How to Start an LLC in Maine: Fees, Filings and Annual Requirements

The filing fee for a Maine LLC Certificate of Formation (Form MLLC-6) is $175.00. Optional expedited service costs extra: $50 for 24-hour (next business day) filing or $100 for immediate (same business day) filing, per entity.

File a Certificate of Formation (Form MLLC-6) with the Maine Secretary of State, Division of Corporations, UCC and Commissions, under 31 MRSA §1531. The certificate lists the LLC's name, filing date, registered agent (commercial or noncommercial, with a physical Maine location for a noncommercial agent), and must be signed by at least one authorized person. The office's forms are completed, printed and mailed with the filing fee (payable to the Maine Secretary of State by check, money order or credit card voucher). The office says corporate filing processing time is currently 2 to 7 business days.

An LLC name must contain the words "limited liability company" or "limited company" or the abbreviation "L.L.C.," "LLC," "L.C." or "LC" ("L3C" for a low-profit LLC); "limited" may be abbreviated "Ltd." and "company" "Co." The name must be distinguishable upon the record from other names on file. A name can be reserved with an Application for Reservation of Name (Form MLLC-1); the fee is $20.00, and names are reserved for 120 days and may not be renewed.

The Certificate of Formation must name a registered agent: either a commercial registered agent (listed with the Secretary of State and identified by its CRA public number) or a noncommercial registered agent with a physical street address (not a P.O. box). Appointing the agent is an affirmation that the agent has consented to serve. To appoint a new agent or change agent information, file a Statement of Appointment or Change of Clerk or Registered Agent (Form CLK/RA 3); the for-profit entity filing fee is $35.00.

Each Maine LLC (and each foreign LLC authorized in Maine) must file an annual report with the Secretary of State. The first report is due between January 1 and June 1 of the year after the LLC was formed, and later reports between January 1 and June 1 each year; the office says the legal filing deadline is June 1. The fee is $85.00 for a domestic LLC ($150.00 for a foreign LLC). Reports can be filed online through Annual Reports Online or on a preprinted paper form.

Maine law defines a limited liability company agreement as any agreement of the member or members, whether called a limited liability company agreement, operating agreement or otherwise, and whether written, oral or implied, about the affairs of the LLC and the conduct of its activities. A single-member LLC's agreement is not unenforceable merely because only one person is a party to it. Except as the statute provides otherwise, the agreement governs relations among the members and between the members and the LLC.

An LLC that wants to do business under a different name can adopt an assumed name (d/b/a) by filing a Statement of Intention to do Business under an Assumed Name (Form ASUM-5) with the Division of Corporations; the for-profit entity filing fee is $125.00. Terminating an assumed or fictitious name statement (Form MLLC-5A) costs $20.00. (Trade names of sole proprietorships and general partnerships are filed with the municipal clerk, not the state.)

Maine Revenue Services says a business located in Maine that makes regular sales of tangible personal property or taxable services must register for a sales tax account; remote sellers must register if their Maine sales exceed $100,000 in the previous or current calendar year. Register online through the Maine Tax Portal ("Register a New Business") or with a paper application. Any entity other than a sole proprietor needs a federal EIN to register.

An out-of-state LLC files a Statement of Foreign Qualification to Conduct Activities (Form MLLC-12), accompanied by a certificate of existence or other document the Secretary of State finds suitable to prove the LLC's valid existence. The fee is $250.00. If the LLC's legal name is not available in Maine it may file a Statement of Intention to do Business under a Fictitious Name (Form FICT-4, $40.00).

A dissolved Maine LLC files a Certificate of Cancellation (Form MLLC-11C) under 31 MRSA §1533; the fee is $75.00, and the LLC is removed from the Secretary of State's active records on the effective date. A foreign LLC files a Statement of Cancellation of Foreign Qualification (Form MLLC-12B, $90.00). An LLC that has stopped doing business can instead file a Certificate of Excuse (Form MLLC-14, $40.00) to be excused from annual reports while it transacts no business.