Massachusetts — statewide
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division
In short
Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division issues 4 permits we publish for Massachusetts — statewide, last verified 2026-09-03. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.
What this agency issues
| Permit | Issuing agency | Fee | Renews | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Articles of Organization (Corporation)only if it applies to you | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division | $275 minimum, for up to 275,000 authorised shares; $100 for each further 100,000 | no expiry, but an annual report is due within two and a half months of year end | 2026-09-03 |
| Certificate of Organization (LLC)only if it applies to you | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division | $500 one-time filing by post; $520 online or by fax | no expiry, but a $500 annual report is due every year | 2026-09-03 |
| Annual Reportonly if it applies to you | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division | $110–$520 a year — $125 for a corporation on paper, $500 for an LLC | annual — an LLC files on the anniversary of organisation, a corporation within two and a half months of its fiscal year end | 2026-09-03 |
| General Business License — Massachusetts state position (municipal business certificate)only if it applies to you | Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Corporations Division | No fee | set by the city or town | 2026-09-03 |
Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.
About each permit
Articles of Organization (Corporation)
$275 covers up to 275,000 authorised shares and every further hundred thousand adds $100, so the fee scales with how many shares you authorise rather than issue. Filing electronically is actually cheaper here, at $265, but caps the authorisation at 275,000 shares — above that you must file on paper and pay the increment. The contrast with an LLC is stark and worth weighing before choosing a structure: a corporation's annual report is $125 against the LLC's $500. A non-profit corporation forms for just $35.
Certificate of Organization (LLC)
$500 to form, and Massachusetts is one of the few states where filing online costs more rather than less — a $20 expedite charge applies to electronic and fax filings alike. The number that matters more is the recurring one: the annual report is $500 again, every year, which is four times a corporation's and among the highest recurring entity fees anywhere. A professional LLC pays the same $500 but cannot file electronically at all. Name reservation, if you want it, is $30 for sixty days.
Annual Report
A fourfold gap between entity types, and the deadlines differ in kind as well as date: an LLC files on the anniversary of its organisation while a corporation files within two and a half months of its fiscal year end, and the Commonwealth counts arrival in its office rather than the postmark. A corporation that misses it pays $150 instead of $125. Massachusetts publishes no late fee at all for an LLC — the enforcement is administrative dissolution, after which you file a $100 reinstatement plus every outstanding report, which makes the silence more expensive than a penalty would be. A non-profit pays $15 and files by 1 November.
General Business License — Massachusetts state position (municipal business certificate)
The state's own start-up page, Starting a business in Massachusetts, lists five steps with no state license step among them and names no general business license, so there is no state fee for one. What it does have is the business certificate, and the state is careful to say what that is not: this certificate is not a business license, it merely makes a public record of the owner's name and address. It is filed with the clerk of the city or town rather than with the state, it is needed whenever you trade under any name other than your own or your company's, and each of the three hundred and fifty-one municipalities sets its own fee, so no state figure exists. For licenses, the state directs you to the licensing boards of your own city or town.
Contact
- Jurisdiction
- Massachusetts — statewide
- Phone
- (617) 727-9640
Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.
Sources
Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.
- Massachusetts — business certificates, confirming the certificate is not a business licenseCommonwealth of Massachusetts · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Massachusetts — starting a business, the Commonwealth's own five-step checklistCommonwealth of Massachusetts · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-03
- Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Corporations Division fee scheduleSecretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
- Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts — Corporations Division filing feesSecretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts · primary source · retrieved 2026-10-08
Other Massachusetts statewide offices
- Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Food Protection
- Massachusetts Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering, Division of Occupational Licensure
- Massachusetts Board of Registration in Veterinary Medicine, Division of Occupational Licensure
- Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue
- Massachusetts Division of Standards, Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
- Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, Home Improvement Contractor Program
- Massachusetts Office of Public Safety and Inspections, Division of Occupational Licensure
Massachusetts jurisdictions
Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.