Get your tax IDs in Montana

An EIN, if you need one, takes minutes online. Montana then adds income tax for the people and companies that have to file, a lodging tax if you rent rooms for a short stay, and unemployment tax once you are a covered employer. There is no general sales tax account to open.

What’s different in Montana

• Montana does not have a general sales tax¹. Do not register for a sales tax permit you do not need. Lodging and a local resort tax are the exceptions below.
• Income tax is two rates, and 2027 changes the top one. For 2026 the rates are 4.7% and 5.65%. For 2027 the top rate on the same page is 5.4%³.
• A federal S election does not take the corporation off the Montana return. A federal S election means the corporation also files as an S corporation in Montana, on Form PTE⁶.
• The pass-through entity tax rate follows the tax year. The pass-through entity tax equals the highest marginal individual income tax rate in effect for the tax year of the election¹⁰. The department’s Form PTE instructions confirm 5.65% for tax year 2026 and 5.4% for tax year 2027¹¹.
• Unemployment tax is the employer’s alone, and the 2026 wage base is high. It is the first $47,300¹⁵ of each employee’s wages.

Do this

1. Get an EIN from the IRS if you need one. It is free and, if approved, issued immediately¹⁷ online. You will need it to hire, to open many bank accounts, and to file unemployment reports. An EIN is required to register a wage withholding account⁵. A sole proprietor with no employees can often use a Social Security number for federal tax. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
2. Register only the taxes that apply, in the TransAction Portal (TAP)⁶ or on the business registration form. A business with property, payroll, or sales in Montana must file the appropriate annual business income tax return⁵. Do not open a withholding account before you have people on the payroll.
3. If you rent lodging for a short stay, get a seller’s permit and collect the lodging tax. The tax is on lodging used for less than 30 days. The combined rate is 8%, split as 4% sales tax and 4% use tax. You need a seller's permit before the lodging business starts. Returns are due the last day of the month after the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31¹². A seller who files and pays the sales-tax half on time gets a vendor allowance against that half only. There is no allowance on the use-tax half. An online platform that sells the stay has its own duty to collect. Read the lodging page if a platform is already charging the guest.
4. If you are in a resort community, ask that community about the resort tax before you collect anything statewide. The Department of Revenue does not administer the local resort tax. The tax is a local sales tax on lodging, restaurants, bars, destination ski resorts, and luxuries, and only after the community is designated and the voters approve it. The maximum rate is 3%. The local electorate must approve the tax¹³. The department’s page says its own summary can be inconsistent with local rules. Use the city’s ordinance for the rate and the due date.
5. If you are a person who has to file, calendar the individual return. You file if you were a resident, a part-year resident, or a nonresident with Montana-source income, and a federal return was required⁴. That wording is from the tax year 2025 instructions, the latest booklet on the site when this page was checked. For 2026 the lower rate is 4.7% on taxable income up to $95,000 for a joint return, $71,250 for head of household, and $47,500 for single and married filing separately. Income over that line is 5.65%. 3.0% and 4.1% on long-term capital gains. Those brackets follow the ordinary-income ranges. The department’s due-date line is April 15, with an extension to October 15². For 2027 the same news page lowers the top rate to 5.4% and raises the joint bracket to $130,000 and the single bracket to $65,000³. This page does not compute the tax.
6. If the business is taxed as a C corporation, calendar Form CIT. Any C corporation doing business in Montana files it. The rate is 6.75%. A water’s-edge election is 7%. The alternative gross-sales rate is 0.5%, and only if the corporation has only sales activity in Montana, no owned or rented real estate or tangible property in Montana, and Montana gross sales of $100,000 or less. The minimum tax is $50. The return is due May 15 for a calendar year, or the 15th day of the fifth month after a fiscal year ends. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, it moves to the next business day. You can get an automatic six-month extension to file. The extension does not move the payment. Tax still has to be paid by the original due date. Estimated payments start when you expect to owe $5,000 or more. Electronic filing has an exception: Gross receipts of $750,000 or less for the period are an automatic exemption from electronic filing⁶.
7. If you elected S status, file Form PTE. A federal S election means the corporation also files as an S corporation in Montana, on Form PTE⁶. The election is federal, on Form 2553¹⁸. This page does not pick it.
8. If the business is a partnership or an LLC, match the return to the federal classification. Partnerships and S corporations file Form PTE. A return is required when there is any Montana-source income, whether a gain or a loss, or a return filed in a prior year that was not marked final. A disregarded entity files the way its owner files. A single-member LLC owned by a nonresident individual files Form DE with the owner's Form 2. An entity registered in Montana that is not active can file Form INA-CT⁸, so a company that is registered and idle does not go silent. Form PTE is due March 15, with an extension to September 15⁷. The pass-through entity tax is optional, made each year on a timely Form PTE, and irrevocable. It cannot be made after the extended due date. The pass-through entity tax equals the highest marginal individual income tax rate in effect for the tax year of the election¹⁰. The Department of Revenue’s Form PTE instructions explicitly list 5.65% for tax year 2026 and 5.4% for tax year 2027¹¹, consistent with the statute. Its separate PTET webpage still prints 5.9% without specifying a tax year.* Follow the tax-year filing instructions and confirm the rate with Revenue or your tax adviser before electing. If you do elect, estimated payments apply when you expect to owe at least $500⁹.
9. Register for unemployment tax when you become a covered employer. The tax is paid by the employer. Deducting it from wages is against the law. The general test is $1,000 of payroll in the current or preceding calendar year. Agricultural labor uses a different test: $20,000 or more in cash wages in a quarter, or 10 or more workers in 20 different weeks. Household employees have their own cash-wage test in the same handbook. Register online at uieservices.mt.gov. For 2026 the wage base is $47,300. A new employer pays the average rate for that industry. The 2026 sheet prints 1.30% for agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishing, and mining; 2.00% for construction and for an unclassified business; 1.10% for services; and 1.00% for manufacturing, utilities and transportation, wholesale, retail, and finance, insurance, and real estate. On top of that rate, the administrative fund tax is 0.18% for most employers. Experience-rated accounts can be as low as 0% and as high as 6.12%¹⁵. That range is not the new-employer rate. Reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Quarterly reports have to be filed electronically¹⁴.
10. Report new hires. The report is due within 20 days of the hire or rehire¹⁶. Open a Montana wage withholding account when the business has employees. The form asks for the date Montana payroll started⁵. The hiring guide covers the federal side.

What you get back

An EIN from the IRS if you applied, a Montana tax account only for the taxes you registered, and an unemployment account number once the department issues one. There is no general sales-tax license in this step. Local business licenses are on Licenses and permits.