly that. If you want to lock a name in before you're ready to file, a name reservation holds it for 30 days for $25 — though most people skip it, since the name is secured the moment your Articles are approved.

2. Appoint a Maryland resident agent

Every Maryland LLC needs a resident agent (Maryland's term for what most states call a registered agent) to accept legal papers and official notices on its behalf. The agent must be a Maryland resident individual, or a Maryland corporation or Maryland-qualified company, with a physical Maryland street address — a P.O. box won't do — under Corporations & Associations Article §4A-210. You can serve as your own agent if you live in Maryland; the LLC itself cannot be its own agent. The agent's name and address become public record, which is why people who'd rather not publish a home address — and everyone who lives out of state — hire a commercial resident agent for roughly $50–$150 a year.

3. File the Articles of Organization with SDAT

This is the step that creates your LLC. File online through Maryland Business Express for $100, or mail the Articles of Organization to the SDAT Charter Division in Baltimore. You'll list the LLC name, the resident agent and their Maryland address, the principal office, and the purpose. The $100 is the same online or by mail; online adds a 3% convenience fee (about $3) for card payments, or a flat $3 for eCheck. Standard review is slow — think weeks, not days (SDAT cites roughly 4–6 weeks, up to 6–8 weeks for online non-expedited filings). If you're in a hurry, add $50 to expedite (reviewed within 7–10 business days), or pay $325 for same-day online service (submitted by 2:30 PM). Once it's approved, download the stamped Articles — your bank will ask for them.

4. Write an operating agreement

Maryland doesn't legally require an operating agreement, but you should have one anyway. You don't file it with anyone; you keep it with your company records. It sets out ownership percentages, how profits are split, who can make decisions, and what happens if a member leaves. Even a single-member LLC should have one — it's part of how you keep the liability shield intact, and it's the document a bank will ask to see when you open the business account.

5. Get your EIN from the IRS

An EIN is your LLC's federal tax ID, and you need it to open a bank account, hire anyone, and file taxes. It's free. Apply at irs.gov after SDAT approves your formation — if you have an SSN or ITIN, the online application takes a few minutes. If you don't (common for non-resident owners), file Form SS-4 by fax, mail, or the IRS international phone line; see the non-resident section below. Never pay a third party for the EIN itself — the number is always free from the IRS.

6. Register for Maryland taxes and any licenses

Forming the LLC doesn't cover your tax obligations. If you sell taxable tangible goods or certain services in Maryland, register for a sales-and-use tax license (free) through the Comptroller's Combined Registration Application — Maryland's rate is a flat 6% statewide, with no local add-on. The same application registers you for employer withholding and points you to unemployment insurance with the Maryland Department of Labor if you'll hire. If your business makes retail sales, you'll likely also need a local trader's license from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county. And any professional or industry license you'd need as a sole proprietor — contractor, food service, alcohol, real estate — you still need as an LLC.

7. Calendar the $300 Annual Report due every April 15

This is the step that never ends. Every Maryland LLC files Form 1 — the Business Entity Annual Report, which doubles as the Business Personal Property Return — with SDAT by April 15 each year, with a flat $300 fee, regardless of revenue, activity, or whether you own any property. Your first report is due the April 15 after your formation year, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first Form 1 by April 15, 2027. Put it on the calendar now, on the fixed date — more on why that matters below.

What a Maryland LLC really costs, year by year

Most guides quote "$100 plus $300" and stop. Here's the fuller picture — and the timing is the part that trips people up.

Year one

Every following year

The timing trap nobody flags. In California, forming in December is a cash-flow trap because the $800 franchise tax can hit twice in a few months. Maryland is the opposite: the $300 is flat and date-certain, and the first one is skipped in your formation year, so forming in December costs you nothing extra. The real trap is the fixed April 15 date. Almost every other state ties the annual report to your formation anniversary, so founders set an "anniversary reminder" — and in Maryland that reminder fires on the wrong day. Miss April 15 enough times and you lose good standing, then forfeit. Calendar the date, not the anniversary.

DIY versus a formation service versus Jupid. Doing it yourself costs the $100 state fee and your time. A formation service charges $0–$300 on top of the state fee (the "$0" packages still pass through the $100 and then upsell you a resident agent and a "compliance" subscription). Jupid forms your Maryland LLC for free — you pay only the state filing fee — and then handles the bookkeeping and tax filings afterward, which is where most of the ongoing cost and hassle actually live. To model the annual numbers for your situation, use our Maryland LLC annual cost calculator.

Forming a Maryland LLC as a non-resident or foreign founder

You can own a Maryland LLC without being a US citizen or resident — Maryland imposes no residency or citizenship requirement on members or managers. The practical hurdles are a Maryland resident agent, an EIN, a US bank account, and your US and Maryland tax filings.

Resident agent. If no member lives in Maryland with a real street address, you must use a commercial resident agent here. Budget around $50–$150 a year. P.O. boxes and mailbox-store addresses don't qualify — the address has to be a physical Maryland location where someone can accept legal process during business hours.

