How much does it cost to start an LLC in Maine?

The Maine Secretary of State charges $175 to file the MLLC-6 Certificate of Formation, and that fee is the same whether you mail it or hand-deliver it — Maine has no online formation filing. Expedited service is optional: $50 for 24-hour (next business day) or $100 for immediate same-business-day filing. Registering an existing out-of-state LLC in Maine instead costs $250.

How much is the Maine LLC annual report?

An annual report costs $85 per year for a domestic Maine LLC and $150 for a foreign LLC. It must be delivered to the Secretary of State between January 1 and June 1. Filing late adds a $50 penalty under 31 M.R.S. §1680(10), on top of the $85.

How long does it take to form an LLC in Maine?

Maine's Corporations Division posts a standard processing time of 40 to 55 business days for corporate filings. If that is too slow, you can pay $50 for 24-hour service or $100 for immediate same-business-day filing, and only one expedite fee is needed if you file several documents for the same entity at once.

Does a Maine LLC pay an annual state tax or franchise tax?

No. Maine imposes no franchise tax or minimum tax on an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity — Maine's franchise tax (Form 1120B-ME) applies only to banks and financial institutions. The recurring state cost for a normal Maine LLC is the $85 annual report fee, plus income tax paid by the members on their share of the profits.

LLC Costs · ME

How Much Does an LLC Cost in Maine?

By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Maine Secretary of State fee schedule

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.

Forming an LLC in Maine costs $175 to file the Certificate of Formation with the state, the Annual Report costs $85 every year. That puts the first-year state cost at $260, before any registered-agent service.

Certificate of Formation$175

Annual Report$85

First-year state cost$260

Five-year state cost$600

What you actually pay in Maine

Maine is one of the most expensive small states to keep an LLC in: $175 for the MLLC-6 Certificate of Formation and $85 every year for the domestic annual report (foreign LLCs pay $150 a year). Standard processing is posted at 40–55 business days, so the $50 24-hour or $100 same-day expedite fee is effectively the price of a usable LLC on any normal timeline. Statutory ancillary fees are modest by comparison — $20 to reserve a name (MLLC-1), $30 for a certificate of existence, $5 per certification on copies, and $2 per page. Registering an out-of-state LLC to do business in Maine costs $250 (MLLC-12).

Maine LLC fee breakdown

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Certificate of Formation (MLLC-6)	$175	One time	Maine Secretary of State
Annual Report	$85	Every year	Maine Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$260	—	—
Registered agent service (optional)	$50–$300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedited processing (optional) — 24-hour expedited filing (next business day) $50, Immediate expedited filing (same business day) $100	$50+	One time	Maine Secretary of State
Name reservation (optional)	$20	One time	Maine Secretary of State
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$30	Per copy	Maine Secretary of State

$175 regardless of channel — 31 M.R.S. §1680 sets a single fee, and Maine's Corporations Division does not offer online formation filing at all: the MLLC-6 must be completed, printed and mailed or hand-delivered to Augusta with payment.

No newspaper publication requirement for LLC formation in the Maine Limited Liability Company Act (31 M.R.S. ch. 21).

Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator.

Maine LLC cost over five years

State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.

Period	State cost only	With registered agent
Year 1 (formation + first filing)	$260	$385
Each year after	$85	$210
Five-year total	$600	$1,225

First filing timing: 31 M.R.S. §1665: the first annual report must be delivered between January 1st and June 1st of the year following the calendar year in which the LLC was formed — an LLC formed in 2026 files its first report in the January 1–June 1, 2027 window.

Is Maine expensive compared with other states?

Maine ranks 36th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost — $25.47 above the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 37th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$225
Arizona	$50	$210
Missouri	$50	$210

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Maine. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Maine anyway — paying both states. See foreign qualification in Maine before forming elsewhere to save on fees.

Maine filing deadline and late penalties

Annual Report

Frequency	every year
Due	between January 1st and June 1st
Fee	$85
Late penalty	$50

31 M.R.S. §1680(10) adds a $50 late filing penalty on top of the $85 report fee for failing to deliver an annual report by its due date.

Under 31 M.R.S. §1667 the Secretary of State administratively dissolves a domestic LLC (and revokes a foreign LLC's authority) on failure to file the annual report and pay the fee or penalty; the statute states no fixed timeline. Reinstatement after administrative dissolution is $150 and a certificate of revival is $150 (§1680).

Full Maine annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

Cost traps specific to Maine

40–55 business day queue

Maine's Corporations Division publicly posts a 40–55 business day standard processing time for corporate filings. Budget $50 (24-hour) or $100 (same-day) for expedited service if the LLC is needed before roughly three months out.

No online formation channel

Unlike most states, Maine has no online filing for the Certificate of Formation — the MLLC-6 must be printed and mailed or delivered in person with a check, money order, or credit card voucher, which adds mail time on top of the posted queue.

$85 a year plus a $50 late penalty

The domestic annual report is $85 (one of the highest in the country) and 31 M.R.S. §1680(10) adds a flat $50 late penalty after the June 1 deadline; continued failure leads to administrative dissolution under §1667 and a $150 reinstatement fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

: The Maine Secretary of State charges $175 to file the MLLC-6 Certificate of Formation, and that fee is the same whether you mail it or hand-deliver it — Maine has no online formation filing. Expedited service is optional: $50 for 24-hour (next business day) or $100 for immediate same-business-day filing. Registering an existing out-of-state LLC in Maine instead costs $250.
: An annual report costs $85 per year for a domestic Maine LLC and $150 for a foreign LLC. It must be delivered to the Secretary of State between January 1 and June 1. Filing late adds a $50 penalty under 31 M.R.S. §1680(10), on top of the $85.
: Maine's Corporations Division posts a standard processing time of 40 to 55 business days for corporate filings. If that is too slow, you can pay $50 for 24-hour service or $100 for immediate same-business-day filing, and only one expedite fee is needed if you file several documents for the same entity at once.
: No. Maine imposes no franchise tax or minimum tax on an LLC taxed as a partnership or disregarded entity — Maine's franchise tax (Form 1120B-ME) applies only to banks and financial institutions. The recurring state cost for a normal Maine LLC is the $85 annual report fee, plus income tax paid by the members on their share of the profits.

Where these numbers come from

Every fee above was checked against Maine's own published sources on July 29, 2026 — the Maine Secretary of State fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state-level tax applies, the state tax authority. Commercial formation-service pages were not used.

The first-year total is the Certificate of Formation fee plus the first year of any recurring state charge. Where a state's first report is not due until the following year, that is noted above. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring charges, which avoids the timing question entirely. Registered-agent service is excluded from all state figures.

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