Maine LLC: How to Start an LLC in Maine in 2026

Maine LLC at a glance

A Maine LLC costs $175 to form and $85 a year for the annual report. The fees are set in the Maine Limited Liability Company Act at 31 M.R.S. 1680, and the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions at the Secretary of State handles the filings.

To compare Maine’s running costs with other states, use our LLC state fee comparison tool.

How to start an LLC in Maine

You start a Maine LLC by checking the name, appointing a registered agent and filing the Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State. The steps below run from the name check to the first annual report.

1. Choose and check the name. Under 31 M.R.S. 1508 the name must include "limited liability company", "limited company", "L.L.C.", "LLC", "L.C." or "LC" ("Limited" can be shortened to "Ltd." and "Company" to "Co."). It must be distinguishable from names on the Secretary of State’s records, ignoring entity words, "and", "the", punctuation and capitalization, so "ABC LLC" and "A.B.C. Limited Liability Company" count as the same name. A name reservation costs $20.
2. Appoint a registered agent. Name a commercial registered agent, or a noncommercial agent with a Maine address who has agreed to serve (see below). Our registered agent service covers this if you have no one in Maine.
3. File the Certificate of Formation. File it with the Secretary of State and pay $175. Our articles of organization guide explains the fields, which Maine puts on a Certificate of Formation.
4. Allow for processing. The Secretary of State’s limited liability company page gives corporate filing processing as 25 to 30 business days, and describes expedited service under its published rules.
5. Sign an operating agreement. Maine does not collect it, but it records ownership and management and banks often ask for it.
6. Get an EIN. The EIN is free from the IRS. With an SSN or ITIN you can apply online; without one you apply by fax, mail or the international phone line, as the IRS EIN page explains. Our EIN application service handles the no-SSN route.
7. Register for Maine taxes you need. Sellers of taxable goods or services, and remote sellers over the threshold below, register with Maine Revenue Services before collecting tax.
8. Put the annual report in your calendar. An LLC formed in 2026 files its first report between 1 January and 1 June 2027. Our compliance deadline calendar tracks it.

Want our filing team to do it? We check the name, prepare and submit the Certificate of Formation, arrange the registered agent and track everything in your portal. The general process for any state is in our how to start an LLC guide.

Maine LLC cost

A Maine LLC costs $175 in state fees to form and $85 a year after that for the annual report. Filing the report late adds $50.

The arithmetic for a small LLC formed in 2026: $175 in 2026, then $85 in 2027 and $85 in 2028, so $175 + $85 + $85 = $345 over three years in state fees. A report filed after 1 June costs $85 + $50 = $135 that year.

Maine LLC annual report

Every Maine LLC files an annual report each year between 1 January and 1 June, starting the year after it was formed. The fee is $85.

• Timing: 31 M.R.S. 1665 says the first report is due between 1 January and 1 June of the year after the calendar year of formation, and later reports in the same window each year.
• What it contains: the LLC’s name, its registered agent details, the principal office address, a brief statement of the business it actually carries on, and the name and address of at least one member, manager or other authorized person.
• How to file: the Secretary of State’s Interactive Corporate Services handle annual reports online.
• If the report has errors: the LLC has 30 days after notice of the problem to correct it, and no penalty applies if the corrected report arrives in that time.
• If you miss it: the late filing penalty is $50. Not filing, or not paying the penalty, is a ground for administrative dissolution under 31 M.R.S. 1591. Under 31 M.R.S. 1592 the LLC is dissolved if it has not fixed the problem within 60 days after the notice.
• Getting back: 31 M.R.S. 1593 allows reinstatement within 6 years after administrative dissolution, with a fee of $150 up to a maximum of $600.

Our LLC annual report service files the report and sends reminders before 1 June.

Maine registered agent

Every Maine LLC must keep a registered agent in Maine. Under 5 M.R.S. 105, the LLC names either a commercial registered agent, or a noncommercial registered agent together with that agent’s Maine address.

