Does Maine recognize the federal S-corporation election?

Yes. Maine follows the federal S election, and no separate state election form is required — filing federal Form 2553 with the IRS is enough. The corporation does still file Form 941P-ME (Pass-Through Entity Withholding Return). Maine has no separate S-corp income tax return; an S corp files Form 1120ME only if it has income taxable at the federal corporate level (e.g., built-in gains).

Which Maine return does an S corporation file?

Form 941P-ME (Pass-Through Entity Withholding Return). Maine has no separate S-corp income tax return; an S corp files Form 1120ME only if it has income taxable at the federal corporate level (e.g., built-in gains).

S-corp election · ME

Maine S-Corporation Election

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.

Maine follows the federal S election. Filing IRS Form 2553 is enough — there is no separate Maine election form. Maine is one of 43 states that follow the federal election with no state form of their own.

State treatmentFollows the federal election

Separate state formNot required

State corporate income taxYes

Does Maine recognize the federal S election?

State treatment of the S election

Follows the federal election	Yes
Separate state election form	None required
State return	Form 941P-ME (Pass-Through Entity Withholding Return). Maine has no separate S-corp income tax return; an S corp files Form 1120ME only if it has income taxable at the federal corporate level (e.g., built-in gains).

No separate state election to file: the federal election on IRS Form 2553 carries over. That is the election only — the corporation still files Form 941P-ME. Of the 50 states, 43 follow the federal election with no state form of their own, and 1 more — New York — recognizes S status but requires an election of its own as well.

What an S corporation still owes Maine

S corporations are generally NOT subject to Maine corporate income tax; income passes through to shareholders. A Maine S corp files Form 941P-ME for pass-through withholding on nonresident owners, and owes 1120ME tax only if it has federal taxable income at the corporate level.

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.

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

How Maine compares

State treatment of the federal S election	States
Follows the federal election, no state form needed	43
No corporate income tax, so no state election exists	4
Has a corporate income tax and does not follow the election — the corporation is taxed like a C corporation	2
Follow the election but still impose some entity-level tax on the S corporation — California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts and Delaware among them	—
Require a separate state election form as well	1

Compare all 50 states · LLC vs S-corp · S-corp salary and savings calculator

Frequently Asked Questions

: Yes. Maine follows the federal S election, and no separate state election form is required — filing federal Form 2553 with the IRS is enough. The corporation does still file Form 941P-ME (Pass-Through Entity Withholding Return). Maine has no separate S-corp income tax return; an S corp files Form 1120ME only if it has income taxable at the federal corporate level (e.g., built-in gains).
: S corporations are generally NOT subject to Maine corporate income tax; income passes through to shareholders. A Maine S corp files Form 941P-ME for pass-through withholding on nonresident owners, and owes 1120ME tax only if it has federal taxable income at the corporate level.
: Form 941P-ME (Pass-Through Entity Withholding Return). Maine has no separate S-corp income tax return; an S corp files Form 1120ME only if it has income taxable at the federal corporate level (e.g., built-in gains).

Where these numbers come from

This page covers how Maine treats the federal S-corporation election and what an S corporation still owes the state. 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: