Staying compliant in Montana

When is the Montana annual report due, and what does it ask for?

The report is due in a fixed spring window, between January 1 and April 15 each year, under the LLC Act's annual report section. The Secretary of State currently waives the fee for reports filed in that window ($0 if filed January 1 to April 15 (fee waived)).^{1, 2}

The statute's wording is "Subsequent annual reports must be delivered to the secretary of state between January 1 and April 15." The word subsequent points to reports after the first. The sources for this page do not say when a newly formed LLC's first report comes due, so ask the Secretary of State when your first report is due once your Articles are filed.²

What the fee waiver means

The Secretary of State says it "will waive the fee for all annual reports filed between January 1st and April 15th". After the window, a report costs $35, and that gap shapes what a Montana LLC pays for its report each year.^{1, 3}

• Filed on time, the report carries no state fee, so anything you spend on it goes to a provider you hire to file it.
• The waiver is an office policy rather than part of the statute, and a policy can change, so check the fee page each year before you assume it still applies.

A note on the later date

A Secretary of State help article also says domestic reports must be filed by December 1st. That date does not appear in the statute, which sets the January to April window. Treat the spring window as the deadline, and the later date at most as the office's final cutoff. If you are past both, ask the office before you file.²

What the report asks

Montana describes the report as a renewal of your registration information, and it asks for your business mailing address, registered agent, shares (if applicable) and principals of record. Filing is online only, since the office has moved to an online-only filing system. Our annual reports explainer compares how other states run theirs, and the pages on staying compliant in Idaho and staying compliant in Wyoming show two neighbours side by side.^{1, 5}

Does Montana charge LLCs a franchise tax?

This page doesn't cover Montana tax rules, because the sources behind it include no official statement on a franchise or privilege tax for LLCs. The annual report asks for registration details, not tax figures.

Tax questions belong with Montana's state tax agency and, for federal returns, the IRS. How your LLC is taxed depends on how it is owned and whether it has elected corporate tax treatment, so a tax professional is the right person to ask. Keep tax dates on their own list. A filed annual report says nothing about whether your tax accounts are current.

What happens if a Montana LLC files late or not at all?

A late report costs $35, and a report that stays unfiled for long enough becomes a ground for involuntary dissolution.³

The dissolution section of the LLC Act, MCA 35-8-209(1), lists two grounds that turn on routine upkeep. Both are deadlines an owner controls.⁴

1. The report ground: failing for 140 days to file the annual report.
2. The agent ground: failing for 60 days to appoint and maintain a registered agent.

A report filed a few days after the window costs the late fee, and the sources for this page list no other penalty for a short delay. Leaving it unfiled long enough to reach the report ground is a different matter, because it puts the LLC's existence at risk.

A dissolved LLC loses its good standing. Lenders, landlords and licensing offices that ask for a certificate of good standing may turn you away, and contracts signed while dissolved can raise questions worth taking to a lawyer.

Reinstatement

Montana lets a dissolved LLC apply for reinstatement. The fee is $35 plus $35 for each year of delinquent annual reports. An LLC that ignored the report for several years pays for each missed year as part of coming back. The sources for this page don't set a time limit for reinstatement or say what happens to the LLC's name in the meantime, so contact the Secretary of State soon after you learn of a dissolution. The Montana registered agent guide explains the agent side of dissolution in more depth.³

How do you keep your Montana registered agent current?

Keep an agent with an actual street address or rural route box number in this state on record at all times (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-7-104), confirm it each year on the annual report, and file a free statement of change whenever it changes.⁶

The annual report gives you a built-in moment to check. Because it asks for your registered agent, you see each spring which agent the state has on file. If the person or service listed is no longer acting for you, file the statement of change, listed online as "Registered Agent/Office Change by Entity". The fee sheet shows it as "No fee". File it before you cancel any old service so the record never shows a gap.^{3, 7}

Resignations are the other risk. A resignation takes effect on the 31st day after filing, or earlier when a new agent is appointed, and the agent must promptly notify the entity of the filing date. That notice goes to whatever contact details the agent holds, so update your email and phone with your agent whenever they change. Agent rules for foreign LLCs registered here are in the Montana registered agent guide. The step-by-step switch is in our guide to changing a registered agent.⁸

What provider compliance features cover in Montana

Montana's waived report fee changes the arithmetic on compliance products. While an on-time report carries no state fee ($0 if filed January 1 to April 15 (fee waived)), the provider's price is the whole cost of having someone else file it.¹

• Reminders that come with the agent service. Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists free lifetime compliance notifications, InCorp Services lists email reminders before anything comes due, and Harbor Compliance lists annual report filing reminders with its agent service.^{9, 10, 11}
• Paid annual report filing. Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees, and its page says agent customers are enrolled in it: "you'll automatically be enrolled in our renewal service". Check whether you want that before the first report. InCorp Services charges $89 + state fees, Harbor Compliance charges $199 per state per year plus filing fees, and ZenBusiness lists Annual Report Filing $100 per report and Worry-Free Compliance $199/year. Swyft Filings lists ComplianceGuard $199/year with a 14-day free trial, and its page says that after the trial "your card will automatically be charged".^{12, 13, 14, 15, 16}
• Agent renewals. The agent service is billed apart from any report service. Bizee (formerly Incfile) renews at $149/year, Harbor Compliance at $159 annually and ZenBusiness at $199/yr. Harbor Compliance's terms also require notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before the end of the current term.^{11, 17, 18, 19}

None of these products changes what the state requires. Prices side by side are on Montana registered agent services compared, and services with compliance tools groups providers by these features. Before ending any service, read how to cancel a registered agent service.

What does a Montana LLC's first and second year look like?

The fixed date in Montana is the spring report window, between January 1 and April 15; everything else on the calendar comes from changes you make or your agent's billing.²

Year one

1. Articles filed. The Articles of Organization go to the Secretary of State online. The Montana LLC formation guide covers that step, and the cheapest ways to form a Montana LLC adds up the costs.
2. Ask the Secretary of State when the first annual report is due, since the statute's window speaks of subsequent reports.
3. Save your agent's contact details and its renewal date. Confirm it has your current email.
4. Ask Montana's state tax agency and the IRS which tax registrations apply, and keep those dates on a separate list.

Year two and later

1. January to mid-April. File the annual report online while the fee is waived. Check the agent and principals listed before you submit.
2. From mid-April on, the report costs $35. File as soon as you notice, because a report left unfiled long enough becomes a dissolution ground.
3. At your agent's renewal, decide whether to keep the service, and mind any notice period in its terms.
4. Whenever your agent or address changes, file the free statement of change first and cancel the old service second.

Terms on this page such as involuntary dissolution and principals of record are defined in our glossary. For the agent's role day to day, see what a registered agent is.