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EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MATTER ADDED TO EXISTING LAW.
[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
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amendment.
*hb1346*
HOUSE BILL 1346
C1 6lr2304
CF SB 278
By: Delegate Amprey
Introduced and read first time: February 12, 2026
Assigned to: Ways and Means
Reassigned: Economic Matters, February 13, 2026
Committee Report: Favorable with amendments
House action: Adopted
Read second time: March 3, 2026
CHAPTER ______
AN ACT concerning 1
State Department of Assessments and Taxation – Expedited Document 2
Processing and Fees 3
FOR the purpose of establishing an expedited processing fees fee for certain documents 4
filed with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation; requiring the 5
Department to process documents filed at a certain times time within a certain time 6
frames frame; and generally relating to document processing by the State 7
Department of Assessments and Taxation. 8
BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 9
Article – Corporations and Associations 10
Section 1–203 and 1–203.2 11
Annotated Code of Maryland 12
(2025 Replacement Volume) 13
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 14
That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 15
Article – Corporations and Associations 16
1–203. 17
2 HOUSE BILL 1346
(a) In addition to any organization and capitalization fee required under § 1–204 1
of this subtitle, subject to subsection (c) of this section, the Department shall collect the fees 2
specified in subsection (b) of this section. 3
(b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (10) of this subsection, for each of the 4
following documents, the nonrefundable processing fee is $100: 5
Document 6
Articles of incorporation 7
Articles of amendment 8
Articles of extension 9
Articles of restatement of charter 10
Articles of amendment and restatement 11
Articles supplementary 12
Articles of share exchange 13
Articles of consolidation or merger 14
Articles of revival for stock corporation 15
Articles of revival for nonstock corporation 16
Articles of conversion 17
Articles of validation 18
(2) For each of the following documents, the nonrefundable processing fee 19
is as indicated: 20
(i) Notice of change of address of principal office...........................$25 21
(ii) Notice of change of name or address of resident 22
agent.....................................................................................................................................$25, 23
up to a maximum of $30,000 for a bulk filing 24
(iii) Certificate of correction….………………………………….……$25 25
(iv) Except as provided in paragraph (14) of this subsection, any 26
other documents……………...…………….……………..........................................................$25 27
(3) (i) For each of the following documents which are filed but not 28
recorded, the nonrefundable processing fee is as indicated: 29
Reservation of a corporate, limit ed partnership, limited liability partnership or 30
limited liability company name………………………………………………………...…...…...$25 31
Original registration of name of a foreign corporation to end of calendar 32
year…………………………………………………………………………………………..…..….$100 33
Renewal of re gistration of name of a foreign corporation for 1 calendar 34
year…………………………………………………………………………………………..…...…$100 35
HOUSE BILL 1346 3
Documents in connection with the qualification of a foreign corporation to do 1
intrastate business in this State……………………………………………………....………$100 2
Application for registration of a foreign limited partnership, a foreign limited 3
liability partnership, or a foreign limited liability company………………………....……$100 4
Other documents……………………………………………………………………...……$6 5
(ii) Except as provided in paragraph (13) of this subsection, for each 6
of the following documents which are filed but not recorded, the filing fee is as indicated: 7
Annual report of a Maryland corporation, except a charitable or benevolent 8
institution, nonstock corporation, savings and loan co rporation, credit union, family farm, 9
and banking institution…………………………………………………………………………$300 10
Annual report of a foreign corporation subject to the jurisdiction of this State, except 11
a national banking association, savings and loan association, credit un ion, nonstock 12
corporation, and charitable and benevolent institution…………………..………………$300 13
Annual report of a Maryland savings and loan association, banking institution, or 14
credit union or of a foreign savings and loan association, national banking associat ion, or 15
credit union that is subject to the jurisdiction of this State………...……………………$300 16
Annual report of a Maryland limited liability company, limited liability partnership, 17
limited partnership, or of a foreign limited liability company, foreign limited liability 18
partnership, or foreign limited partnership, except a family 19
farm……………………………………………………………………………………....……….$300 20
Annual report of a business trust………………………………………….…….……$300 21
Annual report of a real estate investment trust or foreign statutory trust doing 22
business in this State……………………………………………………………………………$300 23
Annual report of a family farm……………………………………………...…………$100 24
(4) For each of the following documents recorded or filed the nonrefundable 25
processing fee is $100: 26
(i) Certificate of l imited partnership, certificate of limited liability 27
partnership, articles of organization of a limited liability company, certificate of trust of a 28
business trust, including certificates of amendment, certificates of reinstatement, and 29
articles of reinstatement; and 30
(ii) Any statement filed by a partnership under Title 9A of this 31
article. 32
4 HOUSE BILL 1346
(5) For issuing each of the following certificates, the nonrefundable 1
processing fee is as indicated: 2
Type of Instrument ……..……………….......................……..………………...Special Fee 3
Certificate of status of a corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited 4
liability partnership, or limited liability company of this State or of a foreign corporation, 5
foreign partnership, foreign limited partnership, foreign l imited liability partnership, or 6
foreign limited liability company……..……………….......................……..……………….....$20 7
Certified list of the charter papers of a corporation of this State or any certificates of 8
a limited partnership, limited liability part nership, or a limited liability company of this 9
State recorded or filed with the Department……………………...………..………………......$20 10
Certificate of compliance by a foreign corporation, foreign limited partnership, 11
foreign limited liability partnership, or foreign limited liability company with requirements 12
of law in respect of qualification or registration……………………....……..………………....$20 13
Certificate of withdrawal of registration or qualification...…….……….….………..$20 14
Certificate of any paper recorded or filed in the Department’s office………...……..$20 15
(6) For a duplicate of a certificate mentioned in paragraph (5) of this 16
subsection which is issued at the same time as the original, the fee is $1, and for a 17
nonelectronic copy of any other paper recorded or filed with the Department, the fee is $1 18
per page. 19
(7) (i) For acceptance of service of process or notice on the Department, 20
the Department shall charge a fee of $50. 21
(ii) Each county and Baltimore City is exempt from the fee under 22
subparagraph (i) of this paragraph. 23
(8) Subject to § 1 –203.2(c) of this subtitle, for processing each of the 24
following documents on an expedited basis, the additional fee is as indicated: 25
Recording any document, including financing statements, or submitting for 26
preclearance any document listed in paragraph (1) or (4) of this subsection, if processing 27
under § 1–203.2(b)(1) of this subtitle is requested..........................................................$425 28
RECORDING ANY DOCUMEN T, INCLUDING FINANCING STATEMENTS, OR 29
SUBMITTING FOR PRECLEARANCE ANY DOCUMENT LISTED IN PARAGRAPH (1) OR (4) 30
OF THIS SUBSECTION, IF PROCESSING UNDER § 1–203.2(B)(2) OF THIS SUBTITLE IS 31
REQUESTED..........................................................................................................$1,000 32
HOUSE BILL 1346 5
RECORDING ANY DOCUMEN T, INCLUDING FINANCING STATEMENTS, OR 1
SUBMITTING FOR PRECLEARANCE ANY DOCUMENT LISTED IN PARAGRAPH (1) OR (4) 2
OF THIS SUBSECTION, IF PROCESSING UNDER § 1–203.2(B)(3) OF THIS SUBTITLE IS 3
REQUESTED..........................................................................................................$1,500 4
Recording any document, including financing statements, or submitting for 5
preclearance any document listed in paragraph (1) or (4) o f this subsection, if processing 6
under § 1 –203.2(b)(1) THROUGH (3) OR (2) of this subtitle is not 7
requested……….…….........……….…….........……….…….........……….……........................$50 8
Certificate of status of a corporation, partnership, limited partner ship, limited 9
liability partnership, or limited liability company, or a name reservation………....……..$20 10
Certified list of the charter documents of a Maryland corporation or any certificate 11
of a Maryland limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability 12
company recorded or filed with the Department.........................................……....……....$20 13
A copy of any document recorded or filed with the Department, or a corporate 14
abstract…………………………….........................................................................................$20 15
Application for a ground rent redemption or a ground rent extinguishment, or 16
payment of a redemption or extinguishment amount to the former owner of the ground 17
rent………………………......................................................................................................$50 18
(9) A nonrefundable processing fee for a request by paper document for an 19
extension of the date for submitting an annual report under § 14–704 of the Tax – Property 20
Article is $20. 21
(10) A nonrefundable processing fee for articles of incorporation of a 22
nonstock corporation that is organized to operate as a nonprofit entity under § 501(c)(3), 23
(4), or (6) of the Internal Revenue Code is $150. 24
(11) A fee for the nonpayment of a check or other negotiable instrument that 25
was presented to the Department as payment for any of the other fees imposed under this 26
section is $30. 27
(12) A nonrefundable processing fee for preclearance of a document or draft 28
of a document listed in paragraph (1) or (4) of this subsection is $275. 29
(13) Beginning in fiscal year 2022, the Department shall waive the filing fee 30
for a business entity described under paragraph (3)(ii) of this subsection for each year that 31
the entity provides evidence to the Department that: 32
(i) The entity is required to comply with and is in compliance with 33
Title 12 of the Labor and Employment Article; or 34
6 HOUSE BILL 1346
(ii) The entity otherwise provides an employer –offered savings 1
arrangement, as defined in § 12 –101(e) of the Labor and Employment Article, that is in 2
compliance with federal law. 3
(14) There is no processing fee for documents filed to dissolve, cancel, or 4
terminate an entity under this subsection. 5
(c) For each fee identified under subsection (b) of th is section as nonrefundable, 6
the Department shall adopt regulations to specify the conditions under which the fee shall 7
be nonrefundable and the conditions under which the fee may be applied to a resubmission 8
of a document for filing, recording, or processing. 9
(d) The fees collected under subsection (b)(8) and (12) of this section shall be 10
credited to the fund established under § 1–203.3 of this subtitle. 11
(e) Of the $150 collected under subsection (b)(10) of this section, $50 shall be 12
credited to the Maryland Nonprofit Development Center Program Fund established under 13
§ 5–1204 of the Economic Development Article. 14
1–203.2. 15
(a) On payment of the APPLICABLE fee provided in § 1–203(b)(8) of this subtitle, 16
the Department shall process documents on an expedited basis as provided in subsection 17
(b) of this section. 18
(b) Subject to subsection (c) of this section, the Department shall: 19
(1) Process documents fil ed with the Department at least 2 hours before 20
the Department’s close of business within 2 hours after the documents are received; [and] 21
(2) PROCESS DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT AT LEAST 22
1 HOUR BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT’S CLOSE OF BUSINESS WITHIN 1 HOUR AFTER 23
THE DOCUMENTS ARE RECEIVED; AND 24
(3) PROCESS DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT AT LEAST 25
30 MINUTES BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT’S CLOSE OF BUSINESS WITHIN 30 MINUTES 26
AFTER THE DOCUMENTS ARE RECEIVED; AND 27
[(2)] (4) (3) To the extent practicable, process all other documents on the 28
same day that the documents are received. 29
(c) (1) The Department shall adopt regulations governing the manner of filing 30
and processing of documents on an expedited basis, including reasonable limitations on 31
filing documents of unusual volume or length. 32
(2) The Department may: 33
HOUSE BILL 1346 7
(i) Adopt regulations establishing: 1
1. Expedited document processing tiers; or 2
2. Additional methods of expedited document processing; 3
and 4
(ii) Charge reasonable fees for services provided in accordance with 5
this paragraph. 6
(3) DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE DEPARTMENT UNDER SUBSECTION 7
(B)(2) OF THIS SECTION SHAL L FIRST HAVE BEEN AC CEPTED FOR PRECLEARANCE 8
WITH THE DEPARTMENT UNDER § 1–201(D) OF THIS SUBTITLE. 9
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect 10
October 1, 2026 January 1, 2028. 11
Approved:
________________________________________________________________________________
Governor.
________________________________________________________________________________
Speaker of the House of Delegates.
________________________________________________________________________________
President of the Senate.