“Not in Good Standing” means the business entity is not in compliance with one or more

Maryland laws that apply to businesses and their responsibilities in this State. Only business

entities that are active can have a good standing status, so a business that has been

voluntarily terminated will also show “not in good standing” because it is no longer active.

The status can be returned to Good Standing by addressing the manner in which the

A monetary penalty resulting from the late filing of a Form 1

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A check or other form of payment that was dishonored

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Not having an active resident agent

An issue with the Maryland Office of the Comptroller

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An issue with the Maryland Department of Labor

For missing Annual Reports and Business Personal Property Returns, mail or hand deliver the

Business Express. Otherwise, to pay a late filing penalty, send a check or money order for the

amount of the penalty to us or bring the payment to our Baltimore office. If mailing, include the

MD SDAT identification number and either a cover letter, a copy of the penalty notice or a copy

of the business entity’s Personal Property tab from the business entity search on our website.

Some late filing penalties are referred to Maryland’s Central Collection Unit, (CCU). Once a

penalty is referred for collections, it cannot be paid through SDAT. If this is the case, you must

pay the penalty directly to CCU. If the business entity is in forfeiture, provide written proof of

payment to CCU to SDAT at the time you file your revival or reinstatement paperwork.

For issues with the Maryland Office of the Comptroller, call 410-649-0633

For issues with the Maryland Department of Labor, call 410-767-2741

through the Maryland Business Express.

For dishonored checks, the original amount of the payment plus a $30 returned check fee must

be paid either by money order, certified check or cash. Once a payment has been

dishonored, this Department will no longer accept checks for filings by this business

entity.

“Forfeited” means the right of the entity to conduct business in the State of Maryland has been

relinquished and it has no right to use its name. For domestic corporations, this also means that

the business has no existence under the laws of the State of Maryland. In most circumstances,

a business is forfeited only after it has been “not in good standing” for a period of time, so the

most common reasons for forfeiture are the same as the reasons businesses fall out of good

using the SDAT Business search: https://egov.maryland.gov/BusinessExpress/EntitySearch

In addition to correcting the reason for the forfeiture, for a business to return to good standing

from forfeited status, all forfeited entities must be up to date on the required Annual Report and

Business Personal Property Returns, have paid all outstanding penalties and must file a

document with SDAT to renew its good standing.

Each business structure must file a different form, as indicated below:

* The same form is used for initial registrations/qualification as for reinstating the entity’s right

to do business in Maryland.

For domestic entities that have reported property subject to assessment on a Form 1 (now or in

the past), the entity must also provide a Tax Clearance Certificate from each local jurisdiction in

which property has been reported. To obtain the certificate, contact the finance office for the

county, city or town to which the taxes were due and ensure the outstanding taxes have been

paid. Then you must specifically request the tax clearance certificate as many jurisdictions will

not provide one automatically. Receipts for payment and/or emails are insufficient to