How to Start an LLC in South Dakota, Where Only a Resident Can Be the Agent

By Boost Suite Editorial Team|Updated October 20, 2026

South Dakota lets you start an LLC online in one sitting, $150 with the South Dakota Secretary of State and processed immediately, but the registered agent must be a South Dakota resident: an owner who lives elsewhere needs one before filing.

No South Dakota income tax, unless home taxes you

Two South Dakota rules matter to an owner who lives elsewhere. The Articles never list members, only organizers and, if any, managers. And the Department of Revenue says South Dakota “does not impose a state income tax” or “a corporate income tax.”

Neither moves your taxes out of the state where you live and work. An LLC that operates there generally has to register there too, under that state’s rules and fees.

South Dakota costs less to keep than Delaware: $55 a year, plus an agent if you live elsewhere ($125 a year with Northwest after the first year), against Delaware’s $400 annual tax. A Delaware LLC doing business in South Dakota generally registers here too, and the Foreign Certificate of Authority costs $750 online.

For a business that operates in Delaware itself, Boost Suite’s own Delaware LLC formation service costs $49 on top of the $110 state fee. Delaware agent service is included the first year, then $99 a year.

Who can be a South Dakota registered agent

The Secretary of State’s FAQ is direct: “A registered agent MUST be a resident of South Dakota, with BOTH a physical and mailing address in South Dakota.” Two kinds apply to an LLC:

• A noncommercial agent: an individual living in South Dakota, including you if you do, or an entity registered in the state.
• A commercial registered agent (a registered agent service) registered with the Secretary of State. The Articles ask for its CRA number, which the agent gives you.

The FAQ’s third option, an “Office Holder of the organization,” doesn’t apply to LLCs.

How to start an LLC in South Dakota online, processed as you pay

The form opens without an account: Business Services Online, “Start a New Business,” then “(Domestic) Limited Liability Company.” Its first screen shows “Step 1 of 12” and this bar:

1. Business Name
2. Addresses
3. Agent
4. Organizer(s)
5. Detail
6. Manager(s)
7. Beneficial Owner(s)
8. Additional Articles
9. Recipient
10. Confirmation
11. Email
12. Signature
13. Payment

Screen one takes the name twice and an optional professional type for fields such as law, medicine or public accounting, which is how a PLLC starts. The paper Articles (SDCL 47-34A-203) show what the later screens cover:

• Designated office: a physical address, in or out of South Dakota; mailing address and email optional.
• Organizers, each with an address.
• Duration: perpetual unless you set an end date.
• Member-managed, or manager-managed with the initial managers listed.
• Beneficial owners: optional.

Payment is by Visa, MasterCard, Discover or American Express. “Online filings are processed immediately,” and the certificate is emailed or downloaded once, right after payment: save it before leaving the page. Printing the form to mail instead costs $165, which includes a $15 additional paper filing fee, and takes one to three business days.

No operating agreement is filed. South Dakota’s LLC act (SDCL chapter 47-34A) treats “any valid agreement, either written or oral” as one; the South Dakota LLC operating agreement is where members set shares and votes.

Exact-match name search and the $10 fictitious name statement

The name needs “limited liability company,” “limited company,” “L.L.C.,” “LLC,” “L.C.” or “LC” (or the abbreviations “Ltd.” and “Co.”). The Name Availability Search “is an EXACT name search only”; variations need the Business Information Search. The first form screen also warns against names that differ only by a singular or plural.

“TRUST” in a name needs approval from the Division of Banking, and the filing goes on paper. Once a name clears both searches, $25 reserves it for 120 days.

A DBA, called a fictitious name statement, is only needed to trade under a name other than the LLC’s. It’s $10 for five years, online with the Secretary of State or at any county Register of Deeds; an expired one has to be filed again.

South Dakota LLC taxes and licenses

The sales tax license comes through the Department of Revenue’s Tax License Application. Electronic returns are due by the 20th of the month after each period, “regardless of the amount due.”

The EIN comes free from the IRS once the Articles are filed; the Secretary of State doesn’t issue or keep EINs.

Licenses depend on the trade: the state’s New Business Checklist points to “a special license or registration at the city, county, or state level.” A Sioux Falls LLC is formed with the state like any other, and the city adds its own permits, such as a home occupation permit.

$55 a year: anniversary month now, January 31 possible from 2027

The FAQ puts the report due “on the 1st day of the anniversary month,” from the year after formation. An LLC filed June 11, 2026 has until June 1, 2027 to file its first South Dakota annual report.

You file the annual report online for $55 ($70 on paper), starting two months early. Two months late, it turns delinquent and adds $55. It also asks whether the LLC owns agricultural land.

From January 1, 2027, SDCL 59-11-25 lets an entity file in its anniversary month or by January 31 each year, and it “shall indicate on the formation document which filing date the entity has selected.” Earlier LLCs keep their month unless they switch with a change-of-filing-date form, unpublished as of October 2026.

Unfiled reports lead to dissolution; reinstatement costs $150 plus missed reports, with a Tax Clearance Certificate. Closing on purpose takes Articles of Termination ($10, on paper), and the sales tax license is canceled separately.

Series, S corp and other South Dakota LLC questions