South Carolina

A corporation's registered agent may be an individual SC resident, a domestic corporation or nonprofit corporation, or a foreign corporation or nonprofit authorized to transact business in SC - in each case with a business office identical to the registered office. For LLCs, the agent for service of process must be an individual SC resident, a domestic corporation, another LLC, or a foreign corporation or foreign company authorized to do business in SC (S.C. Code Ann. § 33-44-108(b)).

Consent required: no.

For LLCs, if the company fails to appoint or maintain an agent for service of process, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found, the Secretary of State becomes the company's agent; the SOS forwards a copy by registered or certified mail to the company's designated office. For corporations the entity code defers to Title 15 (civil procedure): 'Service of processService of processFormal delivery of lawsuits and legal notices.Read the full entry → on a corporation must be in accord with the applicable provisions of Title 15' (§ 33-5-104). A revokedRevocation / administrative dissolutionThe state involuntarily ending an entity's authority to do business - for missed annual reports, a lapsed registered agent, or unpaid fees.Read the full entry → foreign corporation's revocation itself appoints the SOS as its agent for service (§ 33-15-310(e)).

• Administrative Dissolution. The Secretary of State must commence administrative dissolution of a domestic corporation that is without a registered agent or registered office, or that fails to notify the SOS of agent/office changes or resignation.
• Other. Effect of administrative dissolution: the corporation continues to exist but may only wind up and liquidate; it gets 60 days after SOS notice to cure before dissolution.
• Revocation Foreign. A foreign corporation's certificate of authorityCertificate of authorityPermission for an entity formed in one state to do business in another - the 'foreign' registration.Read the full entry → is revoked if it is without a registered agent or registered office in SC or fails to inform the SOS of agent/office changes.
• No Court Access. A foreign corporation transacting business in SC without a certificate of authority (e.g., after revocation) may not maintain a proceeding in any SC court until it obtains one.
• Civil Penalty. Civil penalty of $10 per day (capped at $1,000 per year) for a foreign corporation transacting business in SC without a certificate of authority.
• ReinstatementReinstatementRestoring an entity the state revoked or administratively dissolved for missed filings - typically back-filing reports, paying accrued fees and penalties, and filing an application.Read the full entry → Fee. Reinstatement after administrative dissolution costs $25 (corporation fee schedule; same $25 for LLCs under § 33-44-1204(a)(11)) and requires a Department of Revenue tax-clearance certificate.

Filing officeFiling officeThe agency that keeps the business register.Read the full entry →

None at state level - SC Secretary of State explicitly does not register DBAs/trade names; no statewide assumed-name statute

State fee

n/a

Term

n/a

Renewal

n/a

Publication

Not required. n/a

Online filing

Not available

The regime

South Carolina has no current general assumed-name / DBA registration statute for sole proprietors or general partnerships. The former general provision - Title 39, Chapter 13 ('Names of Business Establishments'), which required mercantile and industrial establishments to file owner names with the clerk of court and exhibit them on a sign - has been repealed: the current official Title 39 chapter index lists chapters 1 through 79 with no Chapter 13. The only surviving assumed-name filing is for limited partnerships, which file an assumed nameDBA / fictitious nameA name a business operates under that is not its legal name - 'doing business as.' Also: assumed name, trade name, fictitious business name.Read the full entry → certificate with the Secretary of State under § 33-42-45.

Where it is filed

There is no current general DBA filing office in South Carolina - the repealed chapter's clerk-of-court filing no longer exists (no Chapter 13 appears in the current Title 39 index). The one surviving assumed-name filing, for limited partnerships, is made with the Secretary of State.

Term and renewal

Limited-partnership assumed name certificates only: the filing is effective for a period expiring on December 31 of the fifth full calendar year following the year in which it is filed, unless sooner terminated.

Name restrictions

For limited-partnership assumed names (the only surviving filing), the assumed name may not be deceptively similar to the name of any domestic or foreign limited partnership authorized to transact business in the state or to any reserved nameName reservationHolding an entity name with the state before forming - typically 30 to 120 days for a small fee, renewable in some states.Read the full entry →.

Assumed names for registered entities

Entity-side mechanisms survive: (1) limited partnerships file an assumed name certificate with the Secretary of State under § 33-42-45; (2) a foreign corporation whose real name is unavailable may adopt a fictitious name for use in South Carolina by filing a certified board resolution with the Secretary of State (§ 33-15-106(a)(2)); (3) a foreign LLC whose real name is unavailable must likewise use a fictitious name by filing a certified resolution of its managers or members (§ 33-44-1005). The business corporation chapters expressly do not control the use of fictitious names generally (§ 33-4-101(e)).

Penalties

For the one surviving filing (limited partnerships), the statute expressly provides that failure to file does not impair contracts, does not prevent the LP from maintaining or defending suit, and does not make a limited partner liable as a general partner.

Official source

sos.sc.gov/faqs-about-business-entities↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

not captured

Administering agency

South Carolina Department of Revenue (SCDOR), MyDORWAY / MeF - NOT the Secretary of State

Corporation minimum

not recorded separately

How it is computed

SC's franchise-tax equivalent is the corporate LICENSE FEE, S.C. Code 12-20-50: annual fee = $15 + $1.00 per $1,000 (or fraction thereof) of the corporation's capital stock plus paid-in or capital surplus, measured as of the first day of the taxable year (SC1120 line 21: 'multiply line 20 by .001 then add $15'); MINIMUM $25 per taxpayer; NO cap identified in corpus. Multistate corporations apportion the capital base via SC1120 Schedule E. Paid with the annual report (Schedule D inside SC1120/SC1120S), due 15th day of 4th month after tax-year close; extensions do NOT extend time to pay (12-20-20/-50); fee paid with a return is for the privilege of the NEXT year. Initial: $25 minimum with CL-1 at formation/qualification (12-20-40). Applies to corporations (domestic + qualified foreign) and LLCs electing corporate taxation; does NOT apply to default-taxed LLCs, LPs, or 501-exempt nonprofits (12-20-110(1)).