How to start an LLC in Montana

Check your business name is free

Search for your name on Montana business search. The search shows whether a name is already in use. But the name is not guaranteed until the Secretary of State reviews and approves your registration. It checks that your name is clearly different (distinguishable) from names on file.

Your name must end with

"Limited liability company" or "limited company", or the short forms L.L.C., L.C., LLC or LC. You can shorten 'limited' to 'Ltd.' and 'company' to 'Co.'

Holding a name

Name reservation: $10 for 120 days, and it cannot be renewed. You can transfer a reservation to someone else by filing a notice.

Words you can’t use, or need permission to use:

• No words for other business types, such as corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership or association (or their short forms)
• No wording that says or suggests the LLC is any kind of business other than an LLC

Also worth knowing:

• The name must be clearly different (distinguishable) from every corporation, limited partnership and LLC formed, registered or reserved in Montana. It must also differ from registered assumed business names (trading names), trademarks and service marks.
• When a Montana corporation is closed (dissolved), its name stays protected for 120 days.

Choose your registered agent

Every LLC needs a registered agent: a person or company with an address in Montana who receives legal papers and official letters for it.

Can you do it yourself?

Yes. If you have a physical Montana address, you can be your own registered agent (who receives legal papers for your LLC). You count as a noncommercial agent.

Address rules

A noncommercial agent (one not on the state's commercial list) must give a real street address in Montana, or a rural route box number. They also give a Montana mailing address if it is different. P.O. boxes are not accepted. A commercial agent is named only, because its Montana address is on file with the Secretary of State.

Do they need to agree?

The agent does not sign the Articles of Organization (the form that sets up your LLC). By naming an agent, your LLC states that the agent has agreed to serve. The Secretary of State tells the agent about filings that name them.

• Montana has two types of registered agent (who receives legal papers for your LLC). Commercial agents file a listing statement with the Secretary of State and appear on a public list at biz.sosmt.gov/lists. Anyone else who acts as an agent is a noncommercial agent.
• The Secretary of State suggests a commercial agent if your business has no physical presence in Montana. It also suggests one if you do not want your own address on the record.
• Changing your registered agent or office later is free.

File the form that creates your LLC

The form is called the Articles of Organization. File it online at Secretary of State’s online filing portal. The fee: $35 (plus $50 for each series named in a series LLC, an LLC split into separate sections)

You’ll be asked for:

• LLC name, with an LLC ending
• Whether the LLC is a term company (one that exists only for a set period) and, if so, its term
• Business mailing address of the main office (principal office), which can be anywhere
• Registered agent (who receives legal papers for your LLC): a commercial agent's name, or a noncommercial agent's name and Montana street address
• Whether the LLC is member-managed (run by its owners) or manager-managed (run by managers you name)
• Names and business mailing addresses of the managers if manager-managed, or of the first members (owners) if member-managed
• Whether any members will be personally responsible for the LLC's debts
• Professional LLC statement and services (if it is a PLLC, an LLC for a licensed profession)
• Series details (if it is a series LLC, one LLC split into separate sections called series)
• Name and role of the person signing

Good to know about the Montana form:

• A member-managed LLC (run by its owners) must list its first members by name and business mailing address. A contact or organizer (the person who files the form) alone is not enough.
• The form asks whether the LLC is a 'term company' that exists only for a set period.
• It asks whether any member (owner) agrees to be personally responsible for the LLC's debts and obligations.
• The person forming the LLC does not have to be a member (owner), now or later.

Prefer paper? No. The Secretary of State now takes filings online only and does not accept paper forms. You file through a user account on biz.sosmt.gov and pay by card or e-check.

Wait for approval (or pay to speed it up)

The official pages we checked give no standard processing time. The Secretary of State reviews your filing and emails you once it is approved. Your documents are then available in the portal.

If you paid for 24-hour processing and heard nothing, check that the payment went through and look in your spam folder. Then call Business Services at 406-444-3665.

After approval: what to do next

Once your LLC is approved, get its EIN (the business tax number), free from the IRS. Then work through what Montana asks for next:

• Annual reportBetween January 1 and April 15 every year, starting the calendar year after you form the LLC · Free if filed by April 15 (the Secretary of State waives the fee, announced through 2027); $35 after April 15

  Every Montana LLC must file one to keep its registration active. It repeats your registered agent (who receives legal papers for your LLC) and the main office mailing address. It also lists the managers or members, with their business mailing addresses. A member or authorized agent must sign it.

• Closing down by the state, and reinstatementThe state can close your LLC once the annual report is 140 days late · Reinstatement $35, plus $35 for each missed annual report

  A closed LLC can be brought back (reinstated) within 5 years. You file every missing report and a reinstatement application. Most LLCs also need a Title 15 tax certificate from the Department of Revenue. Single-member LLCs not taxed as corporations do not.

• No sales tax registration

  Montana has no general sales tax, so there is no state sales tax permit to apply for. Montana businesses can use the Montana Business Registry Resale Certificate (a form showing you are buying goods to resell) with sellers in other states.

• Withholding tax account (if paying wages)When the LLC starts paying Montana wages

  You must open a Montana withholding account (for tax taken from pay) with the Department of Revenue. You need it if you pay Montana wages, issue W-2s (yearly pay forms for employees), or issue 1099s (payment forms for non-employees, such as contractors) with withholding. Register online through the TransAction Portal (TAP) or on Form GenReg.

• Unemployment insurance registration (if hiring)When the LLC hires employees

  Employers register separately with the Montana Department of Labor and Industry's Unemployment Insurance Division. This division also takes the quarterly (every three months) UI-5 wage reports.

• Montana pass-through tax returnMarch 15 each year (you can extend to September 15)

  An LLC taxed as a partnership or S corporation (tax types where profits pass through to the owners and are taxed on their own returns) with any income from Montana files the Montana Pass-Through Entity Tax Return (Form PTE). A single-member LLC owned by a person who does not live in Montana files Form DE with the owner's Montana Form 2.

• Local and professional licensesBefore you start doing business

  Montana has no general business license for the whole state. Many cities and counties require a local business license. Professions are licensed by the Department of Labor and Industry. Some industries (such as retail food, tobacco, and beer and wine sales) use the Department of Revenue's eStop license portal.

• Assumed business name (only if you do business under another name)Before using the other name · $20

  In Montana, you file a DBA (a trading name different from the LLC's legal name) as an Assumed Business Name application on biz.sosmt.gov. Select the LLC as the applicant.