Montana LLC vs Illinois LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Montana.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Illinois costs $150 to organize and $75 a year, so five years is $525 against Montana's $35. Illinois also runs a genuine entity-level tax that its missing franchise tax hides: an LLC taxed as a partnership pays Personal Property Replacement Tax at 1.5% of net Illinois income, on top of the members' own returns. Late reports compound at $100 for the first year and another $100 for each further year of delinquency. Montana asks $35 once and currently nothing annually. Registering the Illinois LLC into Montana adds $70.
Based in Illinois? Read Illinois LLC vs Montana LLC →
Compare Montana LLC vs Illinois LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: September 23, 2026
Using a formation service? We compare the 4 formation services that pay us a commission, on three-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.
Compare LLC formation services →Or by state: Best LLC services in Montana, Best LLC services in Illinois
Ready to file? Our affiliate partner ZenBusiness files your LLC formation paperwork, from $0 + state fee.
Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
| Factor | Montana | Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $35 | $150 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $0 (waived when filed by April 15; $35 after) | $75 |
| Annual Report Due | April 15 | Before 1st of anniversary month |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $70 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Montana LLC cost and Illinois LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Montana anonymous LLC guide and Illinois anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Montana vs Illinois
| Factor | Montana | Illinois |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 53% (#16 of 51) | 55.6% (#3 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +13.4% YoY (#40 of 51 by volume) | +7.7% YoY (#7 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Montana vs Illinois
Montana
Illinois
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Montana charges $35 to form an LLC, while Illinois charges $150. Montana is $115 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Illinois but operate in Montana, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Montana (a $70 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Illinois (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Illinois route at roughly $370, versus $35 for simply forming in Montana. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Montana nor Illinois publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: Montana vs Illinois
Both Montana and Illinois levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Illinois doesn't change what a Montana-based owner pays. Montana levies a two-bracket individual income tax; under a 2025 Montana law the top rate drops from 5.9% to 5.65% effective January 1, 2026, with the 4.7% lower rate applying up to $47,500 single/$95,000 joint (Montana Department of Revenue). Illinois levies a flat 4.95% personal income tax. No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither Montana nor Illinois offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. Illinois doesn't permit anonymous LLC formation; management is disclosed on public filings. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Montana LLCs file a free annual report (due April 15), and Illinois LLCs file an annual report ($75, due in the anniversary month). If you form in Illinois while operating in Montana, you maintain filings in both states, Illinois's report plus Montana's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay an Illinois registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Illinois route to roughly $225 a year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Montana LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
When Illinois Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Illinois makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Illinois, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Illinois in the near future. For a typical small business based in Montana, none of these usually apply. Registering an Illinois LLC to do business back home means $70 in Montana foreign-registration fees, on top of Illinois's $150 formation fee, while Montana's own annual report stays free to file and is due April 15. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to form your LLC?
Using a formation service? We compare the 4 formation services that pay us a commission, on three-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.
Compare LLC formation services →Or by state: Best LLC services in Montana, Best LLC services in Illinois
Our affiliate partner ZenBusiness files your LLC formation paperwork, from $0 + state fee.
Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
More State Comparisons
Embed this comparison, free
Add the Montana vs Illinois cost calculator to any page. Works in WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, and any HTML site.
<iframe src="https://www.mystatellc.com/tools/compare-states?embed=1&stateA=MT&stateB=IL" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" style="border:0;max-width:900px;display:block;margin:0 auto;" title="Montana vs Illinois LLC Cost Comparison" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="text-align:center;font-size:.8125rem;color:#6b7280">Source: <a href="https://www.mystatellc.com/llc/compare/montana-llc-vs-illinois-llc">MyStateLLC, Montana vs Illinois LLC Comparison</a></p>
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- Montana bill: HB 337 (2025) (income tax rate cut)
- sosmt.gov/business/Montana Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sosmt.gov/business/fees/Montana LLC filing fees
- ilsos.gov/departments/business-services/limited-liability-companies.htmlIllinois Secretary of State: business entity filings
- ilga.gov/legislation/ILCS/details?ActName=Limited+Liability+Company+Act.&ActID=2290&ChapterID=65&ChapAct=805+ILCS+180%2F&SeqStart=14450000&SeqEnd=15800000Illinois LLC filing fees
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.