Legal way to move a company out of South Dakota

---

Start Your Redomestication Now

The Redomestication Process in a Nutshell

1. Enter your biz name HERE.

Then click "get exact price" and follow the steps.

Takes less than five minutes.

Submit payment securely online then sit back and relax.

24-48 hours

2. We prepare the legal docs.

Our dually-licensed attorney+CPA prepares the legal documents and sends them to you via DocuSign.

You sign. We take it from there.

Same Day

3. We submit the legal filings to the states.

We monitor the status closely, respond to inquiries from their offices, and send you weekly updates.

No extra charge. 100% success rate.

1-3 months

4. Approved! ✅

We send you a checklist of go-forward obligations and simple steps for your tax pro to follow.

120% money-back guarantee if we do not succeed.

Did you know? The average business that moves to a state without state-level income tax saves over $12,500 in taxes per year.

Still have questions? Schedule a free meeting with our attorney and CPA.

Redomestication, also known as redomiciling, refers to the lesser-known legal process of transferring or moving the "home state" of an existing Corporation, partnership, or LLC, from South Dakota to a new state. It means keeping your existing company name, credit, and federal employer identification number (FEIN) without wasting time and money creating a new business entity, applying for foreign registration, or moving assets between companies.
— Prof. Chad D. Cummings, Esq., CPA

Start Your Redomestication Now

The legal way to move a company out of South Dakota without disrupting operations

When owners ask for the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota, they are typically seeking an approach that preserves continuity while changing the entity’s “home state” for governance, filings, and long-term compliance. In my experience as an attorney and CPA, the objective is rarely to “start over.” Rather, it is to relocate the company’s legal domicile in a manner that avoids operational disruption, needless administrative overhead, and preventable tax and contractual consequences.

For many businesses, the most defensible legal way to move a company out of South Dakota is redomestication (statutory conversion), as described in this redomestication process. Properly executed, redomestication is designed to transfer the company’s state of domicile while maintaining the same entity—a critical distinction that protects the enterprise’s legal and financial continuity.

Businesses that want a compliant, efficient exit should begin with a clear understanding of what redomestication accomplishes and what it avoids. If you are evaluating the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota, the central question is whether the transaction preserves the company’s contracts, FEIN, and identity without creating a second entity. That is precisely why a legal way to move a company out of South Dakota via redomestication is often the preferred solution.

Why leaving South Dakota can be a sound legal and business decision

Relocating a business entity is not merely a clerical filing; it is a strategic decision that affects governance, dispute resolution, and ongoing compliance. Companies often decide that the South Dakota legal system and business climate no longer align with the company’s growth stage, investor expectations, or multi-state operational footprint. In those cases, pursuing the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota becomes a form of risk management and long-term planning.

From a compliance perspective, a company’s home-state rules govern core internal affairs: fiduciary duties, approval thresholds for major actions, member and shareholder rights, and the statutes that apply when disagreements arise. If leadership has concluded that another jurisdiction offers a better framework for the company’s ownership structure and governance needs, then a properly planned redomestication can realign the company’s legal foundation without forcing a dissolution or a contract-by-contract rebuild.

From a tax standpoint, owners commonly assume that any move automatically ends prior-state exposure. That assumption is frequently incorrect. The legal way to move a company out of South Dakota must be paired with a thoughtful plan for tax nexus, registrations, payroll, and ongoing operations. Redomestication is a strong mechanism for changing domicile; however, the company’s actual activities still determine where it must file and pay taxes. A competent plan anticipates these realities rather than reacting to them after the fact.

Redomestication as the preferred mechanism for a compliant South Dakota exit

Redomestication (also referred to as statutory conversion) is distinct from merely registering as a foreign entity in another state. Foreign registration generally keeps the company domiciled in South Dakota while permitting it to do business elsewhere. As a result, foreign registration often creates ongoing dual compliance: annual reports, registered agent costs, and an administrative footprint that the company sought to avoid in the first place. In contrast, redomestication is frequently the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota and materially reduce the need for continued South Dakota corporate maintenance—assuming operations there have truly ceased.

Equally important, redomestication is built to preserve continuity. A properly structured conversion typically allows the business to maintain its existing FEIN, keep its existing contracts, and, in most cases, retain its existing name. Those features are not cosmetic; they are operationally decisive. Banking relationships, payment processors, vendor onboarding, insurance, and payroll systems are all materially simpler when the legal entity itself remains the same.

For business owners seeking a defensible and documented legal way to move a company out of South Dakota, the practical advantage is that redomestication is engineered to minimize disruption. To evaluate fit and eligibility, review the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota using redomestication and ensure the transaction is coordinated with the company’s internal approvals, governing documents, and ongoing compliance profile.

Key benefits of redomestication when relocating out of South Dakota

In formal terms, the purpose of a redomestication is to change the entity’s domicile while preserving its identity and legal relationships. For owners, the value is straightforward: the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota should not require abandoning the company’s commercial history. Redomestication’s central benefit is that it is designed to keep the enterprise intact while shifting its jurisdictional “home.”

First, the business can often maintain its existing FEIN, which significantly reduces tax-administration friction. Many avoidable problems arise when owners create a “new” entity and begin transferring assets, contracts, payroll accounts, and merchant services, inadvertently triggering operational delays and IRS reporting complications. A conversion-based approach is typically more orderly and, when properly handled, substantially less error-prone.

