How to Form a Corporation in South Carolina
By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
What you file in South Carolina
Incorporation filing
| Document | Articles of Incorporation — SC Secretary of State Form F0001 ($110), which must be submitted together with Form CL-1, Initial Annual Report of Corporations (SOS form F0001's companion, SOS listing F0134 / SCDOR Form CL-1, $25). Total payment $135. |
| Fee | $135 |
| Recurring report | Annual Report — Schedule D of Form SC1120 (C corporations) / Form SC1120S (S corporations) — every year, $0 |
| First report due | Filed with the SC Department of Revenue as Schedule D of the corporate income tax return, not with the Secretary of State. Form SC1120 (C corporations) is due the 15th day of the 4th month after the end of the tax year; Form SC1120S (S corporations) is due the 15th day of the 3rd month. It must be filed even if the corporation had no income or activity. |
This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side — name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN — see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.
What it costs to incorporate and stay filed
State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded — both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.
| Charge | Amount | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation — SC Secretary of State Form F0001 ($110), which must be submitted together with Form CL-1, Initial Annual Report of Corporations (SOS form F0001's companion, SOS listing F0134 / SCDOR Form CL-1, $25). Total payment $135. | $135 | One time |
| Annual Report — Schedule D of Form SC1120 (C corporations) / Form SC1120S (S corporations) | $0 | Every year |
| First-year state filing charges | $135 | — |
| Five-year state filing charges | $135 | — |
South Carolina is the 37th cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.06. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.
States that are cheaper to incorporate in
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in South Carolina. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation — which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in South Carolina before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.
South Carolina corporation vs South Carolina LLC
State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.
| Corporation | LLC | |
|---|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $135 | $110 |
| Report cadence | Every year | Not required |
| Report fee | $0 | No report required |
| Entity-level tax on the LLC side | — | Corporate License Fee (only if the LLC is taxed as a corporation) |
An LLC is $25 cheaper to file here. That is a one-off charge, so it should not decide the entity type on its own.
Full South Carolina LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained
State taxes a South Carolina corporation pays
Corporate income tax
| Applies | Yes |
| Rate | 5% of South Carolina taxable income (flat). |
Franchise or gross-receipts tax
Corporate license fee (South Carolina's franchise-type tax): $15 plus 0.1% of capital stock and paid-in or capital surplus (i.e. $1 per $1,000), with a minimum of $25 per year. It is reported and paid with the SC1120/SC1120S at the same time as the return or extension request. A separate one-time initial license fee of $25 is due on Form CL-1, submitted with the Articles of Incorporation at formation.
What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what South Carolinalevies — or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.
C-corp return: Form SC1120 (C Corporation Income Tax Return)
Electing S-corporation status in South Carolina
South Carolina follows the federal S election. Full South Carolina S-corporation election guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
This page covers the state filing required to incorporate in South Carolina and the charges that follow it. Every figure was checked against South Carolina's own published sources on July 29, 2026— the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.
Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.
Primary sources:
- https://businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Home/DownloadForms?pdfCategoryId=1
- https://businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0001&entityType=1&filingType=Articles+of+Incorporation
- https://dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporate/c-corporation
- https://dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporate/s-corporation
- https://dor.sc.gov/sites/dor/files/forms/CL1.pdf