South Carolina Certificate of Authority

If your company was not incorporated in South Carolina, but you wish to do business there, you need to apply for a South Carolina Certificate of Authority.

Acquiring Foreign Qualification in South Carolina, allows a company formed in Delaware or any other state to legally transact business in South Carolina.

How to Get a South Carolina Certificate of Authority:

LLCs and Corporations both must provide the following documents when applying for South Carolina Foreign Qualification:

• In South Carolina, a Certificate of Good Standing from the company’s home state is required, dated within 30 days.
  Note: this document is also referred to as a Certificate of Existence in some states.

LLCs must complete an application for their South Carolina Certificate of Authority and pay a fee of $110 to the state, plus a $15 online processing fee. Corporations must submit this application and fee as well, but also submit an additional form (South Carolina Initial Annual Report of Corporations) and additional fee of $25 to the state.

In addition, you must appoint and maintain a South Carolina Registered Agent at all times. We can provide this service for just $99 per year.

Harvard Business Services can assist with your application so you don’t have to deal with the South Carolina Secretary of State directly. We do charge our own fee for this service, in addition to state fees. The exact fee can vary based upon whether your company is already filed and whether you need us to obtain additional documents to meet the state’s requirements. Contact us for an exact quote.

How Do I Know If I Need a South Carolina Certificate of Authority?

Generally, if you plan to do business in the state of South Carolina and are incorporated elsewhere, you will need to obtain South Carolina Foreign Qualification. “Doing business” is typically defined by activities such as maintaining a physical office or having employees in the state.

Keep in mind that even if a South Carolina Certificate of Authority is not required for a specific activity, a bank, vendor or another party can still require one in order to establish a relationship.

South Carolina Annual Requirements

Once you've acquired have Foreign Qualification for a corporation in South Carolina, you will be required to submit an annual report with a fee of $25 or more* in order to keep your company in good standing status with the state. South Carolina does not impose any annual reporting or fee requirements for foreign LLCs.

Please note that the annual requirements above are independent of requirements you may have in Delaware or other states.

*Exact amount of this fee is determined by your corporation’s capital stock and “paid-in surplus.” For more information on this fee, see the South Carolina Code of Laws, section 12-20-50.