Stay compliant in Maine

Maine’s recurring date for an LLC or corporation is June 1¹, the same day for the entities on the annual-report list. Income tax follows in the spring. Sales tax returns are due the 15th day of the month after the period ends¹⁶. Employer accounts start when you have people on the payroll, and paid family leave starts with one employee in the state.

What’s different in Maine

• The annual report is one day for the whole list, June 1¹, not the anniversary of formation. The first LLC report is still between January 1 and June 1 of the year after the calendar year the company was formed³.
• Paid family leave is its own quarterly report, separate from withholding and unemployment.
• Workers’ compensation starts with employees, and a sole proprietor with none is one exception the guide names. LLC owners are not required to be covered.
• The minimum wage is a state rate, $15.10¹⁵ an hour through 2026, with the 2027 rate already printed.

Do this

1. File the annual report by June 1. It is required every year, to stay in good standing. Reports for business corporations, nonprofit corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and limited liability partnerships are filed in Annual Reports Online. The 2026 notice covers every business and nonprofit on file as of December 31, 2025. The fee is $85 for a domestic business, $150 for a foreign business, and $35² for a nonprofit. A paper report needs a postmark on or before June 1. The office encourages you to get that postmark at a post office.¹
2. If the report is late, pay the penalty and watch the notice. An LLC owes $50 on top of the report fee. A corporation owes $50. The statutes excuse the penalty in one case: 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 original⁶. The Secretary of State's annual report notice says the late penalty may not be waived², and it does not mention that exception. If you mailed a report and the office says it never arrived, send a copy within those 30 days. The company is then dissolved 60 days after the dissolution notice is issued and perfected. After dissolution, it still exists, but it may only do what it needs to do to wind up⁵. Reinstatement for a missed report is $150 for an LLC and $150¹⁷ for a corporation, and not more than $600⁴.
3. Keep the registered agent or clerk current. A missing agent is its own ground for dissolution. The change is $35¹⁸. The address has to stay an actual street address or rural route box number in Maine¹⁹.
4. File income tax. People: April 15. A single filer pays 5.8% under $27,400, 6.75% from $27,400 up to $64,850, and 7.15% at $64,850 or more. There is also an extra 2% on the slice of Maine taxable income over $1,000,000 for a single filer, over $750,000 if married filing separately, and over $1,500,000 if married filing jointly or head of household, starting in 2026²⁰. C corporations: Form 1120ME by April 15 for a calendar year, September 15 if the year ends June 30, and the 15th day of the fourth month for any other fiscal year, at 3.5% up to $350,000 of adjusted federal taxable income, 7.93% on the band up to $1,050,000, 8.33% up to $3,500,000, and 8.93% above that, for tax years beginning in 2026²¹. The extension is automatic extra time equal to any federal extension plus 30 days, or 7 months, whichever is later. Filing late is not permission to pay late. Pay at least 90% of the tax by the original due date. Estimated tax applies unless the tax is under $1,000. 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 IRS. Nonresident owners: A partnership or S corporation with Maine-source income files Form 941P-ME if any member was not a Maine resident²³, due March 15, at 7.15% of each nonresident member's estimated Maine-source income, or 8.93% if that member is a C corporation²⁴. If the due date falls on a holiday or a weekend, it moves to the next business day⁹. 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.
5. File sales tax by the 15th day of the month after the period ends if you are registered. If the due day falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next day that is not a weekend or a state holiday. Late filing is the greater of $25 or 10% of the tax due, and the greater of $25 or 25% if the return is still missing 60 days after a formal demand. Late payment is 1% of the unpaid tax per month, up to 25%¹⁶. The rates are on Get your tax IDs.
6. If you have employees, keep the employer accounts current. Withholding is quarterly, if Maine withholding reported for the 12 months ending the prior June 30 was under $18,000. Or it is semiweekly, if that lookback was $18,000 or more. Quarterly withholding is due the last day of the month after the quarter, or the next business day if that day is a weekend or holiday. A quarterly return is still due when withholding is zero¹⁰. Unemployment reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31⁹, on the first $12,000²⁵ of wages. Paid family leave reports are due 30 days after the quarter ends, through the Paid Leave Portal¹³. Report new hires, rehires, and the contractors the rule covers within 7²⁶ days.
7. Renew the local license and any trade license on their own dates. The town license, a home food license, an electrician license, and an alcohol license each renew on that agency’s schedule. The list is on Licenses and permits.

Employer rules

Workers’ compensation: required for almost all public and private employers. A sole proprietor with no employees does not need coverage and does not file a waiver. A sole proprietor with employees does. LLC owners are not required to be covered and do not file a waiver. A corporate owner of at least 20% of the voting stock may waive coverage in writing. A parent, spouse, or child of a sole proprietor, partner, or 20% corporate owner may waive coverage in writing. If a carrier will not write the policy, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company must cover an employer who cannot buy a policy anywhere else¹⁴. The guide also describes self-insurance for employers who qualify. It does not describe a state fund you pay into instead of buying coverage.

Minimum wage, from the Department of Labor: $15.10 an hour from January 1, 2026, then $15.70 from January 1, 2027. A tipped employee may be paid $7.55 an hour in 2026, and $7.85 in 2027, if tips bring the week up to the state minimum. If tips do not bring the week up to the state minimum, the employer pays the difference¹⁵. Other exemptions are on the department’s list. This page does not restate them.

Unemployment: under the statute, liable at $1,500 or more in wages paid in any calendar quarter, or one or more people at work for some part of a day in each of 20 different weeks, counting this calendar year and the one before¹¹. Farm work is liable at $20,000 in a quarter, or at 10 workers in each of 20 different weeks. Household work is liable at $1,000 in a quarter¹². A new employer’s combined rate is 2.54%, made up of 2.23% plus a 0.14% CSSF rate and a 0.17% UPAF rate²⁷, on Schedule A for 2026, the lowest schedule in the law²⁵.

Paid family leave: any employer with at least one Maine employee. 1.0% of wages if 15 or more Maine employees were paid in 20 or more weeks. The employer may deduct up to half from wages. 0.5% of wages if fewer than 15 Maine employees. The employer may deduct all or part of that from wages. Every employer the law covers registers in the Paid Leave Portal¹³.

What you get back

A filed annual report, filed tax returns, and current employer accounts. If the report is missed long enough for the Secretary of State to dissolve the company, the company may only wind up until it is reinstated. The notice is the date to answer.