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

The Certificate of Organization costs $500 filed by mail or hand delivery, or $520 filed online or by fax because Massachusetts adds a mandatory $20 expedite fee to electronic and fax filings. An optional name reservation is $30. Massachusetts has no publication requirement and no entity-level tax on a default pass-through LLC.

Why is the Massachusetts LLC annual report $500?

M.G.L. c. 156C and the Corporations Division set the LLC annual report fee at five hundred dollars, matching the formation fee — the highest annual LLC report fee in the country. It is $500 by mail or $520 online or by fax, and it is due on or before the anniversary date of the filing of your original certificate of organization.

When is the Massachusetts LLC annual report due?

On or before the anniversary date of the filing of your original certificate of organization — not a fixed calendar date like April 15. If your certificate was filed on March 12, every annual report is due by March 12. There is no late fee, but two consecutive missed years can lead to administrative dissolution.

Does a Massachusetts LLC pay the $456 minimum corporate excise?

Only if the LLC is classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes, since Massachusetts classifies LLCs the same way the IRS does. A default single-member or multi-member LLC taxed as a disregarded entity or partnership owes no entity-level Massachusetts excise — the $500 annual report is the recurring state cost.

LLC Costs · MA

How Much Does an LLC Cost in Massachusetts?

By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division 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 Massachusetts costs $520 to file the Certificate of Organization with the state, the Annual Report costs $520 every year. That puts the first-year state cost at $1,040, before any registered-agent service.

Certificate of Organization$520

Annual Report$520

First-year state cost$1,040

Five-year state cost$3,120

What you actually pay in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is the most expensive state in the country to keep an LLC: $500 to file the Certificate of Organization and $500 every single year for the annual report, which is due on the anniversary of the date the original certificate was filed rather than on a fixed calendar date. Filing either document online or by fax adds a mandatory $20 expedite fee, so the real online cost is $520 each time — the Division's expedite table charges $20 on a $500.00 transaction. There is no entity-level Massachusetts tax on a default pass-through LLC; the $456 minimum corporate excise applies only if the LLC is classified as a corporation. Certificates are comparatively cheap: $12 for Legal Existence, $25 for Good Standing, $30 for a name reservation.

Massachusetts LLC fee breakdown

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Certificate of Organization	$520	One time	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
Same filing, submitted on paper	$500	One time	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
Annual Report	$520	Every year	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
Required state cost, first year	$1,040	—	—
Registered agent service (optional)	$50–$300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedited processing (optional) — Mandatory expedite fee on fax or electronic filing of a $500 document $20	$20+	One time	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
Name reservation (optional)	$30	One time	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$25	Per copy	Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division

$500.00 if filed by mail or hand delivered; $500.00 plus a mandatory $20.00 expedite fee (=$520) if fax filed or filed electronically. The Corporations Division's expedite schedule sets $20 for a $500.00 transaction and 4.5% of the filing fee for transactions over $500.

: Massachusetts imposes no entity-level franchise or excise tax on an LLC classified as a partnership or disregarded entity; LLCs are classified for Massachusetts tax purposes the same way they are for federal income tax purposes.

The Corporations Division's Certificate of Organization requirements under M.G.L. c. 156C § 12 and 950 CMR 112.00 contain no newspaper-publication step.

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.

Massachusetts 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)	$1,040	$1,165
Each year after	$520	$645
Five-year total	$3,120	$3,745

First filing timing: Because the deadline is the anniversary of the filing of the original certificate of organization, an LLC organized today owes its first $500 annual report on that same calendar date one year later.

Is Massachusetts expensive compared with other states?

Massachusetts ranks 50th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost — $805.47 above the $234.53 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 49th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$1,005
Arizona	$50	$990
Missouri	$50	$990

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

Massachusetts filing deadline and late penalties

Annual Report

Frequency	every year
Due	"Every limited liability company must file an annual report with the Corporations Division on or before the anniversary date of the filing of its original certificate of organization."
Fee	$520

Massachusetts imposes no late fee on LLC annual reports — unlike domestic corporations, whose $125 annual report becomes $150 if not filed timely.

Under 950 CMR 112.20–112.21, if an LLC has failed for two consecutive years to file annual reports the Division gives written notice, and if the grounds are not cured within 90 days of the notice the Division administratively dissolves the LLC. Reinstatement costs $100 ($100 plus a $10 expedite fee if filed by fax or electronically) and all annual reports owed must be filed first — at $500 each.

Full Massachusetts annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

Cost traps specific to Massachusetts

$500 a year, forever — the highest annual report fee in the US

The Massachusetts LLC annual report costs $500, the same as forming the company. Over five years that is $2,500 in annual reports alone, before any registered agent or tax cost.

Filing online costs $20 more, not less

Massachusetts charges $500 by mail but $500 plus a mandatory $20 expedite fee for fax or electronic filing, so the online Certificate of Organization and the online annual report are each $520. Most states discount online filing; Massachusetts surcharges it.

Two missed reports triggers dissolution and a four-figure cure

Under 950 CMR 112.20, failing for two consecutive years to file annual reports lets the Division administratively dissolve the LLC 90 days after notice. Reinstatement is $100 but every owed annual report must be filed first, at $500 apiece.

Frequently Asked Questions

: The Certificate of Organization costs $500 filed by mail or hand delivery, or $520 filed online or by fax because Massachusetts adds a mandatory $20 expedite fee to electronic and fax filings. An optional name reservation is $30. Massachusetts has no publication requirement and no entity-level tax on a default pass-through LLC.
: M.G.L. c. 156C and the Corporations Division set the LLC annual report fee at five hundred dollars, matching the formation fee — the highest annual LLC report fee in the country. It is $500 by mail or $520 online or by fax, and it is due on or before the anniversary date of the filing of your original certificate of organization.
: On or before the anniversary date of the filing of your original certificate of organization — not a fixed calendar date like April 15. If your certificate was filed on March 12, every annual report is due by March 12. There is no late fee, but two consecutive missed years can lead to administrative dissolution.
: Only if the LLC is classified as a corporation for federal tax purposes, since Massachusetts classifies LLCs the same way the IRS does. A default single-member or multi-member LLC taxed as a disregarded entity or partnership owes no entity-level Massachusetts excise — the $500 annual report is the recurring state cost.

Where these numbers come from

Every fee above was checked against Massachusetts's own published sources on July 29, 2026 — the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division 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 Organization 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.

Primary sources: