South Carolina — statewide
South Carolina Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings
In short
South Carolina Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings issues 2 permits we publish for South Carolina — statewide, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | South Carolina Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings | $110 one-time filing | perpetual — an LLC files no annual report in South Carolina | 2026-09-03 |
| Articles of Incorporationonly if it applies to you | South Carolina Secretary of State, Division of Business Filings | $135 at filing — $110 to the Secretary of State plus the $25 initial license fee | perpetual, but an annual report and license fee are due every year | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Articles of Organization (LLC)
A hundred and ten dollars, fixed by statute, and then nothing recurring — a South Carolina LLC files no annual report at all. The evidence is structural rather than merely an absence of mention: the LLC act contains no annual report provision, and its own fee schedule has no annual report line, in direct contrast to the corporation schedule which does. The one exception is an LLC that elects to be taxed as a corporation, which then picks up the corporate obligations. Other filings are modest: an amendment or merger $110, a name reservation $25, termination or cancellation $10, reinstatement after administrative dissolution $25. Disregard the widely repeated claim that filing online costs $125 because of a $15 electronic records fee — no such fee appears on the Secretary of State's own page.
Articles of Incorporation
The advertised figure is $110 but the cheque is $135, because a form CL-1 and its $25 minimum license fee must accompany the articles. That $110 is itself two things — a $10 filing fee and a $100 tax — which is why amendments and mergers also carry the $100 on top of their $10. Unlike an LLC, a corporation then has a recurring obligation, though not to this office: the annual report is a schedule of the corporate income tax return filed with the revenue department. A corporation that does not file with the Secretary of State at all must still submit the CL-1 within sixty days of starting business.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- South Carolina — statewide
- Phone
- (803) 734-2158
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- South Carolina Code chapter 12-20 — the corporate license fee, its computation and its $25 minimumSouth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- South Carolina Code section 33-1-220 — corporation filing fees and the annual report payable to the Department of RevenueSouth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- South Carolina Code section 33-44-1204 — limited liability company filing fees, and a chapter containing no annual reportSouth Carolina General Assembly · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- South Carolina Department of Revenue form CL-1 — initial annual report of corporations and the $25 minimum license feeSouth Carolina Department of Revenue · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
Other South Carolina statewide offices
- South Carolina Department of Revenue
- South Carolina Department of Agriculture, Retail Food Safety and Compliance
- South Carolina Board of Barber Examiners, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- South Carolina Board of Cosmetology, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- South Carolina Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
- South Carolina Department of Social Services, Division of Early Care and Education
- South Carolina Residential Builders Commission, Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
South Carolina jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.