Is it cheaper to form an LLC in New Hampshire than Montana?

No. New Hampshire costs more upfront ($100 vs $35), and if you operate in Montana you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($70) plus pay a New Hampshire registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $320 versus $35 for forming locally.

Can I form my Montana business in New Hampshire?

Yes. Any Montana business can form its LLC in New Hampshire. But if the business operates in Montana, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($70 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

Does New Hampshire have better asset protection than Montana?

Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.

State Comparison

Montana LLC vs New Hampshire LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Montana.

Based in New Hampshire? Read New Hampshire LLC vs Montana LLC →

Compare Montana LLC vs New Hampshire 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

If your business is based in Montana, a Montana LLC needs no foreign registration there; a New Hampshire LLC run from Montana generally must also register in Montana as a foreign LLC (Montana's $70 filing fee). If your business is based in New Hampshire, a New Hampshire LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Montana LLC run from New Hampshire generally must also register in New Hampshire as a foreign LLC (New Hampshire's $100 filing fee). An LLC formed in one of these states and run from the other owes whatever filings, fees and taxes each state requires. A Montana LLC runs $35 in year one and $0/yr after; a New Hampshire LLC runs $200 and $100/yr. See the full breakdown below.

Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based

New Hampshire is $100 to organize and $100 a year to report, five years for $600 against Montana's $35. It is also one of the few states that taxes the LLC itself: Business Profits Tax at 7.5% once gross business income passes $109,000, and Business Enterprise Tax at 0.55% once receipts or the enterprise value tax base pass $298,000. Neither carries a flat minimum, so a small LLC owes $0 on both. New Hampshire levies no personal income tax, where Montana does. A New Hampshire LLC operating from Montana owes $70 for foreign registration.

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Factor	Montana	New Hampshire
Filing Fee	$35	$100
Processing Time	Not published by the state	Within 30 days (paper)
Annual Report Fee	$0 (waived when filed by April 15; $35 after)	$100
Annual Report Due	April 15	April 1
State Income Tax	Yes	No
Anonymous LLC	No	No
Publication Requirement	No	No
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 New Hampshire LLC cost.

Business Climate: Montana vs New Hampshire

Factor	Montana	New Hampshire
5-year business survival rate	53% (#16 of 51)	47.7% (#40 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+13.4% YoY (#40 of 51 by volume)	+26.1% YoY (#42 of 51 by volume)

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)

See the full 50-state survival ranking.

Compare LLC Costs: Montana vs New Hampshire

State A

State B

Montana

✓ Cheaper Upfront✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$35

Annual report fee$0

State entity taxNone

Report dueApril 15

Processing timeNot published by the state

Late penalty$35

New Hampshire

Formation fee$100

Annual report fee$100

State entity taxNone

Report dueApril 1

Processing timeWithin 30 days (paper)

Late penalty$50

Total Cost

Montana

New Hampshire

1 Year

$35

$200

3 Years

$35

$400

5 Years

$35

$600

Will you operate outside your home state?

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 New Hampshire charges $100. Montana is $65 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in New Hampshire but operate in Montana, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Montana (a $70 filing) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the New Hampshire route at roughly $320, versus $35 for simply forming in Montana. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: New Hampshire publishes a standard turnaround (within 30 days (paper)), while Montana publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.

Taxes: Montana vs New Hampshire

New Hampshire has no personal income tax while Montana does, but forming your LLC in New Hampshire won't change that. LLC profits pass through to you and are taxed where you live and operate (in Montana), not where the LLC is registered, so a New Hampshire LLC offers no income-tax savings for a Montana-based business. 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). 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). Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.

Privacy & Asset Protection

Neither Montana nor New Hampshire offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. The Certificate of Formation (RSA 304-C:31) doesn't require member/manager names, but the annual report (RSA 304-C:194) must set forth the names and business addresses of the LLC's managers or, if there are no managers, at least one member, so ownership/management can't stay off all routine public filings. 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 New Hampshire LLCs file an annual report ($100, due April 1). If you form in New Hampshire while operating in Montana, you maintain filings in both states, New Hampshire's report plus Montana's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a New Hampshire registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the New Hampshire route to roughly $250 a year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Montana LLC in good standing. The taxes 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). Business Profits Tax of 7.5% applies to LLCs with gross business income over $109,000 (threshold for periods beginning on/after 1/1/2025), and Business Enterprise Tax of 0.55% applies over $298,000 of gross receipts or enterprise value tax base. Both beyond the $100 annual report fee.

When New Hampshire Actually Makes Sense

Forming in New Hampshire makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in New Hampshire, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to New Hampshire in the near future, which would also move you out of Montana's personal income tax. For a typical small business based in Montana, none of these usually apply. Registering a New Hampshire LLC to do business back home means $70 in Montana foreign-registration fees, on top of New Hampshire's $100 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

: No. New Hampshire costs more upfront ($100 vs $35), and if you operate in Montana you must also register there as a foreign LLC ($70) plus pay a New Hampshire registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $320 versus $35 for forming locally.
: Yes. Any Montana business can form its LLC in New Hampshire. But if the business operates in Montana, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($70 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in New Hampshire, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Montana-based business, Montana: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and New Hampshire is worth considering only if you actually do business there. For a New Hampshire-based business, the same reasoning points to New Hampshire.
: Only one side of this comparison is knowable: New Hampshire publishes a standard turnaround (within 30 days (paper)), while Montana publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in New Hampshire while operating in Montana means you're not fully set up until the Montana foreign registration is also processed, so the out-of-state route is rarely the faster path end to end. If your timing is genuinely fixed, buy the state's expedite tier rather than relying on a standard turnaround.

Comparison chart of forming an LLC in Montana versus New Hampshire, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Montana and New Hampshire side by side on the factors that decide where to form. Source: IncACA 50-state cost dataset, verified against each Secretary of State's published fee schedule, July 2026.

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