How to form an LLC in South Carolina (2026)

What are the steps to form an LLC in South Carolina?

Of the steps below, only the Articles of Organization have to be filed with the state. Name reservation is optional, and the last step is mostly about knowing which yearly filings don't apply to you.

1. Check that your LLC name is available with the South Carolina Secretary of State. You can reserve a name for $25 for a nonrenewable 120-day period.
2. Name a registered agent in South Carolina: a person or company with a South Carolina address who accepts legal papers for the LLC.
3. File the Articles of Organization (S.C. Code §§ 33-44-202 and 33-44-203) with the South Carolina Secretary of State. The state fee is $110. Filing methods: Online (SC Business Entities Online) or by paper form.
4. There is no recurring annual report for South Carolina LLCs.

The agent step has more to it than a name. South Carolina's statute (S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-108) asks for a designated office, which need not be a place of business in this State, and separately for an agent and street address of the agent for service of process on the company. So the office can be an address that isn't where you run the business, but the agent needs a street address where legal papers can be handed over.⁴

Once the Articles are on file, the state has very little left to ask of an LLC on the default tax treatment. If you'd rather compare services than file on your own, the South Carolina LLC services ranking shows each provider's first-year and second-year totals here.

How do you reserve a South Carolina LLC name?

You can hold a name before filing with the Application to Reserve a Limited Liability Company Name, which costs $25 and keeps the name for a nonrenewable 120-day period. Search the Secretary of State's business records first to see whether the name is free.⁵

The word "nonrenewable" is the detail to plan around. The statute gives one reservation period and no extension, so a reservation only helps if you expect to file the Articles within that window. Otherwise, file when the name is ready and skip the fee.

Who can be the registered agent for a South Carolina LLC?

The agent for a South Carolina LLC must be an individual resident of this State, a domestic corporation, another limited liability company, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in this State. That rule comes from S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-108, and it also requires a street address for the agent.⁴

In practice that leaves these kinds of agent.

• A member or friend who lives in South Carolina.
• A registered agent company authorized to do business in the state.
• Another LLC or a corporation you already own, if it qualifies under the same rule.

The list says "another" LLC, so the company being formed is not on it. An owner who lives outside the state can't serve personally and will need a resident or a company.

An owner acting as agent gives a personal street address for that role, and a paid agent gives its own. Northwest Registered Agent lists its agent service at $125 per year, and Inc Authority includes an agent for the first year of a formation and then renews it at $249/year. The Northwest pricing page and the list of plans that include a registered agent compare those terms side by side.^{6, 7}

How do you file the Articles of Organization?

You file the Articles of Organization (S.C. Code §§ 33-44-202 and 33-44-203) with the South Carolina Secretary of State, either online in SC Business Entities Online or by paper form. The fee is $110 either way; the state lists no separate online fee.^{1, 2}

For paper filing, the Secretary of State says the public may access forms in PDF format in its Business Filings Online system, so you can download the form there and send it in.²

The state doesn't publish a standard processing time or a paid rush option in our record, so this page states neither. That leaves a formation service's own stated speed as the only published time, and it covers only how fast the service submits. The state's review runs on its own clock. The LLC timeline guide explains the gap between the two, and the fastest stated filing list orders providers by the time they publish.

What does a South Carolina LLC cost in its first and second year?

A South Carolina LLC costs the $110 filing fee plus any plan in year one. In year two the state charges $0 for an LLC not taxed as a corporation, so only plan and agent renewals remain.^{1, 3}

The table below follows our rating, highest first, with ties in the editorial order set out in how we rate. Both columns are full South Carolina totals, because the state adds nothing in year two for an LLC not taxed as a corporation.

First year: state filing fee plus the provider's compared plan. Second year: the recurring state fee plus the plan's renewal, if it renews.

Totals are our arithmetic on the published figures. Registered agent renewals are extra unless a plan includes the agent. Try other plans in the calculator.

A zero in the second-year column means the plan itself doesn't renew. It does not mean the LLC costs nothing in year two. Several plans include a registered agent for a limited time only. Inc Authority's Free LLC plan comes to $110 in year one, the state fee alone, and $0 in year two, yet its agent then renews at $249/year. Northwest Registered Agent totals $149 in year one, and its included registered agent renews at $125/yr after year 1.^{7, 8}

Plans that bill yearly show up in the second column. Tailor Brands Elite totals $359 in year one and $249 in year two, since the plan renews at $249/yr. Read the Inc Authority profile and the Tailor Brands profile for what each plan leaves out.⁹

To try a different plan, use the LLC cost calculator. The list ranked by cost over both years and the national LLC cost guide answer the same question across states.

What does a South Carolina LLC file after it is formed?

For an LLC not taxed as a corporation, nothing recurring goes to the state: the Department of Revenue says such an LLC is not subject to the annual report or the License Fee. That describes a single-member or multi-member LLC that keeps the default tax treatment.³

The picture changes if the LLC elects to be taxed as a corporation. The same Department of Revenue page says such an LLC must submit a CL-1 Initial Annual Report, and state law sets the annual report due date on or before the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the close of the taxable year. It also pays the corporate License Fee (minimum $25). Whether that election suits your business is a question for an accountant.³

Missing a payment still has a cost. Under South Carolina law the state can dissolve an LLC by administrative action when it does not pay a fee, tax, or penalty imposed by this chapter or other law within sixty days after it is due. The way back is the Application for Reinstatement by a Limited Liability Company Dissolved by Administrative Action, which costs $25 and has to be filed within two years after administrative dissolution.^{4, 10}

The lack of a report also changes what a formation plan is worth here. Some plans list annual report filing as an included service, and the package contents guide explains which plan items are filings and which are only reminders. For an LLC with no report due, that item has no South Carolina report to file.

How do you change a South Carolina registered agent?

You change the agent by filing the Notice of Change of Designated Office, Agent or Address of Registered Agent with the South Carolina Secretary of State. The fee is $10, and the same form updates the designated office.¹¹

Our record of the dissolution statute (S.C. Code § 33-44-809) says it lists no ground related to the agent or designated office. Still, the agent is how the LLC receives lawsuits and state notices, so file the change before you cancel the old service rather than after.⁴

An agent can also step down. The agent files a Resignation of Agent for Service of Process; the SOS mails copies to the designated office and to the LLC's principal office, and the agency ends on the 31st day after filing. The LLC can use that time to name a new agent with the change form.^{4, 11}

What if your LLC was formed in another state?

An LLC formed elsewhere registers to do business in South Carolina with the Application for a Certificate of Authority to Transact Business, for $110. Our record quotes the agent rule only for a South Carolina LLC, so read the application's agent section before filing.¹²

That fee equals the cost of forming a new South Carolina LLC, so price alone doesn't settle which route fits. It depends on where the business operates and how it is taxed, which is a question for a lawyer or an accountant who knows the business. The state fees table compares formation and foreign registration costs, including North Carolina and Georgia next door.