Updated August 10, 2026. Quick answer. Forming an LLC in South Dakota costs $150 online; $165 paper to file, and an ongoing report requirement ($55 online; $70 paper). Five-year total: $425 over five years, every component verified.
What it actually costs
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $150 online; $165 paper |
| Annual/biennial report | $55 online; $70 paper |
| Franchise / minimum tax | none |
| Publication requirement | No newspaper publication requirement was found. |
Five-year cost of ownership: $425 over five years, every component verified. Publication cost is excluded from this figure — it’s county-driven where it applies, not state-driven, so a single number would be wrong for most filers.
Expedited filing: $50 expedited service
The trap worth knowing before you file
Fees read from the SOS’s own filing-fee schedule. Statutory due-date text pulled from the South Dakota Legislature’s JSON endpoint https://sdlegislature.gov/api/Statutes/Statute/59-11-25 (the normal sdlegislature.gov page paths and PrinterStatute.aspx returned the JS loading shell; the /api/Statutes/Statute/<cite> endpoint returns the codified HTML). Late-fee discrepancy between the two SOS pages is recorded above rather than resolved.
Source
SDCL 47-34A-211; SDCL 59-11-24 to 59-11-26 (SDCL 59-11-25 amended by SL 2026, ch. 203, sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2027); SD SOS filing-fee schedule. Read 2026-08-06 from official. Formation-service sites were not used as a source for this figure.
Once the LLC exists, an operating agreement is what actually runs it
This is free to browse and there is no obligation to buy anything — LawDepot builds a state-specific LLC operating agreement through a question-and-answer form.
Build an operating agreement at LawDepot
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link — it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
If the LLC already exists somewhere else
Everything above prices forming a new South Dakota LLC. A company that already exists in another state does not have to be dissolved and re-formed: South Dakota takes it in as the same legal entity by the route its own code captions domestication, S.D.C.L. § 47-34A-910(a), and South Dakota does not publish that filing as a single fee, so this page gives no number for it — it is in any case separate from the formation costs above. Going the other way, a South Dakota LLC may leave for another US state under S.D.C.L. § 47-34A-910(b). Either way the move needs both ends to allow it — the state being left as well as the state being joined — which is where most published advice goes wrong.
How to Move an LLC to Another State · LLC Domestication by State: All 51 Jurisdictions, With the Statute
What letting it lapse costs in South Dakota. The catch-up bill is only half the story — in South Dakota no deadline, but the application cannot even be processed without a tax certificate from a second authority. The figures, and the statute they come from, are on reinstating a South Dakota LLC.
Moving an LLC you already own is a different question from what it costs to form a new one here: South Dakota’s statute calls the mechanism domestication, at S.D.C.L. § 47-34A-910(a). See how to move an LLC to South Dakota.
Looking for the annual-report due date and fee instead? See South Dakota LLC annual report.
Related: South Dakota’s registered agent requirements, including who can serve and what happens if you don’t have one.
Related: South Dakota’s LLC Certificate of Good Standing cost, including who issues it and how fast you can get one.