How much does it cost to start an LLC in South Carolina?

$110 to file the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State, a figure set by statute for both online and paper filings. A foreign LLC pays the same $110 for a certificate of authority. Optional extras are a $25 name reservation and a $10 certificate of existence.

Does a South Carolina LLC have to file an annual report?

No, not with the Secretary of State, the South Carolina Uniform Limited Liability Company Act contains no annual report requirement, so recurring Secretary of State cost is $0. Separately, the Department of Revenue states that an LLC not taxed as a corporation "is not subject to the annual report or the License Fee," so a default pass-through LLC files nothing annually on the entity level.

What is the annual cost of a South Carolina LLC?

For an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity, $0 in recurring state entity fees. There is no annual report and no franchise tax. An LLC that elects corporate tax treatment pays an annual License Fee of 0.1% of capital and paid-in surplus plus $15, with a $25 minimum, plus a one-time $25 CL-1 initial License Fee.

Can a South Carolina LLC be dissolved for not filing anything?

Yes, indirectly. Under South Carolina law the Secretary of State can begin administrative dissolution if the LLC fails to pay any fee, tax or penalty within sixty days after it is due, and the next section completes the dissolution if the ground is not cured within sixty days after notice. Reinstatement costs $25.

South Carolina LLC Cost (2026)

By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the South Carolina Secretary of State fee schedule

In South Carolina, the first-year state cost of an LLC is $110, before any registered-agent service. Forming an LLC in South Carolina costs $110 to file the Articles of Organization with the state, South Carolina requires no annual report.

Bar chart of LLC costs in South Carolina: $110 in unavoidable state charges in the first year and $0 a year after that. South Carolina requires no annual report. — South Carolina files no annual report, so the recurring figure is driven entirely by state taxes and fees. Source: South Carolina's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026.

Articles of Organization$110

Annual reportNone

First-year state cost$110

Five-year state cost$110

How much does it cost to form an LLC in South Carolina?

South Carolina is a genuine one-and-done state for LLC filings: $110 for the Articles of Organization and no annual report and no annual fee to the Secretary of State after that, so recurring Secretary of State cost is $0. Statutory add-ons are cheap, $25 to reserve an LLC name for a non-renewable 120 days, $10 for a certificate of existence, $10 to change the designated office or agent, $25 to reinstate after administrative dissolution, and $2 per certificate plus $1 for the first page and $0.50 per additional page for copies. An LLC that elects corporate tax treatment breaks the pattern: it must file the CL-1 with a $25 initial License Fee and then pay an annual License Fee with a $25 minimum to the Department of Revenue.

Which fees does a South Carolina LLC pay, and how often?

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Articles of Organization (F0006)	$110	One time	South Carolina Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$110	N/A	N/A
Registered agent service (optional)	$50 to $300	Every year	Commercial provider
Name reservation (optional)	$25	One time	South Carolina Secretary of State
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$10	Per copy	South Carolina Secretary of State

South Carolina law fixes the fee at $110 by statute for articles of organization however delivered; the same $110 applies to a foreign LLC's application for a certificate of authority.

Corporate License Fee (only if the LLC is taxed as a corporation): $0 for an LLC not taxed as a corporation. An LLC taxed as a corporation pays an annual License Fee of 0.1% of capital and paid-in surplus plus $15, which "cannot be less than $25 annually," and must also file a one-time CL-1 Initial Annual Report of Corporations with a $25 initial License Fee within 60 days of commencing business or using capital in South Carolina.

South Carolina law lists the required contents of the articles of organization and imposes no newspaper publication step. The only publication provision in the state's LLC act is notice to claimants of a DISSOLVED LLC, and it is permissive: verified 2026-09-02, the section opens "A dissolved limited liability company may publish notice of its dissolution".

Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator. For what formation services charge on top of these state fees, see the best LLC services in South Carolina.

Next steps for an LLC in South Carolina

What does a South Carolina LLC cost over five years?

State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.

Period	State cost only	With registered agent
Year 1 (formation + first filing)	$110	$235
Each year after	$0/yr	$125/yr
Five-year total	$110	$735

Is South Carolina expensive compared with other states?

South Carolina ranks 13th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $122.16 below the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 10th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$75
Arizona	$50	$60
Missouri	$50	$60

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in South Carolina. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in South Carolina anyway. Paying both states. See foreign qualification in South Carolina before forming elsewhere to save on fees.

What cost traps are specific to South Carolina?

"No annual report" is only true at the Secretary of State, and only for pass-through LLCs

The Department of Revenue is explicit that an LLC not taxed as a corporation escapes both the annual report and the License Fee, but an LLC that elects C-corp or S-corp treatment must file the CL-1 with a $25 initial License Fee within 60 days of doing business and then pay an annual License Fee of 0.1% of capital and paid-in surplus plus $15, minimum $25 per year.

You can still be administratively dissolved with no report to miss

South Carolina law authorizes administrative dissolution whenever an LLC fails to pay any fee, tax or penalty imposed by the LLC Act or other law within sixty days of its due date, so a Department of Revenue liability, not a missed Secretary of State filing, is the usual path to losing the entity.

Name reservations expire and cannot be renewed

South Carolina reserves an LLC name for "a non-renewable one hundred and twenty (120) day period" for $25, so a reservation taken too early simply lapses and the $25 has to be spent again under a different application.

Frequently Asked Questions

: $110 to file the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State, a figure set by statute for both online and paper filings. A foreign LLC pays the same $110 for a certificate of authority. Optional extras are a $25 name reservation and a $10 certificate of existence.
: No, not with the Secretary of State, the South Carolina Uniform Limited Liability Company Act contains no annual report requirement, so recurring Secretary of State cost is $0. Separately, the Department of Revenue states that an LLC not taxed as a corporation "is not subject to the annual report or the License Fee," so a default pass-through LLC files nothing annually on the entity level.
: For an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity, $0 in recurring state entity fees. There is no annual report and no franchise tax. An LLC that elects corporate tax treatment pays an annual License Fee of 0.1% of capital and paid-in surplus plus $15, with a $25 minimum, plus a one-time $25 CL-1 initial License Fee.
: Yes, indirectly. Under South Carolina law the Secretary of State can begin administrative dissolution if the LLC fails to pay any fee, tax or penalty within sixty days after it is due, and the next section completes the dissolution if the ground is not cured within sixty days after notice. Reinstatement costs $25.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every fee above was checked against South Carolina's own published sources on July 29, 2026 , the South Carolina Secretary of State fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state-level tax applies, the state tax authority. Commercial formation-service pages were not used.

The first-year total is the Articles of Organization fee plus the first year of any recurring state charge. Where a state's first report is not due until the following year, that is noted above. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring charges, which avoids the timing question entirely. Registered-agent service is excluded from all state figures.

Sources

12 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified South Carolina sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php
businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Home/DownloadForms?pdfCategoryId=1
sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entities
businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0038&entityType=12&filingType=Application+to+Reserve+a+Limited+Liability+Company+Name
dor.sc.gov/tax-index/business-income-taxes/corporate/corporate-faqs
dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporate/c-corporation
South Carolina statute: S.C. Code § 33-44-1204(a)(1) (articles of organization fee)
South Carolina statute: S.C. Code § 33-44-809 (grounds for administrative dissolution)
South Carolina statute: § 33-44-810 (administrative dissolution procedure)
South Carolina statute: § 33-44-1204(a)(11) (reinstatement fee)
South Carolina statute: S.C. Code 33-44-203 (articles of organization contents)
South Carolina statute: Chapter 33-44, 33-44-808 (notice to claimants of a dissolved LLC)

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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.

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