Montana

Montana adopted the Model Registered Agents Act (MCA Title 35, ch. 7), which governs agents for all entity typesEntity typesLLC (limited liability company), corporation (for-profit; 'profit corporation' in some states' vocabulary), nonprofit corporation, LP (limited partnership), LLP (limited liability partnership), LLLP (limited liability limited partnership),Read the full entry →; the Business Corporation Act and LLC Act require each entity to maintain a registered office and agent 'in compliance with Title 35, chapter 7' (e.g., MCA 35-14-501). The agent is either a listed commercial registered agent or a noncommercial registered agent - an individual or a domestic or foreign entity serving in the state. Filings must state an actual street address or rural route box number in Montana. No individual-residency requirement is stated.

Consent required: yes.

Under the corporation act, if there is no registered agent (or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served), the corporation may be served by registered or certified mail addressed to the secretary at its principal office; if that also fails, the Secretary of State is the corporation's agent for service. The generic Model Registered Agents Act rule (MCA 35-7-113(2)) instead points to 'applicable judicial rules and procedures' (the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure, outside this corpus).

• Administrative DissolutionRevocation / administrative dissolutionThe state involuntarily ending an entity's authority to do business - for missed annual reports, a lapsed registered agent, or unpaid fees.Read the full entry →. A corporation without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more (or that fails to notify the Secretary of State of a change, resignation or discontinuance within 60 days) may be administratively dissolved; the Secretary compiles the list annually by September 1 and the corporation has 90 days after notice to cure before dissolution and forfeiture of its right to carry on business.
• Administrative Dissolution. An LLC that fails for 60 days to appoint and maintain a registered agent (or to file a statement of agent change within 60 days) may be involuntarily dissolved by order of the Secretary of State, forfeiting its right to transact business in Montana (90-day cure after notice under 35-8-914).
• Revocation Foreign. A registered foreign corporation's registration may be administratively terminated if it is without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or fails to report an agent/office change, resignation or discontinuance within 60 days (60-day cure after notice). Foreign LLCs face parallel revocation of the certificate of authorityCertificate of authorityPermission for an entity formed in one state to do business in another - the 'foreign' registration.Read the full entry → under MCA 35-8-1011(2)-(3).
• ReinstatementReinstatementRestoring an entity the state revoked or administratively dissolved for missed filings - typically back-filing reports, paying accrued fees and penalties, and filing an application.Read the full entry → Fee. Reinstatement after administrative dissolution must be sought within 5 years and requires a Department of Revenue tax certificate, a filing fee set by the Secretary of State (no dollar amount in statute), and all missed annual reports with related fees and penalties. LLCs likewise have a 5-year reinstatement window (MCA 35-8-912).

Filing officeFiling officeThe agency that keeps the business register.Read the full entry →

Montana Secretary of State (biz.sosmt.gov online portal)

State fee

$20 registration of assumed business name

Term

5 years from date of registration (MCA 30-13-206)

Renewal

Renew within the 90-day window prior to expiration; renewal fee $20 (official SOS fee schedule). Amendment $20; cancellation free

Publication

Not required. None

Online filing

Available

The regime

Montana operates a mandatory statewide assumed business name registry at the Secretary of State. A person (defined to include individuals, partnerships, corporations, limited partnerships, LLCs, LLPs, and other associations) transacting business under any business name other than its full, true, and correct name must register the assumed business name with the Secretary of State.

Where it is filed

Applications are filed with the Montana Secretary of State, who reviews the application, files it, and issues a certificate of registration if it complies with the part and all applicable fees are paid.

Publication

No newspaper publicationPublication requirementA few states require newly formed or registered entities to publish a notice in designated newspapers (New York's LLC publication is the expensive example) - a real cost of formation that fee tables usually omit.Read the full entry → requirement appears anywhere in the captured part (Mont. Code Ann. 30-13-201 through 30-13-221).

Term and renewal

Five years from the date of registration. The Secretary of State must notify the registrant of the pending expiration not less than 90 days before the expiration date; if no renewal application is filed within the 90 day period prior to expiration, the Secretary of State cancels the registration.

Name restrictions

The Secretary of State may not register an assumed business name that is the same as or not distinguishable from an already registered assumed business name, entity name, trademark, or service mark, and an applicant may not use a business name identifier (such as corporation, LLC, or their abbreviations) that misstates or misleadingly implies the applicant's entity type.

Assumed names for registered entities

A foreign corporation whose name does not comply with Montana's corporate name statute may not register to do business until it adopts a complying alternate name in its foreign registration statement; that alternate name does not require a separate assumed business name filing. The corporate name statute also blocks names not distinguishable from registered assumed business names, and name reservationName reservationHolding an entity name with the state before forming - typically 30 to 120 days for a small fee, renewable in some states.Read the full entry → (including of a fictitious or alternate name for a foreign corporation) is available for a nonrenewable 120 day period.

Penalties

A person transacting business without an effective certificate of registration of the assumed business name may not maintain any suit or action in Montana courts under that name.
Executing any document filed under the part constitutes an affirmation under the penalties of false swearing that the facts stated are true.

Official source

sosmt.gov/business/fees↗ (opens the official source)

What it is called

Corporate Income Tax (statutory privilege taxFranchise taxA recurring tax on the privilege of existing as an entity in a state - not a tax on franchising a business.Read the full entry → measured by net income; historical 'corporation license tax'; MCA Title 15, ch. 31)

Administering agency

Montana Department of Revenue (Form CIT; e-file mandatory for tax periods beginning after 12/31/2022 unless gross receipts <= $750,000)

Corporation minimum

$50

How it is computed

Montana has NO standalone franchise/privilege/excise/margin tax, NO gross-receipts tax, and NO statewide business-license minimum; but the Montana CORPORATE INCOME TAX is statutorily a privilege tax ('for the privilege of carrying on business in this state', MCA 15-31-101(3)) and is the honest franchise-tax analog. CORPORATIONS (and any LLC/LLP/partnership treated as an association/C corp for federal tax, MCA 15-31-101 definition of 'corporation'): 6.75% of Montana net income (MCA 15-31-121(1) '6 3/4% of all net income'); 7% if water's-edge election (15-31-121); statutory MINIMUM $50/yr ('a minimum tax of not less than $50', 15-31-121); no cap. Alternative: 0.5% of MT gross sales in lieu of net-income tax for corporations with sales-only MT activity, no MT real/tangible property, and MT gross sales <= $100,000 (MCA 15-31-122 'a tax of 1/2 of 1% of gross sales'). Return due May 15 (calendar year) or 15th day of 5th month after fiscal year-end (MCA 15-31-111(2)(a)); 6-month automatic extension. LLCs (default classification) and S corps: NO entity-level annual tax, NO minimum fee - pass-through only (DOR: elective PTET or composite tax exist; nothing mandatory); SMLLC disregarded, nonresident-owned SMLLC files informational Form DE.