What’s the process for moving a company out of South Carolina

---

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 Carolina 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

How to approach the process of moving a company out of South Carolina without disrupting operations

When clients ask what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina looks like in practice, the correct starting point is not a new formation, a foreign registration, or a merger. The correct starting point is a continuity-first analysis: how to change the entity’s home state while keeping the same legal entity intact, so that operations, banking, contracting, payroll, and vendor relationships continue without avoidable interruption.

In my experience as an attorney and CPA, the most common—and most costly—misstep is treating a relocation as a “start over” project. That approach typically forces a business to re-paper contracts, update counterparties, renegotiate credit arrangements, and reconfigure tax and payroll systems. A properly executed statutory conversion (redomestication) is designed to prevent those disruptions by transferring the company’s domicile while preserving its identity and history.

For a clear, streamlined roadmap of how the process for moving a company out of South Carolina can be handled through statutory conversion, review the redomestication process for moving a company out of South Carolina and confirm that your entity type and destination state are eligible.

Why businesses relocate: practical advantages of moving out of South Carolina’s tax and compliance environment

Business owners seldom relocate casually; they relocate to improve outcomes. Depending on the company’s fact pattern, moving out of South Carolina can reduce friction in the company’s ongoing compliance posture by aligning the entity’s domicile with where leadership, workforce, and decision-making are actually occurring. In addition, owners frequently seek a jurisdiction whose predictability and administrative burden better matches the company’s growth trajectory.

From a tax-planning perspective, the central point is not that every company will pay “no tax” after a move. The central point is that a relocation can reposition the company relative to state-level filing obligations, apportionment issues, and administrative exposure. A thoughtful domicile change may help reduce needless multi-state complexity—particularly when the company has effectively ceased business activity in South Carolina and is operating elsewhere.

Accordingly, the process for moving a company out of South Carolina should be evaluated with two objectives in mind: (i) operational continuity and (ii) minimizing ongoing South Carolina compliance where the business has truly moved on. Statutory conversion is commonly the most direct mechanism for meeting both objectives.

What the process for moving a company out of South Carolina should prioritize: continuity of the legal entity

When evaluating what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina should prioritize, sophisticated owners focus on continuity. Continuity means preserving the company’s identity for legal and practical purposes: the same entity, the same history, and the same relationship framework with customers, lenders, vendors, and employees.

Redomestication (statutory conversion) is structured around this continuity principle. Rather than creating a new entity and migrating assets into it—or registering a South Carolina entity in another state and maintaining dual obligations—redomestication changes the entity’s domicile while allowing the business to continue under its existing framework. This is precisely why redomestication is frequently superior to foreign registration and merger structures for a true relocation.

For owners seeking a reliable answer to how the process for moving a company out of South Carolina can be completed while preserving the entity, use redomestication to move a company out of South Carolina and confirm the filing sequence and requirements for both states.

Key benefit #1: preserving the same FEIN, contracts, and business relationships

Owners often underestimate how many systems are anchored to the company’s existing federal employer identification number (FEIN). Payroll providers, retirement plans, banking relationships, merchant processors, insurance programs, and lender covenants can all be tied—formally and informally—to that identifier. A relocation plan that unnecessarily triggers a new FEIN frequently generates downstream administrative work and avoidable compliance risk.

Similarly, contract continuity matters. With a new entity, counterparties may insist on new paperwork, updated W-9 documentation, revised payment instructions, and even renegotiated terms. In contrast, redomestication is designed to maintain the same entity and, in turn, preserve contractual relationships in the ordinary course—reducing the probability of disruptions that can delay revenue collection or vendor performance.

For many businesses, the best answer to what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina entails is therefore a process that protects continuity first—because continuity is the difference between a relocation and a reorganization.

Key benefit #2: avoiding the hidden ongoing costs of foreign registration

A frequent misconception is that foreign registration is “the simple way” to move. In reality, foreign registration is often the simple way to add another layer of filings, fees, and compliance calendars. If the business has truly relocated, continuing to keep the original South Carolina entity active as a foreign registrant elsewhere can create ongoing annual report requirements, registered agent costs, and state-level administrative exposure—without delivering the clean break owners expect.

