Register a company in Maryland

Yes. The articles are filed online through Maryland Business Express. The online EIN form needs an SSN or ITIN, so a founder without one applies by fax, by mail or through the IRS line for international applicants. Maryland does want two things in the state: a resident agent (an individual living in Maryland or a Maryland company) and a principal office address, both written into the articles. A fintech account is applied for remotely; a traditional bank is realistic where you already have some US footprint.

Formation starts from $2,400 all-in, including the Maryland filing fee ($100), the resident agent for the first year, the EIN and the operating agreement. With a fintech or bank account set up, from $4,400. Maryland's own yearly cost is the $300 annual report due by 15 April; expedite fees, if you want SDAT to move faster, are quoted on top.

SDAT sets the pace. Its fee schedule gives 4-6 weeks for a non-expedited review and 6-8 weeks for a non-expedited online filing, and its FAQ warns that confirmation can take eight weeks or more. The $50 expedite brings review to 7-10 business days. Same-day service costs $325 online if submitted by 2:30 pm, or $425 on paper, though not every document qualifies online. A faxed EIN application is usually answered within 4 business days.

A C-Corp pays 21% federal tax, Maryland takes 8.25% of its Maryland taxable income, and dividends it pays to owners abroad carry 30% withholding unless a treaty lowers the rate. An LLC is a pass-through by default, but Maryland has the LLC itself pay tax on the shares of non-resident members: 8.25% for company members, the top individual rate (6.50%) plus a special non-resident rate for individuals. We check how that rule reaches a single-member LLC owned from abroad before you file. No BOI report is due: US companies are exempt under FinCEN's final rule, effective 14 August 2026.

Form 1 is Maryland's annual report and personal property return in one. Every entity that existed on 1 January files it with SDAT by 15 April, and a Maryland LLC pays $300. A 60-day extension can be requested online. A domestic company that misses a year gets a final forfeiture notice in early October and faces forfeiture in December; unpaid penalties go to the Central Collection Unit, which adds 17%. Reviving the company later requires every past-due report.

Yes. An LLC must have a resident agent - an individual living in Maryland or a Maryland corporation, LLC or limited partnership - and a principal office in the state, and the articles give both. Virginia, by contrast, lets the principal office sit anywhere. The resident agent for the first year is in our package; the principal office address is agreed with you before we file. Changing either later takes a signed statement filed with SDAT, effective once SDAT accepts it.

Yes, and the IRS charges nothing for it. Without an SSN or ITIN you send Form SS-4 by fax (usually answered within 4 business days) or by mail (about 4 weeks), or apply by phone on the IRS line for international applicants. Line 7b takes the word 'foreign', and the responsible party must be a natural person, not a company.

An LLC fits most founders who will draw the profit themselves. A single-member LLC owned from abroad files Form 5472 with a pro forma 1120 - formation costs and owner contributions are reportable - and a missed filing costs $25,000. A C-Corp fits a plan to raise money from investors: it pays 21% federal and 8.25% Maryland tax, and S-corporation status is closed to non-resident alien shareholders. One Maryland detail: give C-Corp shares a par value. No-par shares count at $20 each when the capitalisation fee is worked out, and the fee stays at $20 only up to $100,000 of aggregate par value.

Banks and fintechs run their own KYC, so nobody can promise an account. The Company + Bank Account package covers the banking strategy for your file, fintech or traditional, the application files for Mercury or Relay-class platforms, and the payment set-up: ACH, wires and Stripe onboarding. A traditional bank is the route where you already have a US footprint. Applications go in once the EIN and the filed articles are in hand.

The yearly bill and the tax on non-resident members. Maryland's $300 annual report compares with a $50 annual registration fee in Virginia, $25 in West Virginia and $7 in Pennsylvania, and a Maryland LLC pays tax itself on its non-resident members' shares. If the business will not operate in Maryland, compare it with the other states we form in before you file. If it will, a Maryland LLC saves the $100 foreign registration that an out-of-state LLC files here, with proof of existence from its home state.