Appointing an agent is the LLC’s statement that the agent has consented to serve. A member with a Maine address can act as a noncommercial agent. Founders elsewhere usually appoint a commercial agent, which also keeps a home address off the record. To change agents, the LLC files a statement of change with the Secretary of State under 5 M.R.S. 108. Being without a registered agent, or not reporting a change, is also a ground for administrative dissolution.

Maine LLC registration timing

The Secretary of State publishes corporate filing processing as 25 to 30 business days. That is longer than many states, so file well before you need the LLC for a bank account or contract. Expedited service is offered under the Secretary of State’s rules; our team confirms the current option when you order, starts once your order and documents are complete, and does not promise a faster turnaround than the state publishes.

State taxes that affect a Maine LLC

The recurring state charge for a Maine LLC at the Secretary of State is the $85 annual report. The taxes that usually matter are sales tax and income tax on the owners’ share of profit.

• Remote sellers: 36 M.R.S. 1754-B requires a seller to register once its gross sales delivered into Maine exceed $100,000 in the current or previous calendar year. There is no separate transaction count test. Our sales tax registration service can file the registration.
• Income tax: a single-member LLC is a disregarded entity and a multi-member LLC is taxed as a partnership by default, so profit passes through to the owners. Whether Maine taxes an owner who lives elsewhere depends on where income is earned; ask a licensed tax professional.
• Payroll: employees working in Maine bring withholding and unemployment registrations.

Forming a Maine LLC as a non-resident

You do not need to live in Maine or the US to form a Maine LLC. You need a Maine registered agent, the $175 fee, and time for the 25 to 30 business day processing.

Maine suits founders who actually operate there. Founders outside the US selling online with no Maine link usually compare Wyoming and New Mexico first for their lower yearly state costs. See our Wyoming vs Delaware vs New Mexico LLC comparison and best state for an LLC guide. An LLC formed elsewhere that later does business in Maine registers there as a foreign LLC.

• Form 5472: a single-member LLC wholly owned by a foreign person files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even with no income, and it cannot be e-filed. The penalty for not filing is $25,000. See our Form 5472 guide.
• BOI: US-formed LLCs, including those owned by non-US persons, no longer file beneficial ownership reports with FinCEN under the final rule published 14 August 2026.
• Address: the agent’s address is for legal papers. Banks usually want a separate business address, which our US business address service provides.

How to dissolve an LLC in Maine

To close a Maine LLC you wind up its affairs and file a certificate of cancellation with the Secretary of State; the fee is $75 under 31 M.R.S. 1680. Before filing, pay debts, distribute what is left to members and file final tax returns.

• Keep filing until then: annual reports and penalties keep falling due while the LLC exists, and letting it lapse into administrative dissolution is not a clean closure.
• Federal steps: file a final federal return (and a final Form 5472 if the LLC is foreign-owned) and ask the IRS to close the EIN account.

Our LLC dissolution service handles the state filing and the final federal steps.

Doing it yourself vs using Borderless Filings

You can form a Maine LLC yourself by filing the Certificate of Formation for $175 and file the $85 annual report online each year.

What our service adds is preparation and checking before filing (name rules, agent consent, addresses), submission by our filing team, tracking and secure document storage in your portal while the state processes the filing, the EIN without an SSN for non-residents, and reminders before 1 June so the $50 penalty is not added. Prices are on our pricing page with the state fee shown at cost, and you can start your order once you have a name. Nearby states are on our New Hampshire LLC, Vermont LLC and Massachusetts LLC pages, and every state is on our US LLC states page.

Sources

• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1680, Filing and copying fees; penalties
• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1665, Annual report for Secretary of State
• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1508, Limited liability company name
• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1591, Grounds for administrative dissolution
• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1592, Procedure for administrative dissolution
• Maine Legislature: 31 M.R.S. 1593, Reinstatement following administrative dissolution
• Maine Legislature: 5 M.R.S. 105, Appointment of registered agent
• Maine Legislature: 5 M.R.S. 108, Change of registered agent
• Maine Legislature: 36 M.R.S. 1754-B, Registration of sellers
• Maine Secretary of State: Limited liability companies
• IRS: Get an employer identification number
• IRS: Instructions for Form 5472
• FinCEN: Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting

Fees, deadlines and rules on this page were last checked on 27 September 2026.