Register your business in Maine

LLCs and corporations file with the Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, UCC and Commissions²⁰. You complete the form on screen, print it, and mail it with the fee¹. A sole proprietorship has no formation filing. The annual report is the filing that goes online.

What’s different in Maine

• Formation is a mailing. The fee is $175¹¹ for an LLC and $145¹⁴ for a corporation. The current LLC and corporation forms pages estimate 2 to 7 business days¹ for corporate filings, while the Division’s marks page still says 15 to 20 business days¹⁸.* Confirm current processing with the Secretary of State if timing matters, and check Corporate Search after mailing.
• Everyone’s annual report is due June 1. It is not tied to the month you formed. The fee is $85 for a domestic business and $150⁷ for a foreign one. File it in Annual Reports Online⁶.
• A name reservation lasts 120 days and cannot be renewed. After it expires, the same name can be reserved again.¹⁰ The fee is $20¹¹.
• A trade name splits in two. A sole proprietor or general partnership files with the town. An LLC or corporation files an assumed name with the state for $125¹¹.
• A company formed in the United States does not file a beneficial ownership report. The forms page says so. The BOI guide has the current rule.

Do this

1. Pick your structure. LLC, corporation, nonprofit, partnership, or sole proprietorship. A sole proprietor or general partnership has no formation filing and can skip to step 6. Pick an entity compares them.
2. Check the name in the Corporate Search linked from the LLC forms page. An LLC name must contain limited liability company or limited company, or L.L.C., LLC, L.C., or LC. A low-profit company uses L3C or l3c.²⁰ It must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records from other entity names, assumed names, and registered marks. Words such as LLC are ignored in that comparison.⁹ Not ready to file? Reserve it for 120¹⁰ days for $20¹¹. Search the web and the federal trademark database too.
3. Name a registered agent. An LLC names a commercial registered agent, or a named person. The named agent has to consent to serve²⁰. The address is an actual street address or rural route box number in Maine, and a Maine mailing address too, if it is different from the street or rural route¹⁷. A corporation names a clerk. The clerk named in the articles has to consent to serve²¹. Changing the agent later is $35¹.
4. Print the form and mail it to the Division in Augusta, with a check, money order, or the credit-card voucher. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.² The fee depends on the structure, below. The certificate does not have a blank for an operating agreement. It does have a place for a statement of authority if the members want one on the public record.
5. Ask for expedited handling if you need a date. Service for the next business day is $50. Service for the same business day is $100. One expedite fee covers every document for the same entity filed together²⁰. Mark it on the cover letter that comes with the form.
6. File the other name, if you use one. The office depends on who you are. Details are below.
7. Calendar the first annual report. For an LLC it is between January 1 and June 1 of the year after the calendar year the company was formed¹². The 2026 notice covers every business and nonprofit on file as of December 31, 2025⁷. Selling taxable goods means registering with Maine Revenue Services before you collect tax: Get your tax IDs.

By structure

LLC

File Certificate of Formation (MLLC-6¹, $175¹¹). For Maine income tax, an LLC is treated as a partnership for Maine income tax unless the IRS classifies it some other way, in which case Maine follows the IRS²².

The company then files an annual report for $85, due June 1, every year, to stay in good standing⁶. The first one is between January 1 and June 1 of the year after the calendar year the company was formed¹². A report after the deadline adds $50¹¹ if it arrives before dissolution. The statute excuses that penalty only when the company shows the Secretary of State that the late filing was excusable neglect and sends a copy of the report within 30 days of learning the office never received the original¹⁵.

If the problem is not fixed, the company is dissolved 60 days after the dissolution notice is issued and perfected. After that, it still exists, but it may only do what it needs to do to wind up¹³. The reinstatement fee for a missed annual report is $150, and not more than $600 no matter how many reports were missed. A certificate of revival after a dissolution is a separate $150¹¹.

Professional LLC

The certificate includes a checkbox for a professional LLC under Title 13, chapter 22-A. The examples on the form are accountants, attorneys, chiropractors, dentists, registered nurses, and veterinarians, and the form says that list is not complete.²⁰ If you are not sure the work is on that list, check the statute the form cites, or check with a legal professional. The license for the work is a separate step: Licenses and permits.

Corporation

File Articles of Incorporation (MBCA-6², $145¹⁴). The name must be distinguishable on the Secretary of State's records²³. The articles let you say there is a board, or that the shareholders will manage the corporation. They also have a box for a benefit corporation.

The corporation then files an annual report for $85, due June 1⁶. A late report adds $50. The statute excuses it only when the corporation shows the Secretary of State that the late filing was excusable neglect and sends a copy of the report within 30 days of learning the office never received the original¹⁶. Reinstatement after administrative dissolution for a missed report is $150, and not more than $600¹⁴. S corporation status is a federal election. An S corporation files Form 1120ME only for income the IRS taxes at the corporate level, such as certain capital gains and certain built-in gains²².

Professional corporation

A professional corporation’s name must contain chartered, professional corporation, professional association, or service corporation, or P.C., P.A., or S.C.²¹ The examples on the articles are the same professions the LLC form lists, and that list is not complete. The same caution applies: the box on the form is not the professional license.

Nonprofit

File articles for $40³. The annual report is $35⁷ for a domestic or foreign nonprofit. 501(c)(3) status is a separate application to the IRS. Past formation, the rest of this series is written for for-profit businesses.

Partnership

A general partnership files with the town clerk where the business is located, not with the Secretary of State⁸.

A limited partnership files a Certificate of Limited Partnership (MLPA-6) for $175⁴. A limited liability partnership files a Certificate of Limited Liability Partnership (MLLP-6) for $175⁵. Both are on the annual-report list, at the same $85⁷ domestic fee.

Sole proprietorship

No formation filing. A name other than your own is a town filing. Sales tax registration and any license the work needs still apply.

Other names

File when the name you use is not the legal name.

• A sole proprietor: a sworn certificate with the clerk of the city or town where the business will be carried on, before you start, if the name is anything other than your own⁸. A general partnership files a sworn certificate with the same clerk before it starts, whatever name it uses. The statute does not print a fee.* Ask the clerk before you pay.
• An LLC, corporation, limited partnership, or limited liability partnership: Statement of Intention to do Business under an Assumed Name (ASUM-5)¹ for $125¹¹.
• A foreign entity whose own legal name is already taken: a fictitious-name statement for $40¹¹. It is for a foreign entity whose legal name is not available in Maine¹.

The Secretary of State does not check municipal trade names when it decides whether an entity name is available. A sole proprietor or general partnership may register a trademark or service mark with the Secretary of State, and only if the mark is already in use⁸. Registering a mark starts at $60¹⁸.

Formed in another state

An LLC formed elsewhere files Statement of Foreign Qualification to Conduct Activities (MLLC-12)¹ for $250¹¹. A corporation files Application for Authority to do Business (MBCA-12) for $250. You still need a Maine agent or clerk. Forming in another state covers the tradeoffs. A company formed in another country and registered to do business in the United States still reports the non-U.S. people who own or control it². The BOI guide is the place to read that rule.

What you get back

A filed certificate or articles, which you will need for an EIN and a bank account. The ordinary clock the forms pages print is 2 to 7 business days¹. Expedited mail is the way to ask for a date. The annual report, once you are on file at the end of a year, comes back as a filed report in Annual Reports Online. A paper report needs a postmark on or before June 1. The office encourages you to get that postmark at a post office.⁶

The Secretary of State warns about misleading solicitations aimed at corporations and nonprofits⁶. Treat a letter that looks like a bill for a filing you did not start as something to check against the Secretary of State’s own page before you pay it.