Citation withheld: this record does not yet carry a review status; and its provenance is an internal operational database, which is never published as an authority.
The values are corroborated across independent internal records. What is missing is the link to the agency's own published schedule, which is what promotion to verified requires.
Cost position
Ranked 40 of 51 on first-year state
filing cost, at $260.00 against a national median
of $175.00.
Recurring annual cost $85.
See the full ranking.
Where Maine sits among its neighbours in the first-year cost ranking (USD)Show all 51 jurisdictionsThe full ranking with Maine highlighted (USD)
Registered-agent statutes, quoted verbatim
The one section on this page that clears the publication gate in full. 3 citations, verified, quoted from the official code with every elision marked.
Appointment of clerk or registered agent1. Contents of filing. A clerk or registered agent filing must state: A. The name of the represented entity's commercial clerk or commercial registered agent; or B. If the entity does not have a commercial clerk or commercial registered agent: (1) The name and address of the entity's noncommercial clerk or noncommercial registered agent; or (2) The title of an office or other position with the entity if service of processService of processFormal delivery of lawsuits and legal notices.Read the full entry → is to be sent to the person holding that office or position, and the address of the business office of that person.
Maine Business Corporation Act · applies to
corporations
ClerkEach domestic corporation to which this Act applies shall maintain in this State a clerk, who is a natural person resident in this State. The clerk may be, but is not required to be, one of the directors or officers of the corporation, or the clerk may be a person holding no other position with the corporation. [...] The clerk required under this section is also governed by Title 5, chapter 6-A.
Maine Limited Liability Company Act · applies to
LLCs
Registered agent for limited liability companyA limited liability company must have and continuously maintain a registered agent in this State as defined by Title 5, section 102, subsection 27.
Under the Model Registered Agents Act (which 13-C M.R.S. §512 and 31 M.R.S. §1662 incorporate for corporations and LLCs), if an entity no longer has a clerk or registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, service may be made by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the entity's governors by name at its principal office; if that fails, by handing a copy to the manager, clerk, or other person in charge of any regular place of business. Separately, after revocation of a foreign corporation's authority, the Secretary of State is its agent for service of process (13-C M.R.S. §1532(4)).
Administrative Dissolution. The Secretary of State may administratively dissolve an LLC that is without a registered agent in Maine or that fails to notify the Secretary of State of an agent change, address change, or resignation, after a 60-day notice-and-cure period (31 M.R.S. §1592(2)).
Revocation Foreign. The Secretary of State may revoke a foreign corporation's authority to transact business if it is without a registered agent in Maine or fails to notify the Secretary of State of agent changes or resignation; upon revocation the Secretary of State becomes the corporation's agent for service of process for causes of action that arose while it was authorized (13-C M.R.S. §1532(4)). Parallel grounds exist for foreign LLCs (31 M.R.S. ch. 21).
Other. An administratively dissolved corporation continues to exist but may not transact any business in Maine except as necessary to wind up and liquidate its business and affairs and notify claimants.
Reinstatement Fee. For LLCs, reinstatement after administrative dissolution for failure to appoint or maintain a registered agent costs $150; failure to notify of agent changes or to appoint a replacement after resignation also costs $150 (annual-report reinstatement is $150 per report to a $600 maximum).
Dollar amounts named in the registered-agent statutes
Commercial clerk or commercial registered agent termination (5 M.R.S. §107)
$150
○Pending review
Statement of appointment or change of clerk or registered agent by entity ($15 for Title 13-B nonprofits)
$35
○Pending review
Statement of change of name or address by noncommercial clerk or noncommercial registered agent ($15 for Title 13-B nonprofits)
$35
○Pending review
Statement of change of name, address, or type of organization by commercial clerk or commercial registered agent
$50
○Pending review
Statement of resignation by commercial clerk or commercial registered agent
No fee
○Pending review
Statement of resignation by noncommercial clerk or noncommercial registered agent ($15 for Title 13-B nonprofits)
$35
○Pending review
Statement of appointment of agent for service of process for a nonfiling domestic entity or nonqualified foreign entity
$100
○Pending review
Corporation reinstatement after administrative dissolution for failure to appoint or maintain a clerk
$150
○Pending review
Corporation reinstatement after administrative dissolution for failure to notify of clerk change or resignation
$150
○Pending review
Corporation reinstatement after administrative dissolution for failure to file an annual report, per application, capped regardless of number of delinquent reports
$150 (max $600)
○Pending review
LLC reinstatement after administrative dissolution for failure to appoint or maintain a registered agent (same $150 for failure-to-notify ground; annual-report ground $150 to $600 max)
$150
○Pending review
21 statutory citations and their supporting verbatim quotations sit behind this section in the record and are withheld from public display until the review pass lands, because a citation presented as authority is a verification claimed. Statutory references appearing inside the summaries above are part of the recorded text rather than an authority claim, and they are not rendered as citations, linked, or emitted in this page's structured data. How the gate works.
