Maine LLC filing: $175 to form and $85 a year, high enough that a multi-property structure adds up

Every figure on this page comes from the Maine Secretary of State and Maine Revenue Services, not an aggregator. Maine’s filing is on the expensive side: $175 to form, one of the higher formation fees in the country, and an $85 annual report due every June 1. For a single LLC those costs are manageable. Where they matter is in a multi-property structure, because Maine has no series LLC, so each property an investor wants insulated is a separate entity carrying its own $175 formation and its own $85 every year. That per-entity cost is the thing to plan around, and it means the choice between separate LLCs and consolidation is partly a cost decision in Maine.

Forming the company

Formation is a single filing with the Secretary of State.

Maine forms an LLC on a Certificate of Formation filed with the Secretary of State for $175.

You create a Maine LLC by filing the Certificate of Formation with the Secretary of State for $175, naming the company and a registered agent, called a clerk in Maine, with a Maine address. There is no publication requirement, so $175 is the full cost of forming, but it is high relative to the states that charge $50 to $100. The recurring cost is also on the higher side.

Maine requires an $85 annual report due by June 1, and missing it leads to administrative dissolution.

Every Maine LLC files an annual report with the Secretary of State for $85, due by June 1 each year, and letting it lapse brings a late fee and eventually administrative dissolution, which ends the good standing the liability shield on the protection page depends on. At $85, Maine’s annual report is several times what the cheap-report states charge and worlds away from the states with a free report, so the ongoing cost of a Maine LLC is meaningful rather than nominal. That cost scales in a way an investor should anticipate.

Because Maine has no series LLC, each property held separately is its own entity carrying its own $175 formation and $85 annual report.

Maine has no series statute, covered on the structure and cost page, so an investor who wants each property insulated forms a separate LLC for each, and each one costs $175 to form and $85 a year to maintain. Ten properties in ten Maine LLCs is $850 a year in annual reports alone, before registered-agent fees, which is a real recurring cost that a series state or a free-report state would not impose. So the Maine structuring decision has a genuine cost dimension: an investor should weigh the liability benefit of separate entities against the per-entity cost, and consolidate where the properties can share an entity without unacceptable risk. Unlike the states where maintaining a stack of LLCs is nearly free, Maine makes the number of entities a line item worth managing.

The bottom line

A Maine LLC forms on a Certificate of Formation filed with the Secretary of State for $175, one of the higher formation fees in the country.

The annual report is $85, due June 1 each year, and missing it leads to administrative dissolution.

Maine has no series LLC, so each property is a separate entity carrying its own $175 formation and $85 annual report.

A multi-property structure adds up in Maine, so the choice between separate LLCs and consolidation is partly a cost decision.

Unlike the free-report states, Maine makes the number of entities a recurring line item worth managing.

What this page does not cover

This page is about fees, forms, and deadlines. How creditors reach a member’s interest, the indexed homestead, and the missing entireties shield are on the protection page. The uniform act’s fiduciary floor and equal-shares default are on the governance page. Maine’s high income tax, the estate tax below the federal threshold, and the lack of a series LLC are on the structure and cost page.

Last verified August 2026.