How Much Does a South Carolina LLC Cost in 2026?

South Carolina LLC one-time costs

What South Carolina charges once, when the LLC is formed, and the optional costs that arrive at the same time. The state fee is the same whether you file yourself or use a service.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Online filing prices; a few states charge a different amount on paper.

South Carolina LLC ongoing costs

South Carolina is one of the few states with no recurring report for LLCs, so the ongoing state cost is the tax picture below and nothing else.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us. Due rules, penalties and dissolution triggers are read from each state's statute or filing office page; the reinstatement figure is the state's own total at that point.

South Carolina LLC annual fee

South Carolina charges no annual fee for an LLC and requires no annual report. Keep the company's other obligations (taxes, licenses) on your calendar; the state itself asks for nothing yearly.

Other recurring obligations

• Register with SC Department of Revenue (MyDORWAY) for any applicable state taxes (sales, withholding, etc.). before starting taxable activity. varies.
• No Secretary of State annual report for an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity; an LLC electing corporate tax treatment files the SCDOR CL-1 and annual report. with the SC corporate income tax return, if taxed as a corporation. set by SCDOR.

South Carolina LLC filing fee: $110

The filing fee is what South Carolina charges to file your Articles of Organization, the document that creates the company. South Carolina charges $110. It is the one cost nobody can avoid: it is the same whether you file directly with the state or hire a service, and no legitimate service can waive it. Which form South Carolina uses, where it is filed and what it asks: how to register an LLC in South Carolina.

South Carolina posts its current processing times on its own site; we do not quote one.

By filing fee, South Carolina ranks 30 of 51 jurisdictions, cheapest first; the median state charges $100.

Five-year South Carolina LLC cost: $110

$110 to form, plus nothing recurring from the state, comes to $110 paid to South Carolina over five years, assuming every report is filed on time. Taxes on the company's income, licenses and a registered agent service are separate.

What the South Carolina state fee does not include

The filing fee buys the state's approval of the Articles of Organization and nothing else. These are the costs that sit outside it.

• Registered agent. South Carolina requires one, with a street address in the state. Serving as your own agent is free; the address becomes public record. Our registered agent service can be added in the application. South Carolina registered agent requirements.
• Operating agreement. Not filed with the state and free if you write it yourself. Our self-help template is available after checkout.
• Business licenses and permits. Set by the city, county or licensing board for your line of business, not by the formation filing. Many South Carolina LLCs need none; a restaurant, contractor or salon usually needs several.
• Taxes. An LLC's income is taxed through its owners' returns unless it elects otherwise, and sales tax or employer registrations are separate state accounts with no formation fee attached.
• Filing service. Our fee is itemized on the checkout review screen before you pay, with same-day submission as an option. The state fee is identical either way.

How to pay less for a South Carolina LLC

• File the Articles of Organization yourself. South Carolina takes it online at businessfilings.sc.gov for the $110 state fee alone.
• Be your own registered agent if you have a South Carolina street address and are there during business hours. The trade-off is privacy: the address goes on the public record.
• Write your own operating agreement. No state charges for it and South Carolina does not file it.
• Form where you do business. An LLC that operates in South Carolina but is formed elsewhere must register in South Carolina as a foreign LLC anyway, paying South Carolina's registration fee and its recurring report on top of the home state's.

How South Carolina compares

By filing fee, South Carolina is number 30 of 51 jurisdictions, cheapest first. The filing fee is paid once; the recurring line is what separates states over time.

State fees verified October 2026 and set by the state, not by us.

Every state's fee is in LLC cost by state, and the case for and against forming elsewhere is in cheapest states to form an LLC.

Filing yourself vs. using us

Filing directly with South Carolina costs only the state's own fee: $110. The state takes formations at businessfilings.sc.gov. Through us, you pay our service fee plus the South Carolina filing & processing, for the name check, the Articles of Organization prepared and submitted, the approved documents emailed to you and South Carolina's deadlines in writing. Both lines are itemized on the checkout review screen before you pay.

Sources

State fees verified October 2026; page last updated November 1, 2026. The figures above are read from South Carolina's own fee schedule, forms and statutes:

• businessfilings.sc.gov (businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Entity/DownloadForm?formName=F0006&entityT...)
• businessfilings.sc.gov (businessfilings.sc.gov/BusinessFiling/Home/DownloadForms?pdfCategoryId=1)
• scstatehouse.gov (scstatehouse.gov/code/t33c044.php)