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

Filing Articles of Organization online with the South Dakota Secretary of State costs $150. The same filing on paper costs $165, because the state adds a $15 paper-filing fee to documents that could have been filed online. A series LLC pays $200 instead of $150, and expedited handling is an extra $50.

What is the South Dakota LLC annual report fee?

The annual report is $55 filed electronically or $70 filed on paper. If the report is delinquent, South Dakota law adds a $55 penalty. The Secretary of State's older online instructions page still quotes a $50 late fee, but the statute and the current fee schedule both say $55.

When is the South Dakota LLC annual report due?

The Secretary of State sets it as the 1st day of the month in which the LLC was originally filed, every year starting the year after formation: an LLC filed June 11, 2026 files its first report by June 1, 2027 and by every June 1 after that. You can file up to two months early, and a report still unfiled two months after the due date is delinquent and incurs a $55 late fee. For 2027 onward, a 2026 South Dakota law also lets an LLC choose January 31 of each year instead, indicated on its formation document or by a later change-of-filing-date form.

Does a South Dakota LLC pay state income tax?

No. The South Dakota Department of Revenue states that South Dakota does not impose a corporate income tax, and there is no state franchise tax on LLC income. Your only recurring state filing cost is the $55 annual report (or $70 on paper).

South Dakota LLC Cost (2026)

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

In South Dakota, the first-year state cost of an LLC is $205, before any registered-agent service. Forming an LLC in South Dakota costs $150 to file the Articles of Organization with the state, the Annual Report costs $55 every year.

Bar chart of LLC costs in South Dakota: $205 in unavoidable state charges in the first year and $55 a year after that. South Dakota charges $55 for its annual report. — The recurring figure covers the annual report plus any flat state entity tax. Source: South Dakota's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026.

Articles of Organization$150

Annual Report$55

First-year state cost$205

Five-year state cost$425

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

South Dakota charges $150 to file Articles of Organization online and $165 on paper, because the fee schedule adds a flat $15 paper-filing fee to anything that could have been filed online. The annual report is $55 online or $70 on paper, and a delinquent annual report adds a $55 penalty. A series LLC's Articles of Organization cost $200 rather than $150, and a foreign LLC's certificate of authority is $750 online / $765 on paper. South Dakota has no corporate income tax, so the recurring cost of a South Dakota LLC is essentially the $55 annual report.

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

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Articles of Organization	$150	One time	South Dakota Secretary of State
Same filing, submitted on paper	$165	One time	South Dakota Secretary of State
Annual Report	$55	Every year	South Dakota Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$205	N/A	N/A
Registered agent service (optional)	$50 to $300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedite and special handling fees in our record: Expedited service (completion sooner than the normal course of business, upon request) ($50)	$50	One time	South Dakota Secretary of State
Name reservation (optional)	$25	One time	South Dakota Secretary of State
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$20	Per copy	South Dakota Secretary of State

Filing online costs $150; the paper version costs $165 because the fee schedule adds a $15 "Paper Filing Fee for documents able to be filed online." Articles that authorize one or more series cost $200.

: The South Dakota Department of Revenue states "South Dakota does not impose a corporate income tax." There is no state franchise tax or entity-level income tax on an LLC's earnings; South Dakota's bank franchise tax reaches financial institutions only.

South Dakota's LLC statute lists the required contents of the articles of organization and imposes no newspaper publication step. The publication provision in the state's LLC act is a permissive notice to unknown claimants on dissolution. A separate provision covers known claims, which are served in writing. The Secretary of State's complete list of domestic LLC forms carries no publication, affidavit or proof-of-publication filing.

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 Dakota.

Next steps for an LLC in South Dakota

What does a South Dakota 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)	$205	$330
Each year after	$55/yr	$180/yr
Five-year total	$425	$1,050

First filing timing: CONFLICTED on the recurring date, agreed on the first year. Both readings put the first report in the calendar year AFTER formation, so an LLC formed in 2026 files nothing in 2026 either way. What is disputed is which date in that year: the statute reads as 31 January, while the Secretary of State's guidance and this dataset's prior entry say the first day of the anniversary month. From 1 January 2027, a 2026 South Dakota law rewrites the statute into an election between exactly those two options, chosen on the formation document and changeable later by a change-of-filing-date form.

