How much does it cost to incorporate in Maine?

$145 to file the Articles of Incorporation (Form MBCA-6). Adding the first report brings the first-year state filing charges to $230.

Is Maine an expensive state to incorporate in?

On the filing fee alone, Maine is the 38th cheapest of 49 states to incorporate in. Filing fees across the states run from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas — a one-off charge that is usually dwarfed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax, which is where the real long-run difference between states sits.

Is it cheaper to form an LLC or a corporation in Maine?

A corporation is actually cheaper to file in Maine — $145 against $175 for an LLC, a $30 difference. That is unusual, and it is a one-off filing charge, so weigh the ongoing obligations rather than the headline fee.

Does Maine tax corporate income?

Graduated: 3.5% on income up to $350,000; 7.93% on $350,001–$1,050,000; 8.33% on $1,050,001–$3,500,000; 8.93% on income over $3,500,000.

Incorporation · ME

How to Form a Corporation in Maine

By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.

Incorporating in Maine costs $145 to file the Articles of Incorporation (Form MBCA-6). After that the corporation files every year and pays $85. First-year state filing charges come to $230.

Filing fee$145

Report cadenceEvery year

First-year filings$230

Corporate income taxYes

What you file in Maine

Incorporation filing

Document	Articles of Incorporation (Form MBCA-6)
Fee	$145
Recurring report	Annual Report (filed online; domestic entities) — every year, $85
First report due	June 1 each year

This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side — name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN — see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.

What it costs to incorporate and stay filed

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded — both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.

Charge	Amount	How often
Articles of Incorporation (Form MBCA-6)	$145	One time
Annual Report (filed online; domestic entities)	$85	Every year
First-year state filing charges	$230	—
Five-year state filing charges	$570	—

Maine is the 38th cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.06. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.

States that are cheaper to incorporate in

State	Filing fee	Difference
Montana	$35	$110
Kentucky	$40	$105
Arkansas	$50	$95
Colorado	$50	$95
Hawaii	$50	$95

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in Maine. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation — which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in Maine before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.

Maine corporation vs Maine LLC

State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.

	Corporation	LLC
Formation filing fee	$145	$175
Report cadence	Every year	Every year
Report fee	$85	$85

Worth noticing: a corporation is $30 cheaper to file here than an LLC. That is the exception nationally — corporations are the cheaper filing in only 15 of the 50 states, the two entities cost the same in 25, and the LLC is cheaper in 10.

Full Maine LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained

State taxes a Maine corporation pays

Corporate income tax

Applies	Yes
Rate	Graduated: 3.5% on income up to $350,000; 7.93% on $350,001–$1,050,000; 8.33% on $1,050,001–$3,500,000; 8.93% on income over $3,500,000

Franchise or gross-receipts tax

Maine imposes no general corporate franchise tax; its franchise tax (Form 1120B-ME) applies only to financial institutions. Ordinary business corporations pay only the graduated corporate income tax.

What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Mainelevies — or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.

C-corp return: Form 1120ME (Maine Corporate Income Tax Return)

Electing S-corporation status in Maine

Maine follows the federal S election. Full Maine S-corporation election guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

: $145 to file the Articles of Incorporation (Form MBCA-6). Adding the first report brings the first-year state filing charges to $230.
: On the filing fee alone, Maine is the 38th cheapest of 49 states to incorporate in. Filing fees across the states run from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas — a one-off charge that is usually dwarfed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax, which is where the real long-run difference between states sits.
: A corporation is actually cheaper to file in Maine — $145 against $175 for an LLC, a $30 difference. That is unusual, and it is a one-off filing charge, so weigh the ongoing obligations rather than the headline fee.
: Graduated: 3.5% on income up to $350,000; 7.93% on $350,001–$1,050,000; 8.33% on $1,050,001–$3,500,000; 8.93% on income over $3,500,000.

Where these numbers come from

This page covers the state filing required to incorporate in Maine and the charges that follow it. Every figure was checked against Maine's own published sources on July 29, 2026— the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.

Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.

Primary sources: