How to Reinstate a Massachusetts LLC
The short answer. If your Massachusetts LLC has been administratively dissolved, you restore it by filing an application for reinstatement following administrative dissolution with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division. Massachusetts sets no deadline: an LLC that has been administratively dissolved can apply for reinstatement at any time. The reinstatement fee is $100.
Massachusetts LLC Reinstatement at a Glance
| What Massachusetts calls the status | Administratively dissolved |
| What you file | Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution |
| Filed with | Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division |
| How to file | Not confirmed |
| Reinstatement fee | $100 |
| Time limit to reinstate | No deadline |
| Tax clearance | Not confirmed |
| Retroactive | Not confirmed |
Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.
Why Massachusetts Would Dissolve an LLC
The Secretary of the Commonwealth may dissolve an LLC that has failed for two consecutive years to file its annual reports, or that it finds inactive where dissolution would be in the public interest. The Division's rules treat an LLC as inactive if it fails to appoint a resident agent within 60 days after the Division's notice to do so.
The LLC has 90 days to fix the problem before it can be administratively dissolved. The 90 days are counted after the date of the written notice the Secretary of the Commonwealth mails to the LLC's Massachusetts office.
How Long You Have to Reinstate
Massachusetts sets no deadline: an LLC that has been administratively dissolved can apply for reinstatement at any time.
How to File
You file an application for reinstatement following administrative dissolution with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division. Go to Massachusetts's filing page.
What It Costs
The reinstatement fee is $100.
The application must state that each ground for dissolution, such as the missed annual reports, either did not exist or has been corrected.
We have not confirmed whether Massachusetts requires a tax clearance to reinstate; check with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division.
Registered Agent Options
If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether Massachusettswants that updated as part of reinstatement. You do not have to buy a service for it: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one option and not the only one. The Massachusetts registered agent requirements set out what Massachusetts itself asks.
Registered agent services for Massachusetts LLCs
Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.
This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.
- Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
- Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
- ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
- LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price
Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.
Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →
What Reinstatement Does
We have not confirmed whether reinstatement in Massachusetts reaches back to the date the LLC was administratively dissolved. Ask the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division or a lawyer before relying on it for anything done in the meantime.
If another business has taken the LLC's name in the meantime, the LLC needs a name that is still available to reinstate.
Worth Knowing in Massachusetts
The Division's rules say reinstatement is effective at the time and on the date the Division approves the application.
More for Massachusetts LLCs
- Massachusetts LLC annual report, to keep the LLC in good standing once it is reinstated.
- Massachusetts annual report late fee, for what a late report costs before it comes to dissolution.
- Massachusetts certificate of good standing, to prove the LLC is active again.
- How to dissolve an LLC in Massachusetts, if you would rather close the LLC properly than reinstate it.
- Annual report deadline finder, to see when the next report is due.
Frequently Asked Questions
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and filing office say about bringing back an LLC the state has dissolved, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you where your own LLC stands: that turns on why and when it was dissolved, what it still owes, and whether anyone has since taken its name, and fees and deadlines change between our reviews. Confirm your LLC's status and the current requirements with the filing office or tax agency named on this page, and ask a lawyer about anything the LLC did while it was dissolved. In many states a missed deadline ends the right to reinstate, so do not wait.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Massachusetts 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.
- malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter156C/Section70M.G.L. c. 156C, s. 70, Administrative dissolution
- malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXXII/Chapter156C/Section71M.G.L. c. 156C, s. 71, Application for reinstatement
- mass.gov/doc/950-cmr-112-limited-liability-companies/download950 CMR 112.00, Limited liability companies (112.20, 112.21, 112.29) (archived copy)
- sec.state.ma.us/divisions/corporations/download/c156cdllcreinstatment.pdfLLC Application for Reinstatement Following Administrative Dissolution (c156cdllcreinstatment 09/22/08)
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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.