How Much Does an LLC Cost in South Carolina?
By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the South Carolina Secretary of State fee schedule
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 actually pay in South Carolina
South Carolina is a genuine one-and-done state for LLC filings: $110 for the Articles of Organization under S.C. Code § 33-44-1204(a)(1) and no annual report and no annual fee to the Secretary of State thereafter, 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.
South Carolina LLC fee breakdown
| Cost | Amount | How often | Charged by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization | $110 | One time | South Carolina Secretary of State |
| Required state cost, first year | $110 | — | — |
| Registered agent service (optional) | $50–$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 |
S.C. Code § 33-44-1204(a)(1) 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.
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.
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 | $125 |
| 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 — $124.53 below the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 10th.
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.
Cost traps 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
S.C. Code § 33-44-809 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
Where 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.
Primary sources:
- https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php
- https://businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Home/DownloadForms?pdfCategoryId=1
- https://sos.sc.gov/online-filings/business-entities
- https://businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0038&entityType=12&filingType=Application+to+Reserve+a+Limited+Liability+Company+Name
- https://dor.sc.gov/tax-index/business-income-taxes/corporate/corporate-faqs
- https://dor.sc.gov/business-income-taxes/corporate/c-corporation