Maryland Annual Report for an LLC: One Form 1, Sent to SDAT by April 15
Maryland's annual report is owed to the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), a tax agency, on one form: Form 1, due April 15 each year. It carries the annual report and, when the LLC holds enough equipment, the business personal property return. A Maryland or foreign LLC pays $300.
Form 1 date, fee and penalty
One Filing, Two Names: Annual Report and Personal Property Return
SDAT is a tax agency, and Form 1 is how Maryland finds out what equipment a business holds. That is why the same document carries two titles, and why the filing requirements differ: the property half is conditional, the report half is not.
Owed by every LLC formed in Maryland and every foreign LLC registered here, under Tax-Property § 11-101. This is the part that costs $300.
Completed only on a “Yes” to Section IV: “Does the business own, lease, or use personal property, including inventory, located in Maryland with a total original cost of $20,000 or more?” Licensed vehicles are left out of the count. No fee: SDAT values the property, and the county or town sends the personal property tax bill.
An LLC with no revenue, no activity and nothing to declare still files. SDAT’s rule is that every entity in existence on January 1 files by April 15, “whether or not it owns property,” and the first Form 1 comes the year after formation: Business Express gives the example of a business formed “at any time in 2024,” whose first report was due by April 15, 2025.
Maryland’s Secretary of State (SOS) has no part in it. SDAT keeps the register of LLCs: it receives the Articles of Organization when forming a Maryland LLC, and every yearly Form 1 after that.
The $300 Fee, the 3% Card Charge and the MarylandSaves Waiver
The $300 annual report fee comes from Corporations and Associations Article § 1-203 and does not change between an LLC formed in Maryland and one formed elsewhere. What changes the total is the entity’s status and how the fee is paid.
| Situation | Form 1 fee |
|---|---|
| Maryland LLC (Department ID starts with W) | $300 |
| Foreign LLC registered in Maryland (ID starts with Z) | $300 |
| LLC certified by SDAT as a family farm | $100 |
| Employer approved for the MarylandSaves waiver for that year | $0 |
| Paid on Business Express by card or PayPal | +3% ($9) |
| Paid by check with a paper Form 1 | No surcharge |
The 3% is a technology fee charged by the state’s eGov contractor, and card or PayPal are the only ways to pay on the Business Express fee schedule. The same schedule notes that the filing fee “is for the Annual Report only”: the property return is free.
The MarylandSaves waiver covers employers that offer their staff MarylandSaves, the state’s retirement program, or another qualified plan. It must be approved before the year begins: SDAT’s 2025 instructions required an exemption awarded before December 31, 2024, and Form 1 asks whether the waiver was approved for that year.
Where Form 1 Goes: Online Through Business Express or by Mail
SDAT prefers online filing and no longer mails blank forms. Filing through Maryland Business Express takes an account and five steps.
Look up the LLC in SDAT's Business Entity Search to get its Department ID: a W (Maryland LLC) or Z (foreign LLC) followed by eight digits.
Open the annual report for the right year. The business name has to match SDAT's record exactly, spacing and punctuation included.
Enter the FEIN, never a Social Security number, and the six-digit federal principal business code.
Answer the $20,000 question and initial it. A “Yes” opens the property schedules.
Sign, then pay $300 plus the 3% card fee.
Business Express, with an account. Card or PayPal only, with the 3% charge.
The fillable Form 1, typed and signed, with a check made out to the Department of Assessments and Taxation. No email or fax, and one business per envelope.
P.O. Box 17052Baltimore, MD 21297-1052
The parts of Form 1 an LLC fills in
- Section I
- Name, mailing address, Department ID, FEIN, business code, nature of business, any trade name, and the email address SDAT uses for reminders.
- Section III
- Corporate diversity questions. After a “Yes” to question A, a single-member LLC answers “Yes” to question B and is not required to attach the Corporate Diversity Addendum.
- Section IV
- The $20,000 question, with initials. A “No” attests that the LLC held less than $20,000 of property in Maryland, at original cost, on January 1.
- Section V
- Signature under penalty of perjury, by a principal of the LLC or by a preparer such as an accountant. Section II is for corporations only.
April 15, or June 15 With an Extension Requested in Time
Form 1 is due on or before April 15. SDAT stopped mailing reminder postcards in 2018, so the reminders that remain are emails to the address on the last Form 1 or on SDAT’s mailing list.
