LLC reinstatement · Maryland

How to Reinstate a Maryland LLC

The short answer. If your Maryland LLC has been forfeited, you restore it by filing articles of reinstatement with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. We have not confirmed whether Maryland sets a deadline for reinstatement, so do not assume there is time to wait; check with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation as soon as you can.

Maryland LLC Reinstatement at a Glance

What Maryland calls the statusForfeited
What you fileArticles of Reinstatement
Filed withMaryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation
How to fileOnline or paper
Reinstatement fee$100 (see Cost)
Time limit to reinstateNot confirmed
Tax clearanceSometimes (see Cost)
RetroactiveDepends (see What reinstatement does)

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Why Maryland Would Forfeit an LLC

Maryland forfeits an LLC's right to do business and to use its name when it has not filed its annual report (Form 1) for the prior year or has not paid a tax, unemployment insurance contribution or reimbursement payment due before October 1 of the following year.

The forfeiture takes effect when the Department issues its proclamation, without a hearing. An LLC that pays what it owes and files the missing annual report within 60 days after the proclamation has its rights reinstated as of the date of forfeiture.

How Long You Have to Reinstate

We have not confirmed whether Maryland sets a deadline for reinstatement, so do not assume there is time to wait; check with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation as soon as you can.

How to File

You file articles of reinstatement with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. You can file it online or on paper. Go to Maryland's filing page.

What It Costs

The reinstatement fee is $100. Expedited review costs $50 more.

Every annual report the LLC was or would have been required to file must be filed, and all unemployment insurance contributions and State and local taxes other than real estate taxes, with interest and penalties, must be paid.

Maryland may require a tax clearance from the finance office of each county, city or town where the LLC's personal property was reported. A tax clearance certificate from each local jurisdiction is required if the LLC has ever reported tangible personal property in Maryland on an annual report, and SDAT will not accept a receipt.

Registered Agent Options

If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether Marylandwants that updated as part of reinstatement. You do not have to buy a service for it: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one option and not the only one. The Maryland registered agent requirements set out what Maryland itself asks.

Registered agent services for Maryland LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

  • Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle

  • Bizee$149/yr renewal

    Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat

  • ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal

    Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support

  • LegalZoom$249/yr renewal

    Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

What Reinstatement Does

An LLC that pays what it owes and files the missing annual report within 60 days after the forfeiture proclamation is reinstated as of the date of forfeiture. The sections on articles of reinstatement filed after that do not say whether that reinstatement is retroactive. Forfeiture does not impair the validity of a contract or act of the LLC made before or after the forfeiture.

If another business has taken the LLC's name in the meantime, the LLC needs a name that is still available to reinstate.

Worth Knowing in Maryland

If the forfeiture involved the Comptroller, the Department of Labor or a penalty sent to the Central Collection Unit, SDAT requires evidence that the issue is resolved with the articles of reinstatement.

More for Maryland LLCs

Frequently Asked Questions

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 law and filing office say about bringing back an LLC the state has dissolved, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you where your own LLC stands: that turns on why and when it was dissolved, what it still owes, and whether anyone has since taken its name, and fees and deadlines change between our reviews. Confirm your LLC's status and the current requirements with the filing office or tax agency named on this page, and ask a lawyer about anything the LLC did while it was dissolved. In many states a missed deadline ends the right to reinstate, so do not wait.

Related guides

LLC late fees by stateWhat a late annual report costs before it comes to dissolution →Annual report complianceDeadlines and fees for all 50 states, so it does not happen again →Annual report deadline finderEnter your formation date for your next due date →Certificate of good standingProve the LLC is active again once it is reinstated →Dissolving an LLCIf you would rather close the LLC properly than bring it back →
← All LLC guides

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.

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Edmond Hui

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.