DBA · Maryland

How to File a Trade Name for an LLC in Maryland

By Edmond Hui · Last updated October 7, 2026

Short answer

Maryland requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name. The statute's words name mercantile, trading and manufacturing businesses; the state's trade name form takes a name for any business. An LLC files the Trade Name Application with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. File before the business starts operating.

Maryland Trade Name at a Glance

Requirement: Required
Where to file: State Department of Assessments and Taxation
Fee: See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts: 5 years
Newspaper notice: None found
File online: Yes

How an LLC Files

File before the business starts operating.

An LLC files the Trade Name Application with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

Filing needs a sworn (verified) statement and the LLC registered on the state's records. The entity must be registered with the Department to own a trade name.

You can file online.

Maryland Business Express does not accept a trade name renewal for a business that is forfeited, inactive, cancelled, merged or dissolved.

Open the filing office's site · Open the filing page

Cost and Renewal

The filing fee is $25.00. The Department charges $25 for each trade name. Expedited review costs $50 more, and payments made through Maryland Business Express carry a 3% service fee.

The registration has a 5-year term.

A renewal application is filed within the last six months of the five-year term and extends it by five years.

Renewal costs $25.00.

Publication

We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Maryland.

Does it protect the name?

Registering does not give the LLC ownership of, or an exclusive right to, the name.

Sole proprietors

Maryland requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name. The statute's words name mercantile, trading and manufacturing businesses; the state's trade name form takes a name for any business.

File before the business starts operating.

A sole proprietor files the Trade Name Application with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

Filing needs a sworn (verified) statement.

The filing fee is $25.00. The Department charges $25 for each trade name. Expedited review costs $50 more, and payments made through Maryland Business Express carry a 3% service fee.

The registration has a 5-year term.

A renewal application is filed within the last six months of the five-year term and extends it by five years.

Renewal costs $25.00.

We found no publication step for a sole proprietor's trade name filing in Maryland.

Requirement	Required
Where to file	State Department of Assessments and Taxation
Fee	See Cost and renewal
How long it lasts	5 years
Newspaper notice	None found
File online	Yes

Next steps

Frequently Asked Questions

: Maryland requires an LLC that does business under a name other than its own to register a trade name. The statute's words name mercantile, trading and manufacturing businesses; the state's trade name form takes a name for any business. File before the business starts operating.
: An LLC files the Trade Name Application with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation. Filing needs a sworn (verified) statement and the LLC registered on the state's records. The entity must be registered with the Department to own a trade name.
: The filing fee is $25.00. The Department charges $25 for each trade name. Expedited review costs $50 more, and payments made through Maryland Business Express carry a 3% service fee.
: The registration has a 5-year term. A renewal application is filed within the last six months of the five-year term and extends it by five years. Renewal costs $25.00.
: We found no publication step for an LLC's trade name filing in Maryland.
: Registering does not give the LLC ownership of, or an exclusive right to, the name.
: Maryland requires a sole proprietor who does business under a name other than their legal name to register a trade name. The statute's words name mercantile, trading and manufacturing businesses; the state's trade name form takes a name for any business. A sole proprietor files the Trade Name Application with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's filing office publishes about registering a business name, with the sources this page cites. A filing here does not register a federal trademark, and fees and forms change between our reviews. Confirm with the office named on this page before you file.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Maryland 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.

mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gca&section=1-406&enactments=falseMd. Code, Corporations and Associations §1-406
mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gca&section=1-101&enactments=falseMd. Code, Corporations and Associations §1-101 (definitions)
dat.maryland.gov/SiteAssets/Pages/sdatforms/Trade%20Name%20Application%20(Registration)%20and%20Instructions_0826-A.pdfSDAT Trade Name Application (Registration) and Instructions, rev. 08/2026
dat.maryland.gov/Documents/Accessible%20Documents/Charter%20-%20Resource%20Docs/List%20of%20Fees%20for%20Charter%20Services%20and%20Document%20Filings_0326-A.pdfSDAT Fee Schedule for Documents Relating to Corporate Charters
egov.maryland.gov/businessexpressMaryland Business Express
egov.maryland.gov/BusinessExpress/EntitySearchMaryland Business Express, Entity Search

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.