Getting an EIN without an SSN. The IRS online EIN tool requires the responsible party to have an SSN or ITIN, so foreign founders generally can't use it. Instead, file Form SS-4: on the line asking for the responsible party's SSN/ITIN/EIN, write "Foreign" — don't invent a number. Submit it by fax or mail, or call the IRS international EIN line (it's not toll-free), where someone outside the US can get the number over the phone. Check the current Form SS-4 instructions for the right fax and phone numbers, since the IRS changes them. Fax turnaround is usually about a week; phone is immediate. The EIN is free.

The Form 5472 obligation — don't skip this. A single-member LLC owned by a non-US person is a disregarded entity that generally must file Form 5472 along with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, reporting transactions between the LLC and its foreign owner — even if the LLC owes no tax and did nothing all year. The penalty for missing it is $25,000. A multi-member foreign-owned LLC files Form 1065 with K-1s instead. Almost no Maryland LLC guide mentions this; build it into your annual calendar from day one, right next to the April 15 Form 1.

US bank account. Most US banks want the owner physically present to open a business account, along with the EIN confirmation letter, the filed Articles of Organization, the operating agreement, and a passport. Several fintech business-banking platforms onboard non-resident-owned US LLCs remotely — eligibility and policies change, so check current terms before you rely on any of them. You'll typically need a US business address, which can be your resident agent or a virtual office depending on the bank.

Maryland tax for nonresident members. A non-resident member with Maryland-source income from the LLC may owe Maryland nonresident income tax, and the LLC generally must withhold and pay Maryland tax on the nonresident members' share (Form 510) — unless the LLC makes the entity-level pass-through-entity-tax election on Form 511. A pure-online LLC with no Maryland-source income and no Maryland nexus generally owes no Maryland income tax. But note the trap: you still file the $300 Form 1 with SDAT every April 15 no matter what — it's a charter and property filing, not an income-tax filing, so "no Maryland income" doesn't excuse it. Federally, if the LLC is engaged in a US trade or business, the foreign owner has US filing obligations of their own (Form 1040-NR for an individual, plus the Form 5472 filing above).

Resident agents and the Corporate Transparency Act (BOI)

Your resident agent is the person or company designated to receive lawsuits and official notices for the LLC. It has to be a Maryland resident or Maryland-qualified company with a physical Maryland street address — and because the agent's address is public, plenty of Maryland residents hire a commercial agent purely to keep their home address off the record.

On the federal beneficial-ownership side: under the Corporate Transparency Act, LLCs were originally required to file a Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report with FinCEN. That changed. FinCEN's interim final rule, published in March 2025, redefined a "reporting company" to mean only entities formed under foreign law that register to do business in a US state. As of early 2026, that means a Maryland-formed LLC — even one with foreign owners — has no BOI filing obligation. FinCEN has said it intends to finalize the rule, and a final rule is expected sometime in 2026, so this could shift; check fincen.gov/boi before you assume one way or the other. (If you register a foreign-formed entity to do business in Maryland, that entity does have its own FinCEN obligations.)

Your first 30, 60, and 90 days

Maryland's recurring deadline is the fixed April 15 Annual Report, but it won't bite in your formation year — so use the first 90 days to set up cleanly and calendar that date for next year.

Days 1–7

• Get your EIN from the IRS (free; online if you have an SSN/ITIN, otherwise Form SS-4 by fax, mail, or phone). You need it before you can open a bank account.
• Adopt your operating agreement — not required by Maryland, but kept with your records and expected by your bank.
• Check your BOI status. As of early 2026 a domestic Maryland LLC has no FinCEN filing to make; re-verify at fincen.gov/boi.

Days 1–30

• Open a US business bank account (EIN letter, filed Articles, operating agreement, ID). Separate finances from day one — it preserves the liability shield.
• Register for a sales-and-use tax license through the Comptroller's Combined Registration Application if you sell taxable goods (free), and for employer withholding and unemployment insurance if you'll hire.
• Get any local trader's license (Clerk of the Circuit Court in your county) and any professional or industry licenses your work requires.
• Look into business insurance — general liability now, workers' comp once you have employees.

Days 1–60

• Set up bookkeeping and a way to track Maryland personal property original cost, so you know whether you'll cross the $20,000 threshold that triggers the property-return schedules.
• If you're a foreign-owned single-member LLC, note the annual Form 5472 + pro-forma 1120 filing ($25,000 penalty for missing it).
• Plan for quarterly estimated taxes (federal and Maryland) on your share of profits.

By day 90 — and every year after, by April 15

• Calendar the $300 Annual Report (Form 1) on the fixed April 15 date — not your anniversary. Your first one is due the April 15 after your formation year. If you need more time, request a 60-day extension through SDAT on or before April 15 (moves it to mid-June).

Common mistakes with Maryland LLCs

Setting an "anniversary" reminder and missing the fixed April 15 date. Why it hurts: Maryland is one of the few states whose annual report is due on a fixed calendar date, not your formation anniversary. An anniversary reminder fires on the wrong day, you miss April 15, and repeated misses cost you good standing and then forfeiture — which is far more expensive to undo. Fix: calendar April 15 every year, and file (or request the 60-day extension) on or before that date.

