Learn the steps to form an LLC in Montana – from choosing your name to filing your Articles of Organization. $1 + $35 state fee. Start today.
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Filing fee: $35 (Articles of Organization) — filed online only; the fee was cut in half from $70
Processing time: About 5-6 business days standard (often faster); 24-hour expedite +$20, 1-hour +$100
State agency: Montana Secretary of State (biz.sosmt.gov portal)
Annual report due: April 15 each year — the $20 fee is currently waived for on-time filings (through 2027). File late and it’s $35; ignore it and the state dissolves the LLC on December 1.
State tax rate: Two-bracket income tax on pass-through income — 4.7% up to $47,500 single / $95,000 joint, 5.65% above (top rate drops to 5.4% in 2027) — and no statewide sales tax at all
Start your U.S. business journey today. Form your company with confidence and let Brio handle the paperwork.
Forming an LLC in Montana takes 5 steps: choose and check your business name, appoint a Registered Agent with a physical Montana address, file Articles of Organization through the state’s online portal (Montana is online-only), draft an operating agreement, and get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. The state filing fee is just $35.
Montana stacks up as one of the cheapest states in the country on every line: $35 to form (the state cut the fee in half), an annual report whose $20 fee is currently waived when filed on time, no franchise tax — and famously, no statewide sales tax, so there are no seller’s permits or sales tax returns to manage. An LLC gives you personal liability protection and pass-through taxation without the administrative overhead of a corporation.
Income tax is heading down too: pass-through income is taxed in just two brackets, 4.7% and 5.65% for 2026, with the top rate legislated to fall to 5.4% in 2027. The whole system runs through the Secretary of State’s online portal — Montana accepts no paper business filings — which keeps things quick and also means any official-looking letter demanding fees by mail is a scam worth ignoring.
Unlike some states, Montana doesn’t require you to reserve your name before filing — you simply claim it when you file your Articles of Organization. If you’re not ready to file yet, you can optionally reserve a name through the online portal. The fee is just $10, and the reservation holds your name for 120 days (it can’t be renewed, so time it to your filing).
Your LLC name must include a designator like “Limited Liability Company,” “Limited Company,” “LLC,” “L.L.C.,” “LC,” or “L.C.” and must be distinguishable from every entity, reserved name, and registered mark on the Secretary of State’s records — differences in punctuation, “the,” “&,” or the designator itself don’t count. Check the state’s business name search before you file to avoid a rejection.
Every Montana LLC must have a registered agent — a person or entity designated to receive legal notices and government documents on behalf of the business. The agent must have a physical street address in Montana (a P.O. box doesn’t count) and be available during regular business hours. The LLC can’t act as its own agent, though a member with a Montana address can.
You can serve as your own registered agent if you have a physical Montana address and can be there during business hours. Many business owners use a professional registered agent service instead — it keeps your personal address off public records, ensures someone is always available to receive documents, and provides the required in-state address if you don’t live in Montana.
The Articles of Organization is the document that legally creates your Montana LLC. You file it with the Secretary of State exclusively through the biz.sosmt.gov portal — Montana accepts no paper filings. The fee is $35, and standard processing takes about 5-6 business days, often less. In a hurry? Expedited review costs $20 extra for 24-hour processing or $100 for 1-hour processing, and expedited filings jump to the front of the queue.
The Articles must include your LLC’s name, its principal office address, your registered agent’s information, and whether the company is member-managed or manager-managed. Everything is completed in the online workflow — there’s no notary, no publication requirement, and no initial report. Watch your mailbox afterward, though: official-looking paper invoices for “annual report filing” or “certificates of existence” are scams; the state communicates through the portal and email.
Montana doesn’t require you to file an operating agreement with the state, but you should have one. It’s the internal document that defines how your LLC is managed — who owns what, how profits are distributed, and how decisions get made. Without one, Montana’s default LLC statutes fill in the gaps, which may not reflect what you actually want.
