2025 fees Massachusetts Secretary of State Rank #50 of 51

LLC Costs in Massachusetts (MA)

$1,125 all-in for your first year - $500 to file, $500 annual report, plus a registered agent. Massachusetts is $742 (194%) more expensive than the national average for first-year LLC costs.

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Massachusetts has the highest LLC filing fee and annual report fee in the country. The $500 annual report is due by the anniversary date of formation. Best suited for businesses that benefit from the Boston/Cambridge innovation ecosystem.

Updated 2025 · Source: Massachusetts Secretary of State

Higher Articles filing fee

Higher Articles filing fee. $500 one-time SOS filing sits in the top third of Articles/formation fees nationwide. The $500 one-time Articles filing fee in Massachusetts is the standout line item, putting the $1,125 first-year total at #50 of 51. Fees are those published by the Massachusetts Secretary of State; registered agent is a $125/yr market-rate line, not a vendor quote.

According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State fee schedule; registered agent normalized at $125/yr. See methodology. How we calculate →

$500
One-time filing fee
$500 /yr
Annual report
$1,125
First-year total
#50 of 51
Cost rank (1 = cheapest)

Articles filing schedule card

Fee strip MA · Massachusetts SOS FY 2026 · rank #50

Massachusetts · FY 2026 · 5-7 business days · no pub

  • SOS Online filing
  • EXPEDITE corp.sec.state.ma.us
  • PRIVILEGE 5-7 business days
  • FILE +$100 expedite
  • Y1 near California
  • PUB 194% above avg

Dear-third stack: stamps derive from this state's Secretary of State fee schedule, not a recommendation of where to form. Read with tax planning against a dear SOS stack → · All 51 SOS fee rows →

1. Maryland$5252. Delaware$6153. Tennessee$7254. Nevada$9005. California$9956. Massachusetts$1,125
1. Maryland$5252. Delaware$6153. Tennessee$7254. Nevada$9005. California$9956. Massachusetts$1,125
First-year SOS-fee total for Massachusetts and nearest-cost peers. Source: each Secretary of State + 51-row aggregate.

Cost vs. speed: where Massachusetts sits among all 51 filing offices

Massachusetts bucks the pattern: a 6-business-day turnaround that's faster than the national median, despite formation costing more than average -- speed and price don't move together the way the fee total alone suggests. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by First-year cost ($) (X) and Processing time (business days) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Slow & expensiveCheap but slowFast but priceyFast & cheap $0$500$1,000$1,500 0d10d20d30d First-year cost ($) Processing time (business days) Cost vs. speed: where Massachusetts sits among all 51 filing offices
Massachusetts bucks the pattern: a 6-business-day turnaround that's faster than the national median, despite formation costing more than average -- speed and price don't move together the way the fee total alone suggests.
Massachusetts bucks the pattern: a 6-business-day turnaround that's faster than the national median, despite formation costing more than average -- speed and price don't move together the way the fee total alone suggests. National median processing time: 6 business days; national average first-year cost: $383. Source: each state's Secretary of State published processing-time guidance + the 51-row SOS fee aggregate.

How the dear-third $1,125 stack breaks down

How your $1,125 first-year total breaks down State filing fee drives 44% of a top-third first-year total.
  • State filing fee $500
  • Annual Report (yr 1) $500
  • Registered agent $125
Cost Item Amount
State Filing Fee $500
Annual Report $500
Registered Agent $125/yr
Expedited Filing (optional) $100
Total, First Year $1,125

Ongoing tax burden after formation

Massachusetts's 8% corporate tax rate ranks among the highest corporate tax burdens nationally, an ongoing cost that can outweigh the one-time $1,125 formation fee within a few profitable years.

Corporate income tax
8%
8% corporate tax rate, #40 of 51 lowest nationally
Effective property tax rate
1.07%
Of assessed property value, per year

Sources: Tax Foundation state corporate tax rates, Census ACS effective property tax rates.

Fee check: Dear-third first-year stack, verify current Massachusetts SOS fees before filing at https://corp.sec.state.ma.us. Not legal or tax advice.

Massachusetts SOS fee strip (high filing)

Filing Fee $500
Annual Report $500 /yr
Processing Time 5-7 business days
Expedited $100 → Same business day
Online Filing Available
First-Year Total $1,125
File with Massachusetts SOS

Lower-cost escapes

Looking to file lighter than top-third MA? These states charge less in year one:

Tennessee $725 Nevada $900 California $995

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified. Report a data error on this page.

Sources used on this page
  • Massachusetts Secretary of State - LLC filing fee, annual-report requirement, and processing time. corp.sec.state.ma.us
  • Federation of Tax Administrators - cross-check of state fee and tax figures. taxadmin.org
LLC fees and requirements sourced from the Massachusetts Secretary of State. See our methodology for details.

Verify with the Massachusetts Secretary of State →