Foreign registration can also blur the question of where the company is genuinely domiciled, particularly when management, governance, and operations are no longer centered in South Carolina. This is not merely academic; it impacts how owners should think about compliance posture and the practical question of what “home state” means for the entity’s internal records and governance.

Accordingly, when determining how the process for moving a company out of South Carolina should be implemented, it is prudent to scrutinize whether foreign registration is simply perpetuating dual-state obligations that redomestication can eliminate.

Why redomestication is typically superior to a merger or dissolution-and-reformation strategy

Mergers and dissolution/re-formation strategies are sometimes proposed as relocation tools, but they frequently introduce unnecessary legal complexity. A merger requires careful structuring, additional filings, and integration steps that are disproportionate when the business’s principal goal is simply to change its domicile. Moreover, merger mechanics can create avoidable opportunities for documentation defects that later become expensive to correct.

Dissolution and re-formation, while sometimes presented as an “easy reset,” is usually the most disruptive approach. It can jeopardize continuity of contracts, interrupt licensing and banking arrangements, and complicate the company’s historical recordkeeping. It also tends to create additional administrative work precisely when leadership should be focused on business execution in the new state.

For a disciplined, continuity-focused explanation of what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina should look like when redomestication is available, consult the process for moving a company out of South Carolina via redomestication and compare it against the operational disruption and long-term costs of the alternatives.

Common procedural and legal considerations that determine whether the move is clean and defensible

A successful relocation is not defined solely by a stamped filing; it is defined by whether the company’s governance, records, and third-party relationships remain coherent after the move. From a legal perspective, the internal authorization steps must be handled correctly—such as member, manager, shareholder, or director approvals—based on the entity’s governing documents and applicable statutes. Skipping or improvising these approvals is a common defect that can later be exploited in disputes or diligence reviews.

From a practical perspective, owners must coordinate downstream updates that often follow the domicile change, including registered agent transitions, internal record updates, and communications with banks and counterparties. These steps are not merely “administrative.” They are part of maintaining a defensible corporate record and avoiding the appearance of informal or inconsistent governance.

Because what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina requires depends on entity type and the destination state’s statutory framework, professional guidance helps ensure the conversion is executed in a manner that preserves continuity and avoids rework.

Misconceptions that routinely derail the process of moving a company out of South Carolina

Misconception #1: “If I register as a foreign entity, I have moved.” Foreign qualification may permit the company to do business in another state, but it frequently does not accomplish the central objective of changing the company’s home state while eliminating ongoing ties to South Carolina. Owners later discover they are still paying and filing in multiple jurisdictions with little strategic benefit.

Misconception #2: “I should dissolve in South Carolina and start fresh.” This is often presented as a shortcut; in practice it is a disruption multiplier. It can break continuity of contracts and create an unnecessary compliance project. In many circumstances, redomestication is specifically designed to achieve the relocation objective without dissolving and without creating a new entity.

In other words, what the process for moving a company out of South Carolina requires is not guesswork. It requires selecting the mechanism that best preserves continuity, minimizes ongoing obligations, and aligns the company’s domicile with its operational reality.

Conclusion: the prudent way to execute the move is to use statutory conversion when available

If the business has permanently shifted operations and decision-making outside South Carolina, a domicile change should be handled with the same rigor applied to major contracts and tax filings. The objective is straightforward: move the entity’s home state without breaking the entity. Redomestication (statutory conversion) is commonly the most efficient and cost-effective tool to accomplish that result while preserving the company’s FEIN, contracts, and, in most cases, its name.

For owners evaluating how the process for moving a company out of South Carolina can be completed with minimal disruption and maximum continuity, the best next step is to review how to move a company out of South Carolina through redomestication and proceed with a filing strategy tailored to the entity and destination state.

When executed properly, the process for moving a company out of South Carolina is not merely a filing exercise; it is a continuity-preservation project that protects the company’s operations, relationships, and long-term value.

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