Stay compliant in Montana

Montana’s recurring dates are an annual report between January 1 and April 15¹, income tax for the people and companies that have to file, lodging tax on the quarter if you rent rooms, and employer accounts if you have people on the payroll. A dissolution notice depends on a current registered agent, so keep that address current.

What’s different in Montana

• The company filing is every year, in one window, not on your anniversary. An LLC and a corporation both file between January 1 and April 15¹.
• An on-time report is free in 2026 and 2027. By rule an LLC or corporation report is $20²² on or before April 15 and $35⁴ after. A second rule waives the on-time fee for 2026 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2026, and for 2027 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2027²³.
• There is no general sales-tax return. Lodging is the statewide tax that comes back on a calendar, at 8%¹⁶.
• The minimum wage is a state rate, and it is already printed for 2027. It is $10.85 now and $11.20 on January 1, 2027. No tip credit, meal credit, or training wage²⁰.
• Workers’ compensation starts with one employee, and the statute then lists exemptions. A sole owner is not the same case as a manager-managed LLC.

Do this

1. File the annual report between January 1 and April 15. An LLC and a corporation use the same window. File it in the business portal even if nothing changed. By rule the report is $20²² if you file on or before April 15, and $35 after. The on-time fee is waived for 2026 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2026, and for 2027 reports filed between January 1 and April 15, 2027²³. The fee schedule words that line as waived prior to April 15. The rule’s on-time fee includes April 15 itself. The homepage announces the 2026 waiver for all businesses that file between January 1 and April 15, 2026, but the waiver rule names only the corporation and LLC fees. Associations and cooperatives on the fee schedule are still $20⁴ before April 15. The Secretary of State’s help article gives the same window and late fee, then says the report must be filed by foreign entities November 1 and domestic entities December 1¹⁵. It does not say what those later dates mean, and the LLC and corporation statutes set the window between January 1 and April 15¹.* File in that window. A letter that says you owe money to file an annual report or buy a certificate is not from this office⁵. Throw it away.
2. If you miss the window, do not wait out the dissolution period. The statute says an LLC may be dissolved for a failure to file the annual report that has lasted 140 days². Reinstatement is $35, plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports. A profit corporation’s reinstatement is $30, plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports⁴. The fee schedule is the price list. It does not describe the notice you will receive.
3. Replace a registered agent who leaves. The company has to keep one continuously. A change is no fee⁴. The address is an actual street address or rural route box number in Montana²⁴. Going 60 days without an agent, or 60 days after a change of agent that was not filed² is itself a ground for dissolution.
4. Renew an assumed business name before the five years run out. The registration lasts 5 years, and it can be renewed for another 5 years. Renewal is $20⁴. The Secretary of State cancels it if the renewal is not filed in the 90 days before it expires²⁵.
5. Renew a limited liability partnership registration before its five years run out. The registration lasts 5 years, and it can be renewed for another 5 years. Renewal is $20⁴. The office sends a notice at least 90 days before the registration expires, by mail to the partnership's business mailing address. The Secretary of State cancels the registration if the renewal is not filed in the 90 days before it expires, and the partnership is then no longer a limited liability partnership⁹.
6. File individual income tax if you are in the group that has to file. You file if you were a resident, a part-year resident, or a nonresident with Montana-source income, and a federal return was required²⁶. That wording is from the tax year 2025 instructions, the latest booklet on the site when this page was checked. For 2026 the rates are 4.7% and 5.65%, with the lower rate up to $95,000 on a joint return, $71,250 for head of household, and $47,500 for single and married filing separately. The due-date line is April 15, with an extension to October 15²⁷. For 2027 the top rate on the news page is 5.4%¹¹.
7. File corporation income tax if you are a C corporation, and file Form PTE if you elected S status or are taxed as a partnership. The C corporation return is due May 15 for a calendar year, or the 15th day of the fifth month after a fiscal year ends. The rate is 6.75%. The minimum is $50. 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 tax starts at $5,000. A federal S election means the corporation also files as an S corporation in Montana, on Form PTE¹⁰. Partnerships and S corporations file Form PTE²⁸, due March 15, with an extension to September 15¹². The pass-through entity tax equals the highest marginal individual income tax rate in effect for the tax year of the election¹³. The department’s Form PTE instructions confirm 5.65% for tax year 2026 and 5.4% for tax year 2027¹⁴, while its PTET webpage still prints 5.9%²⁹ without specifying the tax year.* Follow the tax-year filing instructions and confirm the rate before electing or filing.
8. File lodging tax if you are registered to collect it. Returns are due the last day of the month after the quarter: April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. The rate is 8%¹⁶. There is no general sales-tax return to file in a blank month. A local resort tax is separate. The Department of Revenue does not administer the local resort tax³⁰. Closing a lodging account is a separate step if you stop renting rooms.
9. If you have employees, keep the unemployment account current. Reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. Quarterly reports have to be filed electronically. The 2026 wage base is $47,300. The tax is paid by the employer. Deducting it from wages is against the law. A late report can add a penalty of $25, and interest of 1.5%¹⁷ a month or any part of a month. The next rate can be a penalty rate, 50% higher than the assigned rate if reports or tax were still open when rates were calculated¹⁸. Report new hires within 20 days of the hire or rehire³¹.
10. Carry workers’ compensation if you have an employee and no exemption applies. The statute’s rule is any employee, unless an exemption in the statute applies. The employer picks compensation plan 1, 2, or 3. The statute exempts employment of a sole proprietor and of working members of a member-managed limited liability company, unless an election or another subsection says otherwise. Some corporate officers and managers of a manager-managed LLC can be exempt, including an officer or manager who owns 10% or more¹⁹. The statute lists more exemptions than those two, including household employment, casual employment, and work under an independent contractor exemption certificate. Read section 39-71-401 before you skip a policy. A corporation or a manager-managed LLC still has to cover its employees.
11. Pay at least the state minimum wage, and time and a half after 40 hours, unless an exemption applies. The rate is $10.85 an hour. It becomes $11.20 an hour on January 1, 2027. No tip credit, meal credit, or training wage. A business not covered by the federal wage law whose gross sales are $110,000 or less may pay $4²⁰ an hour. If the worker is covered by the federal law, that exception does not apply. Overtime on the 2026 poster is at least 1.5²¹ times the regular rate after 40 hours in the workweek. The poster says some jobs are excluded. Check the wage page before you set a rate.
12. Renew the other credentials on their own dates. A contractor license, a cottage-food registration, and a city license do not necessarily renew between January 1 and April 15¹. Those rules are on Licenses and permits.

Employer rules

Unemployment, from the employer handbook: the general coverage test is payroll of $1,000. File quarterly, April 30, July 31, October 31, and January 31. The 2026 wage base is $47,300¹⁸. The tax is paid by the employer. Deducting it from wages is against the law¹⁷.

New hires: within 20 days of the hire or rehire³¹, to the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Workers’ compensation: the statute’s rule is any employee, unless an exemption in the statute applies¹⁹. The owner and officer exemptions are in the same section. They are not a blanket exemption for every owner.

Minimum wage: $10.85 an hour through 2026, then $11.20 an hour. No tip credit, meal credit, or training wage²⁰.

What you get back

A filed annual report, an income-tax filing if you are in the group that has to file, lodging-tax filings if you are registered, and current employer accounts. If an LLC is dissolved for a missed report, reinstatement is $35, plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports⁴.