Ignoring the Personal Property Return half of Form 1. Why it hurts: the Annual Report and the Business Personal Property Return are the same form, and people file the $300 report while forgetting the property questions. If your LLC owns, leases, or uses Maryland personal property — or needs a trader's license — you have to complete the property schedules, and a missed or incomplete return can be rejected as untimely. Fix: answer the property questions every year; if all your statewide business personal property has an original cost under $20,000, you simply attest to that and skip the schedules.

Thinking a Wyoming or Delaware LLC dodges the $300. Why it hurts: if you operate in Maryland, the out-of-state LLC has to register here as a foreign LLC and files the same $300 Annual Report anyway — plus the other state's fees and a second resident agent. Fix: if Maryland is where you do business, form in Maryland.

Assuming "no Maryland income" means "no filing." Why it hurts: the $300 Form 1 is a charter and property filing, not an income-tax filing. An LLC that made nothing, or a non-resident-owned online LLC with no Maryland-source income, still owes the $300 every April 15. Skip it and you slide toward forfeiture regardless of revenue. Fix: treat the April 15 Form 1 as unconditional, separate from whatever you do or don't owe in income tax.

How Jupid helps

Jupid forms your Maryland LLC for free — you pay only the state's $100 filing fee, with no service markup and no surprise "compliance" subscription. After that, Jupid is your AI accountant, working in WhatsApp and iMessage the same way you already text. It connects to your business bank account, automatically categorizes your transactions (around 95.9% accuracy), keeps your deductions organized, and prepares your tax filings with CPA review before anything is submitted. For a Maryland LLC, that's the part that actually takes time year after year — the $300 you'll just pay, but tracking your personal property original cost against the $20,000 threshold, the pass-through income math across Maryland's state and local rates, and clean books to back it all up are work, and that's the work Jupid does for you. Start your Maryland LLC free with Jupid →

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Maryland in 2026? The Articles of Organization filing fee is $100, paid to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) — the same $100 whether you file online or by mail (online adds a 3% convenience fee). That's effectively your whole year-one cost, because the $300 Annual Report isn't due until the April 15 after the year you form. Optional add-ons: $50 to expedite the filing, and roughly $50 to $150 a year for a commercial resident agent if you don't have a Maryland address.

What is the Maryland LLC $300 Annual Report and when is it due? Every Maryland LLC must file Form 1 — the Business Entity Annual Report, which doubles as the Business Personal Property Return — with SDAT by April 15 every year, with a flat $300 fee, regardless of revenue or activity. Your first report is due the April 15 after your formation year, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first Form 1 by April 15, 2027. A 60-day extension to mid-June is available if you request it through SDAT on or before April 15.

Does a Maryland LLC have to file a personal property tax return? It has to file the form. The Annual Report and the Business Personal Property Return are the same Form 1. You only complete the property schedules — and only owe property tax — if your LLC owns, leases, or uses personal property in Maryland, or needs a trader's license. Under Tax-Property Article 7-245, if all of your business's personal property statewide has a total original cost under $20,000, none of it is taxable; you still file Form 1 and simply attest that you're under the threshold.

Do I need a registered agent for a Maryland LLC? Yes — Maryland calls it a "resident agent." It must be a Maryland resident individual or a Maryland-qualified company with a physical street address in the state; P.O. boxes are not allowed. You can serve as your own agent if you live in Maryland. Out-of-state and foreign owners hire a commercial resident agent, typically $50 to $150 a year.

Can a non-US resident start a Maryland LLC? Yes. Maryland has no citizenship or residency requirement for LLC members or managers. You'll need a Maryland resident agent, an EIN (which you can get without an SSN via Form SS-4), and a US bank account, and you'll still file the $300 Form 1 every April 15 even with no Maryland-source income. A foreign-owned single-member LLC must also file IRS Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year or face a $25,000 penalty.

Does Maryland require LLCs to publish a formation notice in a newspaper? No. Unlike New York, Arizona, Nebraska, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, Maryland has no newspaper publication requirement for LLCs.

Official sources

• Maryland SDAT — corporate charter fee schedule (Articles of Organization $100; $50 expedited; $325/$425 same-day; name reservation $25)
• Maryland Business Express — online filing portal · entity name search
• SDAT — processing times
• SDAT — 2026 Form 1 instructions (Annual Report & Business Personal Property Return) ($300 fee, April 15, $20,000 §7-245 exemption)
• SDAT — Business Personal Property
• Maryland Business Express — maintain good standing
• Maryland Corporations & Associations Article §4A-210 — resident agent
• Comptroller of Maryland · Combined Registration Application (sales/use tax, withholding)
• IRS — get an EIN · Instructions for Form SS-4 · About Form 5472
• FinCEN — Beneficial Ownership Information
• Related on Jupid: Maryland LLC formation · Maryland LLC annual cost calculator · Maryland business name generator · best state to form an LLC · Virginia LLC guide · Delaware LLC guide

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Fees, deadlines, and thresholds change — verify with the official sources above before you file.

Last updated: June 2026.