Is South Dakota expensive compared with other states?

South Dakota ranks 34th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $27.16 below the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 30th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$170
Arizona	$50	$155
Missouri	$50	$155

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

When is the South Dakota filing deadline, and what happens if you miss it?

Annual Report

Frequency	every year
Due	The 1st day of your anniversary month, every year, starting the year after you form. You can file from two months before, and you are delinquent two months after.
Fee	$55
Late penalty	$55

Late fees begin two months after the due date, not on it: a report due 1 June becomes delinquent 1 August. A delinquent annual report incurs a $55 late fee under South Dakota law.

Under South Dakota law the Secretary of State may commence administrative dissolution if the LLC does not deliver its annual report within 60 days after it is due, or pay fees/penalties within 60 days after they are due. The law then gives the LLC 60 days after service of notice to cure before dissolution is entered. Reinstatement of a dissolved LLC costs $150 plus all delinquent reports and late fees, and requires an approved tax clearance certificate from the South Dakota Department of Revenue.

Full South Dakota annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

What cost traps are specific to South Dakota?

Paper filing costs $15 more, every time

The fee schedule adds a $15 "Paper Filing Fee for documents able to be filed online," which is why the Articles of Organization are $165 on paper and the annual report is $70 on paper.

Annual report date: a second option for 2027 onward

For 2027 onward, South Dakota law as rewritten by a 2026 South Dakota law gives an LLC two annual report dates to choose between: its formation-anniversary month each year, or January 31 of each year beginning the calendar year after formation. A company indicates its choice on its formation document, and one in good standing can switch later by filing a change-of-filing-date form.

60 days late starts the dissolution clock

South Dakota law lets the Secretary of State begin administrative dissolution once the annual report is 60 days overdue; getting back to active status then costs $150 plus every missed report, a $55 penalty each, and a Department of Revenue tax clearance.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Filing Articles of Organization online with the South Dakota Secretary of State costs $150. The same filing on paper costs $165, because the state adds a $15 paper-filing fee to documents that could have been filed online. A series LLC pays $200 instead of $150, and expedited handling is an extra $50.
: The annual report is $55 filed electronically or $70 filed on paper. If the report is delinquent, South Dakota law adds a $55 penalty. The Secretary of State's older online instructions page still quotes a $50 late fee, but the statute and the current fee schedule both say $55.
: The Secretary of State sets it as the 1st day of the month in which the LLC was originally filed, every year starting the year after formation: an LLC filed June 11, 2026 files its first report by June 1, 2027 and by every June 1 after that. You can file up to two months early, and a report still unfiled two months after the due date is delinquent and incurs a $55 late fee. For 2027 onward, a 2026 South Dakota law also lets an LLC choose January 31 of each year instead, indicated on its formation document or by a later change-of-filing-date form.
: No. The South Dakota Department of Revenue states that South Dakota does not impose a corporate income tax, and there is no state franchise tax on LLC income. Your only recurring state filing cost is the $55 annual report (or $70 on paper).

Where do these numbers come from?

Every fee above was checked against South Dakota's own published sources on July 29, 2026 , the South Dakota 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

17 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified South Dakota 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.

sdsos.gov/Business-Services/corporations/contact.aspx
sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/59-11-25
sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/47-34A-211
sdlegislature.gov/Statutes/47-34A-212
sdsos.gov/docs/business/domesticllcannualreport20250701.pdf
sosenterprise.sd.gov/BusinessServices/Business/AnnualReportInstr.aspx
sdsos.gov/general-information/filing-fees.aspx
South Dakota law: SDCL 47-34A-212(b) (LLC costs)
South Dakota statute: SDCL 59-11-25 (annual report due date)
South Dakota bill: SL 2026 ch. 203 s 1 (annual report date election from 2027)
South Dakota statute: SDCL 47-34A-212(b) (annual report late fee)
South Dakota statute: SDCL 47-34A-809 (grounds for administrative dissolution)
South Dakota statute: SDCL 47-34A-810 (notice and cure period)
South Dakota statute: SDCL 47-34A-203 (contents of articles of organization)
South Dakota statute: chapter 47-34A, 47-34A-808 (notice to unknown claimants)
South Dakota statute: 47-34A-807 (known claims)
South Dakota bill: 2026 House Bill 1102 (annual report date election)

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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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