Tax-Property § 14-704(c) sets the two request dates. The extension covers the whole Form 1, report and property return alike, and the June date is a receipt date: a postmark is not enough, unlike in April.
When April 15 lands on a Saturday, Sunday or Maryland legal holiday, the extension site moves its own cut-off to the next business day; June 15, 2025 was a Sunday, and SDAT set June 16. Outside the filing season the site shows the request form as closed.
For Form 1 itself SDAT gives no weekend rule, and General Provisions § 1-302 reaches only Sundays and legal holidays, so for Saturday, April 15, 2028 the date to use is Friday, April 14.
How SDAT Prices a Late Form 1: $30 Minimum, $500 Cap
The penalty starts at 0.1% of the LLC’s personal property assessment, then a floor applies that rises with lateness: $30 for 1 to 15 days, $40 for 16 to 30 days, $50 beyond. Under § 14-704, the initial penalty never exceeds $500.
SDAT then adds 2% of that initial penalty for each 30 days, or part of 30 days, the report stays unfiled. An LLC with no assessed property that files on May 20 is 35 days late: $50, plus 2% twice, for $52.
| Assessment on record | Days late | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| None (under $20,000 of property) | 10 | $30.60 |
| None | 25 | $40.80 |
| None | 200 | $57.00 |
| $100,000 | 10 | $102.00 |
| $800,000 | 90 | $530.00 |
Form 1 tells filers not to prepay: SDAT bills the penalty. Left unpaid, the bill goes to the State of Maryland Central Collection Unit, where a 17% charge is added and which becomes the only place it can be paid.
SDAT may reduce or cancel the penalty when good cause is shown (§ 14-704(b)). Never filing costs more than filing late: an LLC that holds property receives an estimated assessment at twice the estimated value of that property.
Forfeiture Arrives in December of the Following Year
For a Maryland LLC, SDAT acts on a missing previous-year Form 1, so a report skipped in April does not cost the LLC its rights that same year. An unpaid late penalty or a bounced filing-fee check ($30 returned-check fee) starts the same process. Here is the sequence for a 2026 Form 1 that was never filed:
- April 15, 2026Form 1 for 2026 due.
- July to September 2027The LLC shows up in SDAT's Potential Domestic Forfeiture Search, the only early warning SDAT still gives.
- Early October 2027Final Forfeiture Notice, with its own deadline, after SDAT certifies its list at the end of September under § 4A-911.
- December 2027Proclamation: the right to do business in Maryland and the right to the LLC's name are forfeited.
- The next 60 daysFiling the missing report and paying what is owed restores the LLC as of the forfeiture date (§ 4A-912).
After the proclamation, the LLC’s Filing History tab in Business Entity Search shows a “Dept. Action – Forfeiture” entry.
A foreign LLC is forfeited over the current year’s Form 1 instead. SDAT mails foreign entities a reminder in September, and under § 4A-1013 forfeiture can follow when the report is still missing 30 days after a written demand, taking effect 15 days after the notice.
A forfeited LLC loses its rights, not its contracts. Contracts signed before or after the forfeiture stay valid, and the LLC can still defend itself in a Maryland court (§ 4A-920). Knowingly doing business in the name of a forfeited LLC is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500 (§ 4A-919).
SDAT’s forfeiture FAQ describes the process as automatic for an entity that stops filing and owns no property in Maryland. An LLC that reported property must still tell the Personal Property Division what became of it, or estimated tax bills keep coming.
Bringing a Forfeited LLC Back With Articles of Reinstatement
Past the 60 days, the way back for a Maryland LLC is Articles of Reinstatement: $100 base fee, plus $50 for expedited or $325 for rush processing. Under § 4A-917, SDAT accepts them only once the LLC has caught up, which means it must file annual reports for every missed year and settle the rest of this list.
- Every missed Form 1, including the years that passed while the LLC was forfeited.
- All late penalties paid; one already sent to the Central Collection Unit is paid there, with written proof given to SDAT.
- A tax clearance certificate from each county or town where the LLC ever reported property. SDAT does not accept payment receipts or emails in its place.
- Proof that any issue with the Comptroller or the Department of Labor has been resolved.
A foreign LLC files a Re-Registration for a Non-Maryland LLC instead, the same form used to register it in the first place, at the $100 base fee.
Business Express lists “Business Not in Good Standing” among filers that cannot submit Form 1 online, while SDAT’s status sheet says back returns can usually go online. If the portal refuses, the paper Form 1 for each year can be mailed or brought to SDAT in Baltimore.
