How Long Does It Take To Get To Maine

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If you're starting a business in Maine, the first pace yous'll need to take is to course a Maine LLC. A Maine LLC will separate and protect your personal assets (that's what the "limited liability" in limited liability company means). It will as well legitimize your business in the eyes of your potential customers.

This article will walk you lot through all the steps required to form your Maine LLC and get your business organisation started on the right foot. Exist sure to bookmark this page, equally the procedure may have you a few days from start to finish.

Have a Professional Handle your Filing

More than than 72% our readers course their LLC using a professional filing service. Our recommended service provider is:
4.7 out of 5 stars Northwest Registered Agent ($29 + state fees)

Encounter how they compare to other formation companies in our Best LLC Services review.

Steps to Class a Maine LLC

Forming an LLC in Maine on your own doesn't have to be difficult. Merely follow these simple steps below and your new business organization will be upward and running in no time!

Step 1. Cull a Name for your Maine LLC

The first pace to forming a Maine LLC is to choose a name for your business. Deciding on the perfect name for your new business is one of the most crucial parts of starting a company. Choosing a name that'south piece of cake to remember and stands out in search engine results will assistance y'all go more customers, which means more revenue, which leads to more growth!

When choosing a name, there are a few searches that yous need to complete earlier you settle on the final selection:

1. Maine LLC Name Search – Search hither – This is the database of all "taxable entities" in Maine. Essentially, your name must be unique to all existing entities in the state.
2. Domain Proper noun Search – Search here – You'll desire to ensure that your business'southward name is available as a URL so that you lot tin keep upward your branding online. In many cases, the .com proper name may be taken. If this is the case, you can try calculation "modifiers" to your proper name or employ a different TLD (.co, .net, .biz, etc…) until yous detect an available domain name. Don't skip this stride. Even if you aren't ready to outset a website today, it's important to annals your domain name so that no ane else snaps it up in the meantime.

Find a Domain At present

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3. Social Media Search – Depending on your business, you may desire or need to have a strong presence on the unlike social media platforms. Even if you don't think yous're going to apply them, it'due south yet wise to search Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and any other socials to see if your handle is bachelor.

Maine LLC Naming Rules

The Maine Secretary of State has a few rules when information technology comes to naming LLCs:

You must apply an LLC designator (ie. "LLC" "L.L.C.", or "Limited Liability Company", etc…) in your LLC'due south name.
You cannot use a designator that could confuse your LLC with another business type (ie. "Corp", "Inc", "Non-Profit", etc…).
To use a term like "bank", "university", "law center" or other assuming words in your name, you must obtain approval from the proper authorities. This generally requires that your business organisation agree the correct charters or have members with certain licenses before applying.
Your name can't be and then similar to another concern proper noun that it could confuse customers.

To see the actual statutes and regulations governing the Maine Limited Liability Company naming process, see the Maine Limited Liability Companies Full general Provisions.

Common Result:

The most common reason that LLC applications are denied is an issue with the proper name. If you follow the rules outlined to a higher place, you should be in the articulate, but if yous aren't 100% sure then you lot may desire to work with an LLC formation service to ensure yous get it done correct the outset fourth dimension. Our recommended LLC provider, Northwest Registered Agent is only $29 + state fees.

It's worth noting that y'all should be fairly sure that the name you lot select is the name you are going to stick with. Changing an LLC's name isn't impossible, simply at that place are a lot of headaches and fees associated with the process.

If down the road, you exercise decide that your LLC's proper noun no longer serves the branding of your business organisation, a simple solution would be to create an assumed proper noun (likewise known as a DBA). An assumed proper name allows you to continue your LLC name the same and operate under a trade proper name different from the LLC's.

To acquire more about naming businesses, check out our guide: Naming An LLC.

Once you've decided on a name that follows all of the guidelines above, motion on to the next step.

Pace 2. Assign a Registered Amanuensis in Maine

The Maine Secretary of Land requires all LLCs to appoint a registered amanuensis.

A registered agent is a person or entity that is assigned to receive tax forms, legal documents, official notices, and any other documents or correspondence from the government on your concern's behalf. This person tin can be yourself, a friend or family member, another fellow member of your business organisation, or a hired registered agent service.

In order to act as a registered agent, the person or entity must:

Take a physical street address in Maine (not a P.O. Box)
Be available at all normal business hours to take service of process (official documents)

The registered agent will be assigned on the Certificate of Formation when filed.

Recommended Service:

Northwest Registered Agent offers their Maine registered agent service free for one twelvemonth when you lot class your LLC ($29 + country fees) with them.

Should You Be Your Own Registered Agent?

A common question is whether or not you lot should "be your own registered agent". Taking this position for your business concern is absolutely possible, but at that place are some downsides that you should think about before making this decision.

The first and most important downside in acting as your own agent is that you lose any anonymity that your LLC would have provided you. Since your LLC formation is a public record, this means that your name, address, and any other contact information volition be bachelor for anyone to see. This generally results in lots of junk postal service, solicitations, and mayhap fifty-fifty unwanted visitors at your home address.

The second issue is a bit less mutual just just equally important for some folks. If you don't take a concrete address in Maine, so you lot won't be able to file for an LLC. This affects non-residents or those trying to class a foreign llc.

Fortunately, using a registered amanuensis service solves all of these issues at a very low cost. These service providers concord a concrete office in each state and make the process simple for small businesses.

Desire to learn more well-nigh registered agents? Bank check out these articles for a deeper swoop into their services:

Why You lot Demand a Registered Agent
Benefits of a Registered Agent Service
Best Registered Agent Services
How to Discover a Registered Agent in Another State

Stride 3. File Your Maine LLC Certificate of Formation

After choosing your registered agent, the next stride is tofile the LLC Document of Formation with the Maine Secretarial assistant of Country. This is the document that actually forms your LLC as a separate legal entity.

With your awarding, you'll need to pay theMaine LLC Filing Fee: $175.

Yous can apply by mail or in person by downloading the Certificate of Germination. Fill out the copy forth with the Filer Contact Cover Letter. Postal service both copies and a bank check for the $175 fee to:

Partition of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions
Maine Secretary of Land
101 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0101

Step 4. Create Your Maine LLC Operating Agreement

Once you've filed your Certificate of Germination, your side by side task is to complete your Maine LLC Operating Understanding.

A Express Liability Company Operating Agreement is a governing document that lays out the inner workings of your business'due south structure. Think of this document as something similar to a prenup, except a lot simpler and less expensive. Information technology volition protect the interests of all parties involved in the instance of any sort of trouble in the future.

There are half dozen articles in a standard Operating Understanding:

Organization – Lays out the members and business structure of the company (ie. single-member, multi-member, series LLC, limited partnership, etc…)
Management and Voting – Goes over how the direction operates and votes about changes in the LLC
Capital Contributions – Discusses initial and subsequent capital contributions made by members
Distributions – Explains how the profits and losses will exist distributed among members
Membership Changes – Outlines how members are added and removed from the visitor
Dissolution – Describes how the diplomacy of the LLC will be wound upward in the effect of dissolution

In Maine, you don't need to file your operating agreement with the state, but this doesn't hateful that you should skip this step. If you don't have this document in place and something happens to you or another member, information technology's possible that the state could pace in to settle any disputes. It's better to have everything lined up at the showtime, rather than expect until it's too belatedly.

If your business needs a Maine Sales Tax License to operate, you will exist required to submit your operating understanding in that application. More about tax licenses after.

Free Maine LLC Operating Agreement Template

Our friends over at TRUiC offer a free Maine LLC Operating Understanding PDF for download. Information technology's robust enough to handle the needs of virtually single-member LLCs. If you lot have a multi-member LLC, manager-managed LLC, or other, more than complicated setup, they offer a fill-in-the-blank Operating Understanding for all other uses. It'due south also free of charge.

Step 5. Become an EIN (Employer Identification Number)

The last formation footstep for your concern is to go an EIN (Employee Identification Number). An EIN is substantially like a social security number for your LLC. The IRS problems EINs and will employ it to proceed rails of your business'south tax reporting.
The principal reasons that you'll need an EIN are:

Opening a business bank account and/or credit menu
Hiring employees
Taxation purposes
Farther separates your personal identity from your business organization

To get your EIN, caput to the IRS EIN Assistant and fill up out the grade. I of the requirements to obtain an EIN for your business is that you'll need to enter either your personal Social Security number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). If you don't accept either of these, then you'll need to spring through a few more hoops to get your EIN.

Steps After Forming Your Maine LLC

Start off, congratulations on forming your LLC! Taking this get-go big step shows that you are serious most your new business and shows its legitimacy to the residue of the world!

Now that your LLC is formed and y'all take a divide legal business entity, y'all'll demand to take care of a few more things before you start selling.

Open a Business organization Bank Account

The main chore of an LLC is to split up the business concern'southward assets from yous, the business owner's personal avails. This separation is chosen the corporate veil. Essentially, information technology ensures that if your business is ever sued or has any other financial debts that your personal assets are sheltered from these liabilities. This is where the "express liability" in LLC comes from.

The easiest way to break your corporate veil is to mix your personal banking company account with your business's. This mixing of funds is called commingling. This opens your personal bank business relationship up to undue exposure and completely breaks the asset protection that your LLC was meant to provide.

The good news is that avoiding this danger is extremely simple. Open a business banking concern account using your EIN number, transfer any initial funds (keep a tape of this transfer), and do your best to never cross personal and business funds in the hereafter.

If yous ever need to accept money out of the business or invest more of your personal funds in just be sure to keep records of these transactions. This includes the transfers you brand when paying yourself a "salary".

Build Your Business concern Website

No thing what type of business concern yous operate, you need a website in society for your customers to take you seriously. Well-nigh all businesses transactions today start with an online search, so if you aren't there to be found then your customers volition find your contest. It'south that simple.

Luckily, it's gotten a lot simpler to build and maintain a website on your own without any prior feel or knowledge of data science or lawmaking. Drag-and-drop website builders have improved to the signal that anyone can go their business online with about a solar day's piece of work.

Our Recommended Website Builder

Nosotros recommend the GoDaddy Website Builder for all small businesses. It's flexible enough to handle most types of small businesses and elementary enough to actually use. Its AI-powered generation process will help you to get your site upwardly and running in about 5 minutes. Seriously. Subsequently that you can change the text and images to match your business and that's it; yous accept a fully functioning website.

Get the Proper Licenses, Permits, and Insurance

When starting a business, in that location are often several licenses and permits required earlier transactions tin brainstorm. Which licenses you lot need will depend profoundly on the blazon of business you lot program to operate and the location.

Maine Business Licenses and Permits

Finding the specific licenses and permits your business needs to operate volition start with a few unproblematic searches. To get started, you'll need to quickly search the websites of:

The state-level (State of Maine's Online Business Answers)
The canton-level
The city-level

Once you lot've identified the dissimilar location-based permits, you'll need to larn whatever licenses required past your manufacture. This includes licenses like the Maine real manor license, the Maine insurance license, the Maine liquor license, and so on.

Maine Business Insurance

Once you're upward and running, it's important to have the proper insurance policies in place for your Maine business concern. Some coverages will be required by the state if y'all have employees, while others will be required by landlords. Others however are "optional" but widely accepted due to their protective nature.

A few of the about common business organisation insurance policies are:

General Liability Insurance – Protects confronting claims of bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage. This coverage is mostly required to rent function or warehouse infinite and to bid on certain jobs.
Professional person Liability Insurance – Protects confronting claims of inaccurate or negligent work. This coverage is most common in the "professional" infinite where businesses offer services or advice to other businesses or consumers.
Workers' Compensation Insurance – Protects your employees from on-the-job injuries or illnesses. Maine requires to deport workers' compensation coverage for businesses that accept one or more than employees.

How Much is Business Insurance?

94% of businesses have a requirement for business insurance. Policies range in price, and the but way to sympathise the true price for your business organisation is to become a personalized quote.

Register Your LLC for a Maine State Tax Permit

Certain businesses volition demand toapply for a Maine State Sales Tax Permit. Not all businesses are required to register for sales taxation, but if your Maine-based business engages in any of the following, and so you will demand to apply:

If your business sells or leases personal belongings (tangible items)
If your business organization offers taxable services

For more details on how to utilise, visit the Department of Authoritative and Financial Services, Maine Revenue Services' Sales, Apply & Service Provider Tax folio.

Maine LLC Annual Written report

In Maine, LLCs are required to file annual reports. You tin file an annual report online, with a fee of $85 that'southward payable to the Secretary of Country. The annual study is due by June 1st of each year.

This report can be quite complicated depending on your concern operations, and then we recommend working with a licensed CPA to ensure you are filing correctly.

Maine LLC FAQ

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Maine?

The cost to form a Maine LLC is $175, plus additional costs when using an LLC formation service. Nosotros recommend Northwest Registered Agent to help you throughout the LLC formation process.

How long does information technology accept to become an LLC in Maine?

The general filing time for Maine LLCs is 5 – 10 business days.

Can I starting time a Maine LLC for free?

No. When filing an LLC in Maine there is a $175 filing fee for all applicants.

What taxes do LLCs pay in Maine?

While there is no country income tax or personal income tax in Maine, there are several other Taxes that your LLC may meet. Nosotros recommend speaking with a licensed tax professional to ensure you lot are filing and paying the proper taxes.

What is the cheapest way to get an LLC in Maine?

The cheapest way to get an LLC in Maine is to follow the steps in a higher place and file yourself. There is an LLC filing fee of $175, but this is required whether yous file on your own or utilize an LLC filing service.

Tin I be my own registered agent in Maine?

Yes. Meet higher up for more than data.

Do Maine LLCs expire?

LLCs in Maine don't "expire," but they tin be dissolved. Maine may dissolve LLCs within 60 days for failure to file an annual report.

We recommend working with a professional person registered amanuensis service who will inform you of upcoming reports and even aid you file them.

Maine Secretary of State Contact Data

Mailing Accost

Division of Corporations, Elections, and Commissions
Maine Secretary of Land
101 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0101

Physical Address

Maine Secretary of State
Burton Cantankerous Building
111 Sewall St., 4th Floor
Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Contact Information

Email: CEC.Corporations@Maine.gov
Phone: (207) 624-7752

Information on this page is not to be considered legal or tax advice. Information was gathered from a multitude of sources and most recently updated in September 2022.

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