How to Start an LLC in Maryland (2026 Guide)
Maryland is cheap to enter and expensive to stay: a $100 filing gets you in, but every LLC owes a $300 annual report by April 15 — one of the highest recurring fees in America. This guide covers all 8 steps, the SDAT/Business Express filing paths, the MarylandSaves waiver that can erase the $300, and the county tax layer most guides skip.
To start a Maryland LLC, file Articles of Organization with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) — $100 by mail (6–8 week processing) or $150 online via Maryland Business Express, which is automatically expedited and often approved same-day if submitted by 2:30 PM. Every Maryland LLC then files Form 1 — the combined Annual Report + Business Personal Property Return — by April 15 each year for $300, regardless of formation date or revenue. Enrolling in MarylandSaves, the state's auto-IRA program, waives the $300 fee.
- State filing fee
- $100 mail · $150 online
- Online approval
- Same-day by 2:30 PM
- Mail processing
- 6–8 weeks
- Annual report (Form 1)
- $300 · due Apr 15
- MarylandSaves waiver
- $300 fee waived
- Agency
- SDAT — not a Sec. of State
Why Form an LLC in Maryland?
If your business operates in Maryland, form your LLC in Maryland — liability protection, banking, and licensing all key off your home state. Formation runs through the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT) rather than a Secretary of State, with the Maryland Business Express portal handling online filings so fast that a morning submission is often a same-day approval.
An LLC separates your personal assets from business debts and lawsuits. Still comparing structures? Read LLC vs Sole Proprietorship. Maryland's honest pitch: excellent speed and infrastructure, in exchange for the steepest routine maintenance bill in the mid-Atlantic.
- Same-day online formation: Business Express filings submitted by 2:30 PM are typically approved the same business day.
- No franchise tax: default LLCs owe no entity-level income tax — profits pass through once.
- Simple sales tax: 6% statewide with zero county or city sales taxes.
- The waiver nobody uses: enroll in MarylandSaves (the state auto-IRA, free to employers) and the $300 annual report fee is waived — the single best money move in Maryland compliance.
- One famous deadline: April 15 — the same day as your taxes, impossible to forget.
The catch — $300 a year, every year: Maryland's Form 1 fee applies to every LLC — zero revenue, zero property, zero employees, still $300. There's no proration and no first-year skip: form in December 2026 and your first $300 is due April 15, 2027. Over ten years that's $3,000 in pure maintenance — unless you use the MarylandSaves waiver below.
How to Start a Maryland LLC in 8 Steps
Your name must be distinguishable from every Maryland entity and include "LLC," "L.L.C.," "L.C.," "LC," or "Limited Liability Company." Search free on Business Express; reserve for $25 — but only for 30 days, the shortest window in this series.
Maryland calls it a resident agent — an adult Maryland citizen or a Maryland entity with a physical in-state address who accepts legal documents for your LLC.
$100 by mail (6–8 weeks) or $150 online through Business Express — automatically expedited, often same-day. For almost everyone, the extra $50 buys back six weeks.
Not required by Maryland, but it's what overrides statutory defaults, satisfies your bank, and hardens a single-member LLC's liability shield.
Get Your Free EIN from the IRS
Your federal tax ID for banking, hiring, and Comptroller of Maryland registration. Always free at IRS.gov — about 15 minutes online.
File Form 1 Every Year (April 15)
The combined Annual Report + Business Personal Property Return: $300 (plus a 3% tech fee online), due April 15 for every LLC. A 60-day extension to mid-June is available electronically — and MarylandSaves enrollment waives the fee entirely.
Get Business Licenses & Permits
No statewide general license — but retail businesses need a county trader's license (fee scaled to inventory value), and regulated professions license through state boards.
Graduated state income tax of 2%–5.75% plus a county income tax of 2.25%–3.2% — the local layer most guides skip — plus 15.3% federal self-employment tax and 6% sales tax where applicable.
What a Maryland LLC Really Costs (2026)
| Cost Item | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (required) | $100 mail / $150 online | One-time, at formation |
| Form 1 — Annual Report + PPR (required) | $300/yr (+3% tech fee online) | Apr 15, every year |
| MarylandSaves waiver | –$300/yr | If enrolled by the deadline |
| Late annual report penalty | $100+ · then forfeiture | After Apr 15 |
| Resident agent service (optional) | $0–$125/yr | Annual, if hired |
| Name reservation (optional) | $25 | 30 days only |
| Trade name / DBA (optional) | $25 | Renewable every 5 years |
| Trader's license (retail only) | ~$15–$800 | Annual, scaled to inventory |
| EIN from the IRS | $0 — always free | At IRS.gov |
Bottom line: $150 to exist by this afternoon, then $300/yr — or $0/yr with the MarylandSaves waiver. Model your exact setup below.
Maryland LLC True-Cost Planner
The 3-year math changes dramatically depending on one checkbox: MarylandSaves. Toggle it and watch.
Maryland LLC True-Cost Planner
First-year + 3-year totals with the MarylandSaves waiver modeled · verified July 2026
Form 1 modeled at $300/yr flat (online tech fee excluded); MarylandSaves waiver assumes timely annual enrollment/certification. Excludes taxes, trader's licenses, and local permits.
Maryland's 4 Quirks No Other State Shares Quite Like This
SDAT, not a Secretary of State
Business filings live with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation — a naming quirk with substance: the same agency that forms you also assesses your business personal property.
Form 1 is two filings in one
The annual report and the Business Personal Property Return travel together. Most small LLCs fall under the $20,000 original-cost threshold and owe no property assessment — but everyone files the form.
The MarylandSaves waiver
Enroll in the state's free auto-IRA program (or certify an existing retirement plan) and SDAT waives the $300 fee. It's the rare compliance rule that pays you to follow it.
County income taxes — everywhere
All 23 counties plus Baltimore City levy a local income tax of 2.25%–3.2% on residents. Your pass-through profits face state and county rates — a stack unique to Maryland in this series.
Maryland LLC Taxes at a Glance
Default LLCs pass profits to your personal return, where Maryland's graduated state rates (2%–5.75%) apply plus your county's income tax (2.25%–3.2% — Baltimore City and Montgomery County sit at the 3.2% top). Add federal self-employment tax of 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit. The LLC itself owes no entity-level income tax, and sales tax is a flat 6% statewide with no local add-ons (note Maryland's newer 3% tax on certain data/IT services). Past roughly $60–80K profit, model an S-Corp election (Form 2553) — full math in Step 8.
Ahmad Adil's Take: founders fixate on Maryland's $300 and miss the two levers that neutralize it. First, MarylandSaves: it's free, it takes minutes, it gives your future self a retirement account — and it deletes the $300. I genuinely don't understand why every Maryland LLC doesn't do it. Second, the online filing: paying $150 instead of $100 sounds like a fee until you realize the $100 path costs six to eight weeks. Your first invoice is worth more than $50. File online, enroll in MarylandSaves, calendar April 15 — and Maryland becomes a same-day state with a $0 annual fee.
- ✓Forms your Maryland LLC for $39 + the state fee
- ✓Files through Maryland Business Express (SDAT) — expedited processing
- ✓Free Maryland resident agent the first year
- ✓No upsells · No data selling · Privacy by Default
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Maryland LLC — FAQ
Ahmad Adil is the founder and CEO of LLC School. The figures here — the $100 Articles of Organization ($150 expedited online), the $300 Form 1 annual report due April 15, the MarylandSaves fee waiver, and Maryland’s state-plus-county income tax stack — reflect current Maryland SDAT and Comptroller guidance. This is educational content, not legal or tax advice.
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