Doing Business in Another State

Doing Business in Another State › States › Maryland

Doing business in Maryland from another state

If your LLC does business in Maryland as Maryland defines it, you register with the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), Charter Division for $100.

Step 1: put these questions to Maryland’s law

  1. An employee or contractor works from the state. Ask whether the statute counts work done by people located in the state, and whether employees and independent contractors are treated alike.
  2. You sell to customers there but have no one on the ground. Ask whether the statute treats sales from outside the state differently from activity inside it.
  3. The LLC owns or leases property there. Ask whether owning or leasing real estate is listed as an activity that does, or does not, count.
  4. You open an office, shop or warehouse. Ask whether a fixed place of business is named in the statute. Settle the answer before you sign a lease.
  5. You hold meetings or keep a bank account there. Ask whether the statute lists these ancillary activities, and whether they count by themselves.

Maryland’s sources do not name a statute on this page; start at the Maryland filing page.

Step 2: if the answer is yes

Form
Limited Liability Company Registration (For non-Maryland Limited Liability Company)
Fee
$100
Paper from your home state
Written proof of existence from the home state, equivalent to a certificate of good standing, no older than 60 days
Agent
A resident agent in Maryland

Best 3 Foreign Registration Services in Maryland (2026)

Step 3: if you would rather not file it yourself.

#ServiceService feeMaryland feeAgent
1Mainstay Filing$199$100Year one included, then $149/yr
2MD Registered Agent.org$199$100Year one included, then $99/yr
3Maryland Registered Agent.co$199$100Year one included, then $99/yr

Mainstay Filing: Its Maryland checkout showed $352 in total on October 28, 2026, including the state’s required $50 expedite and $3 in state processing charges.

Service prices read from each provider’s Maryland page on October 28, 2026. The state fee is the official figure below and is paid to the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), Charter Division.

Maryland questions

When does an LLC from another state have to register in Maryland?

When its activity in Maryland meets Maryland’s own definition of doing business. We do not paraphrase it; read it through the Maryland filing page.

What does registering in Maryland cost?

$100 to the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), Charter Division.

What is required after registering?

Business Entity Annual Report and Personal Property Return, Form 1 (SDAT), $300 (due: april 15), and a resident agent in Maryland.

Sources