Your operating agreement should specify whether the LLC is member-managed or manager-managed. In a member-managed LLC, all owners share day-to-day authority. In a manager-managed LLC, a designated manager handles operations while other members retain economic rights. A written agreement is the version that holds up when disputes arise.
An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is a 9-digit federal tax ID issued by the IRS. Your Montana LLC needs one to open a business bank account, hire employees, and file federal taxes. Applying online at irs.gov is free and issues your EIN immediately after you complete the application.
To use the IRS online application, the responsible party must have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), and the business must have its principal place of business in the United States. The IRS does not charge a fee for issuing an EIN.
Montana LLCs file one report with the Secretary of State: an annual report due April 15 each year, filed online. The statutory fee is $20, but the Secretary of State has waived it for on-time filings every year through 2027 — so filing between January 1 and April 15 currently costs nothing. File after April 15 and the waiver disappears: you’ll owe $35 including the late penalty.
Montana has no statewide sales tax — no seller’s permit, no sales tax returns — and no general state business license; only occupation-specific licenses and, in designated resort towns like Whitefish or West Yellowstone, local resort taxes of up to 3% (plus a statewide 8% lodging tax if you rent accommodations). The annual report deadline is the one to respect: ignore it and the state sends a dissolution notice around September 1 and administratively dissolves the LLC on December 1. Reinstatement costs $35 plus $35 for each missed year’s report.
The required Montana state fee is $35 to file the Articles of Organization online — one of the lowest in the country, cut in half from the old $70. The annual report’s $20 fee is currently waived when filed on time (through 2027), and reserving your name is optional at $10. Expedited processing is $20 for 24-hour or $100 for 1-hour service if you need it. There’s no additional state fee to get your EIN; the IRS issues EINs for free.
Yes. Montana allows a single person to form and own an LLC – this is called a single-member LLC. You can complete the Articles of Organization yourself through the biz.sosmt.gov portal without an attorney — just note everything is online; Montana has no paper forms. You’ll still need a registered agent with a physical Montana address, but that can be yourself if you live in the state.
No. Montana charges a $35 Articles of Organization fee – that’s a required state fee you can’t avoid, though it’s about as low as formation gets, and the on-time annual report is currently free. What you can avoid is paying extra for formation help. We handle your Montana LLC filing for $1; you only pay the required state fees.
Yes – due April 15 each year, filed online. The good news: the $20 fee is waived for on-time filings, an administrative courtesy the Secretary of State has extended through 2027 (it isn’t permanent, so expect the $20 to potentially return). File late and you owe $35 including the penalty. Ignore it entirely and the state sends a dissolution notice around September 1, then administratively dissolves the LLC on December 1 — reinstatement runs $35 plus $35 per missed report year.
Yes, every Montana LLC is required to have a registered agent. A registered agent is a person or entity that receives legal notices and official government documents on behalf of your LLC. The agent must have a physical street address in Montana — not a P.O. box — and be available during regular business hours. The LLC can’t serve as its own agent, but you can serve personally if you have a Montana address, or use a professional service.
The mistakes that come up most often are looking for paper forms that don’t exist — Montana is online-only, everything goes through biz.sosmt.gov — and paying official-looking mail invoices for “annual report services” or “certificates of existence,” which are scams; the state never bills by mail. Others include missing April 15 and turning a currently-free report into a $35 late filing (or a December 1 dissolution), assuming the fee waiver is permanent when it currently runs through 2027, using a P.O. box for the registered agent, and — for businesses in resort towns or lodging — overlooking the local resort taxes and 8% lodging tax that exist despite Montana having no general sales tax.
Standard online processing takes about 5-6 business days, and often just 1-4. The queue is priority-ordered: 1-hour expedited filings ($100 extra) are processed first, then 24-hour expedited ($20 extra), then standard. For most people the $20 expedite is the sweet spot — next-business-day approval for the price of lunch.
Thinking about another state? Compare Wyoming, Delaware, Texas and Florida — or browse all 50 state guides.
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