LLC reinstatement · South Carolina

How to Reinstate a South Carolina LLC

The short answer. If your South Carolina LLC has been administratively dissolved, you restore it by filing an application for reinstatement with the South Carolina Secretary of State. South Carolina allows reinstatement for up to 2 years after the LLC is administratively dissolved. The reinstatement fee is $25.

South Carolina LLC Reinstatement at a Glance

What South Carolina calls the statusAdministratively dissolved
What you fileApplication for Reinstatement
Filed withSouth Carolina Secretary of State
How to fileNot confirmed
Reinstatement fee$25
Time limit to reinstate2 years
Tax clearanceRequired (see Cost)
RetroactiveYes

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 30, 2026. See the sources.

Why South Carolina Would Dissolve an LLC

The Secretary of State may administratively dissolve an LLC that does not pay a fee, tax or penalty imposed by the LLC Act or other law within 60 days after it is due. The statute names no other ground.

The LLC has 60 days to fix the problem before it can be administratively dissolved. The 60 days are counted after the Secretary of State serves the LLC with a copy of its record determining that a ground for dissolution exists.

How Long You Have to Reinstate

South Carolina allows reinstatement for up to 2 years after the LLC is administratively dissolved.

How to File

You file an application for reinstatement with the South Carolina Secretary of State. Go to South Carolina's filing page.

What It Costs

The reinstatement fee is $25.

The application must state that the ground for dissolution did not exist or has been eliminated, so the unpaid fee, tax or penalty that caused the dissolution must be paid first. Where the dissolution came from an unfiled South Carolina tax return, the Department of Revenue says to cure the filing deficiency with it.

South Carolina requires a tax clearance from the South Carolina Department of Revenue to reinstate. The application must contain a certificate from the Department of Revenue reciting that all taxes owed by the LLC have been paid.

Registered Agent Options

If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether South Carolinawants 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 South Carolina registered agent requirements set out what South Carolina itself asks.

Registered agent services for South Carolina 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

Under South Carolina's law, a reinstated LLC continues as if it had never been administratively dissolved.

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 South Carolina

While it is dissolved, the LLC continues to exist but may carry on only the business needed to wind up and liquidate its affairs and to notify claimants. If the Secretary of State denies the application, the LLC may appeal to the circuit court within 30 days after the notice of denial is served.

More for South Carolina 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 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.

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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.