Second, the business can often preserve its existing contracts without requiring counterparties to sign replacements. This is not merely convenient; it is a core legal advantage. Contract amendments and novations can introduce risk, create renegotiation leverage for counterparties, and slow down revenue-critical relationships. When the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota is implemented through redomestication, the company’s contractual posture is frequently maintained with far less disruption than alternative transactions.

Common misconceptions that lead to costly mistakes

One recurring misconception is that dissolving the South Dakota entity and forming a new one elsewhere is the simplest solution. In practice, dissolution is often the most expensive “shortcut” a business can take. Dissolution commonly forces a re-papering of contracts, re-credentialing with vendors, re-onboarding with financial institutions, and potential disruption to licensing and insurance. For a company that intends to continue operating, dissolving is rarely the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota that a prudent advisor would recommend.

Another misconception is that foreign registration is functionally equivalent to changing domicile. It is not. Foreign registration may be appropriate in certain scenarios, but it generally preserves the company’s South Dakota domicile and can lock the business into ongoing filings and fees that management believed it was leaving behind. Owners frequently discover—after the registration is complete—that they now have two sets of compliance calendars, two registered agents, and a higher administrative burden.

A third misconception is that the “paper move” alone ends all tax and compliance exposure. As a CPA, I emphasize that tax nexus is fact-driven. Payroll location, property, employees, and where revenue-producing activity occurs can keep obligations alive regardless of domicile. The legal way to move a company out of South Dakota is therefore not merely a filing; it is a coordinated plan that integrates entity law, operational facts, and forward-looking compliance.

Procedural and documentation considerations that must be handled correctly

A redomestication is not a one-form exercise. It requires careful attention to internal approvals (member, manager, shareholder, or board, as applicable), alignment with the entity’s governing documents, and correct state filings in the outbound and inbound jurisdictions. If approvals are defective or documentation is inconsistent, the company can inherit avoidable governance disputes later—precisely when the company intended to strengthen its legal foundation.

In addition, counsel should coordinate name availability, registered agent arrangements, and the sequencing of filings to avoid gaps in good standing. A gap can create practical problems: interrupted financing timelines, vendor compliance rejections, and complications with state agencies that rely on current entity status. The legal way to move a company out of South Dakota must therefore be implemented with a defensible paper trail and a controlled timeline.

Finally, a complete plan includes post-approval obligations: updating internal records, reconciling annual report cycles, revising banking resolutions if needed, and maintaining a clean compliance record going forward. A disciplined redomestication process should culminate in a checklist that management can actually execute, rather than leaving the company to improvise after the conversion is approved.

Conclusion: selecting the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota with confidence

Business owners do not relocate for novelty; they relocate to reduce friction, improve governance fit, and strengthen long-term operational stability. The legal way to move a company out of South Dakota should preserve what the business has already built—its FEIN, contracts, credit history, brand identity, and operational momentum—while establishing a more suitable domicile for the next stage of growth.

Redomestication is frequently superior to foreign registration, merger structures, or dissolution-and-reformation because it is designed to maintain the same entity while transferring the home state. If the goal is a clean, orderly, and continuity-focused relocation, then the legal way to move a company out of South Dakota through redomestication deserves serious consideration.

To proceed with a process built for efficiency and continuity, review a compliant legal way to move a company out of South Dakota and ensure the filings, approvals, and post-move obligations are handled in a manner consistent with your operational realities and long-term objectives.

Start Your Redomestication Now

Domestication vs. Foreign Registration vs. Merger vs. Dissolution: A Comparison

Domestication is, in many circumstances, far preferable to registering an LLC or corporation as a foreign entity, especially where the LLC or corporation has permanently moved its operations and will not be returning to the prior state in the near future.

Some attorneys, unfortunately, confuse their clients by recommending a foreign entity registration in the new state, or worse, a merger, where a redomestication™ would have accomplished the goals of moving their business to a new state efficiently and effectively.

The top seven benefits of moving your company (LLC, corporation, or partnership) to a new state via redomestication™ to transfer your business include:

1. Maintaining your existing federal employer identification number, eliminating the tax headaches of forming a new company or transferring assets between companies (and inadvertently triggering a hefty tax bill from the IRS) when you move your business to a new state;
2. Keeping your existing business credit history and track record, safeguarding your reputation with clients, vendors, and creditors when moving your LLC or corporation to a new state;
3. Continuing your existing business name (in almost every case), protecting your most important assets when moving your company to a new state: your brand, reputation, and time you have already invested in search engine optimization;
4. Maintaining your existing contracts with customers and vendors because moving your business to a new state via redomestication™ does not create a new company: it maintains your existing company, saving you dozens (or even hundreds) of hours re-writing (and re-negotiating) contracts and changing banks;
5. Eliminating the need to continue paying registration fees and taxes in your prior state (assuming you have discontinued your operations there and have permanently relocated to a new state), potentially saving you tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in state taxes every quarter when you move your business to a new state;
6. Avoiding unnecessary IRS scrutiny because moving your LLC or corporation to a new state via redomestication™ is a tax-free transaction under the Internal Revenue Code; and
7. Reducing the amount of time you spend on administrative filings, saving you untold hours annually, by moving your company to a new state.

Before taking the "penny wise and pound foolish" approach of foreign entity registration or spending countless hours and exorbitant legal fees (and possibly taxes) on a merger or merger-gone-wrong to move your company to a new state, ensure you understand your options.

In most circumstances, redomestication™ (and not a foreign entity registration or costly and complicated merger) is the best route to achieve a change in company domicile to a new state.

Start Your Redomestication Now