Formation fee
$175
last verified 2026-08-22
record 19 of 51 · /llc/maine/
Maine LLC
Speed in Maine is priced per filing
Formation in Maine runs through the Division of Corporations, and the annual report is due at the start of June each year. The record marks the franchise tax verified absent, checked against the state rather than left empty. The office publishes its standard processing as a stated range and warns that even expedited requests can queue when volume runs high.
the rest of this note
Expedited handling comes in a pair of tiers, one returning the document the same business day and one the next. The assumed name never expires once filed, while a name reservation is short-lived and cannot be renewed. Both the company itself and a natural person are admitted to the registered agent seat, each finding carrying its cited statute.
every claim above is a line below
Should you form your LLC in Maine?
If the answer is yes, the home-state rule points to Maine.
Office or storefront in Maine?
Yes, it will
A business with a real footprint in Maine files in Maine. Forming anywhere else adds a foreign registration back home: two filings, two annual bills, two registered agents. The out-of-state discount does not survive that arithmetic.
No, it will not
This one answer cannot choose a state. Use the full four-question wizard with the place where the business will actually operate. Open the full wizard .
Annual report
$85
Due June 1, printed as the state writes it.
last verified 2026-08-22
Franchise tax
none
No recurring state-level tax on an LLC here. The absence is verified against the state, not missing data.
verified absent 2026-08-07
Anonymous LLC
no
Member or organizer names reach the public formation record here.
last verified 2026-08-10
Processing time
40 to 55 business days
By mail, 40 to 55 business days, as the state states it. Expedited formation starts at $50.
as observed on 2026-08-06
Name designators
Must contain "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C.," "LLC," "L.C." or "LC"; a low-profit LLC uses "L3C" or "l3c". "Limited" may be abbreviated as "Ltd." and "company" as "Co."
Statute: 31 M.R.S. § 1508(1).
last verified 2026-07-18
Name reservation
$20
Optional filing that holds the name for 120 days (non-renewable) before you form.
last verified 2026-07-18
DBA
assumed name
LLCs file at the state level for $125; other business forms file with the county.
last verified 2026-07-23
An individual as the agent
allowed
Whether a person may hold the seat, so nobody has to be hired. The terms Maine attaches, and the entity question, sit in the registered agent section.
last verified 2026-08-09
Late filing penalty
$50
Maine charges this as a flat penalty on a late report. What follows a missed filing is in section 09.
last verified 2026-08-10
field 05 carries the date it was observed, not a promise: of the two halves beside it, only the expedited tiers are prices the state commits to
What are the Maine DBA rules?
Maine calls it the assumed name, and splits the filing: an LLC registers with the state, while other business forms file locally. The state filing costs $125.
- Where an LLC files
- How long it lasts
-
Perpetual (no expiration)
An LLC's assumed name stays on file until the company files to change or cancel it; there is no periodic renewal.
- Newspaper publication
-
not required
- What the filing protects
-
no exclusive right
An assumed name or municipal trade name discloses the name a business uses and grants no exclusive right to it.
- Where to search existing names
-
LLC assumed names filed with the Secretary of State appear in the corporate search. Sole-proprietor trade names sit only in municipal clerk records, so a full check means contacting the relevant town or city.
one record, verified 2026-07-23 · 31 M.R.S. § 1508
What does it take to register a foreign LLC in Maine?
Registering an LLC formed elsewhere is its own filing in Maine. The registration costs $250. That price belongs to a separate filing event, so it enters no cost total on this site.
- Registration fee
-
$250
Flat filing fee of $250.00 for the Statement of Foreign Qualification (Form MLLC-12); the form itself states the figure.
- The official form
-
Statement of Foreign Qualification to Conduct Activities (Form MLLC-12)
- Filed with
-
Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations
- After registration
-
File the annual report ($150.00 for a foreign LLC) and maintain a registered agent in Maine.
one record, verified 2026-08-08
The same fee for every other jurisdiction sits on one page: foreign qualification fees for every jurisdiction.
Who can be the registered agent in Maine?
Who may serve as an LLC's registered agent is its own rule in Maine. Maine lets a natural person serve, so no commercial agent is required. The LLC itself may also hold the seat.
- An individual as the agent
-
Allowed
in the state's words "Noncommercial registered agent" means a person that is not listed as a commercial registered agent under section 106 and that is: A. An individual or a domestic or foreign entity that serves in this State as the agent for service of process of an entity;
- The LLC as its own agent
-
Allowed
- A mailbox service as the address
-
not read at this pin
- Address rule
-
An actual street address or rural route box number; and a mailing address, if different.
one record, verified 2026-08-09
The same four answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: registered agent rules for every jurisdiction.
What happens if you don't file the Maine annual report?
A missed report has its own record in Maine: the penalty, the dissolution clock, and the way back. The penalty is a single flat figure.
-
Late filing penalty
$50
-
Administrative dissolution
after 60 days of delinquency
The first stage the state publishes, in its own unit: after this interval the state may dissolve the LLC by administrative action.
-
Reinstatement
$150
as the record reads A $150 reinstatement fee for failure to file an annual report, capped at $600 no matter how many reports were missed or how long the delinquency ran, applied for within six years of the effective date of administrative dissolution.
one record, verified 2026-08-10
The same three answers for every other jurisdiction sit on one page: late fees and reinstatement for every jurisdiction.
Where do these figures come from?
Every figure on this sheet renders from the pinned dataset snapshot, and each card links the page its own figure came from. This list collects those pages in one place, with the duplicates removed and the agency named.
- Formation and annual report figures https://www.maine.gov/sos/corporations-commissions/i-need-a-business-form/limited-liability-company-forms
- Recurring state tax https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/income-estate-tax/corporate-income-tax-1120me
- Expedited service and processing time https://www.maine.gov/sos/corporations-commissions/corporations/forming-a-business
- Naming statute https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1508.html
- Foreign LLC registration https://www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/inline-files/mllc12.pdf
- Who may be the registered agent https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/5/title5sec102.html
- Registered agent eligibility https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1661.html
- Registered agent rules https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1679.html
- Annual report late fee https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1680.html
- Administrative dissolution https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1592.html
- Anonymous LLC statute https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/31/title31sec1531.html
- DBA filing https://www.maine.gov/sos/sites/maine.gov.sos/files/content/assets/ASUM-205.pdf
- Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions https://www.maine.gov/sos/corporations-commissions/corporations-business-services
- Business entity search https://apps3.web.maine.gov/nei-sos-icrs/ICRS?MainPage=x
The rule behind every figure here, and what a card does when one cannot be verified, sits on how a figure gets verified.