Montana LLC vs Arizona LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Montana.
Based in Arizona? Read Arizona LLC vs Montana LLC →
Compare Montana LLC vs Arizona LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
Last updated: September 23, 2026
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Arizona ranks fourth of fifty on formation fee at $50, behind Montana's $35 at rank one, and it requires no annual report where Montana's is currently waived. The $15 gap is not the story. Unless your statutory agent's street address sits in Maricopa or Pima county, A.R.S. 29-3201(G) requires notice of the filing published three consecutive times in a local newspaper, at that paper's own per-column-inch rate, and Arizona publishes no total. So $50 is not a first-year figure. Add $70 to register the Arizona LLC into Montana.
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| Factor | Montana | Arizona |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $35 | $50 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Live queue, not fixed |
| Annual Report Fee | $0 (waived when filed by April 15; $35 after) | None |
| Annual Report Due | April 15 | None required |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | Yes (waived in Maricopa & Pima counties) |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $70 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Montana LLC cost and Arizona LLC cost.
Business Climate: Montana vs Arizona
| Factor | Montana | Arizona |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 53% (#16 of 51) | 52.1% (#22 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +13.4% YoY (#40 of 51 by volume) | +23.9% YoY (#13 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Montana vs Arizona
Montana
Arizona
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Montana charges $35 to form an LLC, while Arizona charges $50. Montana is $15 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Arizona but operate in Montana, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Montana (a $70 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Arizona (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Arizona route at roughly $270, versus $35 for simply forming in Montana. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither Montana nor Arizona publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork. Note that Arizona also requires newly formed LLCs to publish a newspaper notice (Arizona requires a notice of the filing to be published for three consecutive publications in a newspaper in the county of the statutory agent's address (A.R.S. 29-3201(G)), within 60 days after the Commission files the Articles. Where that county's population exceeds 800,000, currently Maricopa and Pima, the Corporation Commission posts the notice in its own database instead, free of charge. The newspaper sets its own rate; the state publishes no cost figure), which adds to the true formation cost.
Taxes: Montana vs Arizona
Both Montana and Arizona levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Arizona doesn't change what a Montana-based owner pays. Montana levies a two-bracket individual income tax; per HB 337 (2025) the top rate drops from 5.9% to 5.65% effective January 1, 2026, with the 4.7% lower rate applying up to $47,500 single/$95,000 joint (Montana Department of Revenue). Arizona levies a personal income tax (flat 2.5%). No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither Montana nor Arizona offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. The Articles of Organization must list members (member-managed) or managers (manager-managed), a public record. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Montana LLCs file a free annual report (due April 15), and Arizona LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Arizona while operating in Montana, you maintain filings in both states, Arizona asks for no report, but Montana still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay an Arizona registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Arizona route to roughly $150 a year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Montana LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: No franchise or privilege tax on LLCs; the Secretary of State currently waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 ($35 if filed late).
When Arizona Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Arizona makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Arizona, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Arizona in the near future. For a typical small business based in Montana, none of these usually apply. Registering an Arizona LLC to do business back home means $70 in Montana foreign-registration fees, on top of Arizona's $50 formation fee, while Montana's own annual report stays free to file and is due April 15. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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