Governance rules
Maine corporate and LLC governance rules
Rule
Entity
Applies
Detail
Status
Organizational Meeting Required
Corporation
yes
○Pending review
Annual Meeting Required
Corporation
yes
○Pending review
Written Consent In Lieu Allowed
Corporation
yes
○Pending review
Bylaws Required
Corporation
yes
○Pending review
Operating Agreement Required
LLC
yes
an LLC agreement 'must be entered into or otherwise existing' as a formation requirement; it may be written, oral or implied
○Pending review
Annual Meeting Required
LLC
no
○Pending review
Written Consent In Lieu Allowed
LLC
yes
○Pending review
7 statutory citations and their supporting verbatim quotations sit behind this section in the record and are withheld from public display until the review pass lands, because a citation presented as authority is a verification claimed. Statutory references appearing inside the summaries above are part of the recorded text rather than an authority claim, and they are not rendered as citations, linked, or emitted in this page's structured data. How the gate works.
perpetual (no expiration; effective until terminated - $20 termination filing)
Renewal
None - no renewal requirement in the corporate/LLC fee statutes
Publication
Not required. None
Online filing
Not available
The regime
Maine's general assumed-name act is a municipal-clerk filing, not a state registry. Before commencing business, partners in a mercantile enterprise must deposit a sworn certificate with the clerk of the city or town where the business will be carried on (31 M.R.S. § 1), and a sole proprietor adopting any business name other than his own name exclusively must do the same (§ 2). Corporations, limited partnerships, and LLCs are excluded from these sections and instead file assumed-name statements with the Secretary of State under their entity acts (§ 7).
Where it is filed
The office of the clerk of the city or town in which the business is to be carried on. Municipal clerks must record the certificates in books kept exclusively for the purpose, open to public inspection.
Name restrictions
A non-corporation may not adopt a business name containing 'corporation,' 'incorporated' or 'limited' or any abbreviation of those words (with carve-outs letting LPs, LLCs, and LLPs use their own entity designators). A separate section bars use of the word 'Passamaquoddy' in a business name or with goods or services without written authorization from the Passamaquoddy Tribe; violation is a deceptive trade practice.
Assumed names for registered entities
Maine entities file assumed-name statements with the Secretary of State, not the municipal clerk. Under 13-C M.R.S. § 404, a domestic or foreign corporation may transact business under one or more assumed names after filing a statement for each name; a 'fictitious name' is specifically the name a foreign corporation adopts because its real name is unavailable under § 401 (see also 13-C M.R.S. § 1506(1)). Non-complying use may be enjoined, and the statute notes that the mere filing does not constitute actual use for determining priority of rights. LPs and LLCs use parallel provisions (31 M.R.S. §§ 1308(2), 1510).
Penalties
Failure to seasonably deposit the required certificate is punished by a fine of $5 for each day of default. A signer may not contradict the certificate's statements in any judicial proceeding. Swearing to an untrue certificate is perjury.
With the clerk of the city or town where the business is to be carried on - before commencing business. Maine has no state-level DBA registry for sole proprietors or general partnerships; 31 M.R.S. § 2 requires a sworn certificate stating the proprietor's name, residence, the assumed business name, and that he is the sole proprietor.
Do Maine corporations and LLCs file their assumed names with the town clerk too?
No. 31 M.R.S. § 7 states that sections 1 and 2 'do not apply to corporations, limited partnerships or limited liability companies.' Corporations file an assumed-name statement with the Secretary of State under 13-C M.R.S. § 404 (fee: $125 per 13-C M.R.S. § 123(1)(JJ)); LPs use 31 M.R.S. § 1308(2) and LLCs 31 M.R.S. § 1510.
What is the penalty for skipping Maine's assumed-name certificate?
A fine of $5 for each day of default (31 M.R.S. § 5). In addition, a person who signs and swears to a certificate cannot contradict its statements in any judicial proceeding, and swearing to an untrue certificate is perjury (31 M.R.S. § 3).
Can a Maine business name include the word 'incorporated' or 'limited'?
Not unless the business is a corporation. 31 M.R.S. § 6 bars any non-corporation from adopting a business name containing 'corporation,' 'incorporated' or 'limited' or any abbreviation of those words, while allowing LPs, LLCs, and LLPs to use their own statutory designators.
Maine Revenue Services (income/estate tax division) administers both the financial-institutions franchise tax (Form 1120B-ME) and the corporate income tax (Form 1120ME); Maine SOS CEC administers the annual report fee
Corporation minimum
not recorded separately
How it is computed
NONE for ordinary LLCs and corporations - $0. Maine's only 'franchise tax' (36 M.R.S. ch. 819, sec 5206) is imposed 'upon the franchise or privilege of doing business in this State of every financial institution' ONLY (banks, thrifts, bank holding companies, and their >50%-owned subsidiaries per 5206-D); its rates (elective - the filer's service-level choice): Method 1 = 1% of Maine net income + $0.08 per $1,000 of Maine assets, or Method 2 = $0.39 per $1,000 of Maine assets; no minimum; Form 1120B-ME due 15th day of 4th month after fiscal year end (5206-F). Ordinary C corps pay the Maine corporate INCOME tax instead (36 M.R.S. sec 5200, graduated: 3.5% up to $350k; $12,250 + 7.93% of excess over $350k; $67,760 + 8.33% over $1.05M; $271,845 + 8.93% over $3.5M Maine net income; NO minimum - $0 if no Maine net income; Form 1120ME due with federal). Pass-through LLCs owe no entity-level Maine tax; only recurring charge is the $85/$150 June 1 annual report FEE (31 M.R.S. 1680(6)). No statewide gross-receipts or general-business-license minimum exists.
A per-state research document exists for this jurisdiction and has not yet been converted into records.
See the national picture.
Filing-office closures, 2026
Stored as a delta against the federal baseline:
2 days this state closes that the
federal government does not, and 0 federal
holidays its filing office works through.
Maine 2026 closure delta
Date
Day
Filing office
2026-04-20
Patriot's Day
Filing office closed
2026-11-27
Thanksgiving Friday
Filing office closed
Provenance - Maine 2026 closures○Pending review
Citation withheld: this record is at review status provisionally reviewed, one or more rungs below verified.
These come from a research pass its own author graded CANDIDATES. They are shown because they are useful and withheld from every ranking on this site because they are not ratified.