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Massachusetts Corporation cost breakdown, 2026
Corporation cost in Massachusetts · real fees, no upsells

How much does a Corporation cost in Massachusetts?

Forming a corporation in Massachusetts costs $275 in state filing fees, then $125/year in state annual fees. File.Business charges No state-fee markup.

Massachusetts corporation cost summary

Year 1 with File.Business$400
Massachusetts state filing fee$275
Massachusetts annual fee$125/year
Registered agent$149/year, flat
File.Business service fee$0

C-Corp vs S-Corp cost in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts state filing fee is the same whether you elect S-Corp tax treatment or not. The S-Corp election is filed with the IRS (Form 2553), which is free. S-Corp election in Massachusetts walks you through it.

Form your Massachusetts corporation for $275 total

State filing fee only. No state-fee markup. Registered agent $149/yr, flat. Start my Massachusetts corporation

FAQ

How much does it cost to start a corporation in Massachusetts?

The base cost is the Massachusetts state filing fee for your Articles of Incorporation, and our formation service is free on top of it. Corporations carry more setup than an LLC, such as bylaws, an organizational meeting, and issuing stock, but those are documents we include rather than extra state fees. See Massachusetts's current figure on the pricing page, and weigh the ongoing formality before choosing a corporation over an LLC.

Are S-corps cheaper than C-corps to form in Massachusetts?

No, because they are the same Massachusetts corporation with a different tax election, not two filings. You form the corporation once and pay the Massachusetts state fee once; the S-corp election is a separate IRS form with no state formation cost of its own. The election can lower self-employment tax once profit is steady, but it adds payroll and a return, so the saving is a tax question, not a formation-cost one.

What does the corporation price include?

Our formation covers preparing and filing your Articles of Incorporation, a specialist review, a bylaws template, and an EIN walkthrough, with the Massachusetts state fee passed through at cost. What is not bundled, and should never be sold as mandatory, are optional extras like expedited processing or certified copies. The pricing page shows exactly what is included and what each option costs.

What happens if a Massachusetts corporation misses a filing?

Miss the Massachusetts annual report or franchise tax and the state moves you out of good standing, which can freeze financing and contracts, then eventually dissolve the corporation. Recovering means a reinstatement filing plus back fees, so a skipped filing becomes far more expensive than the report itself. That is why the recurring calendar matters as much as the formation.

Is a corporation more expensive than an LLC in Massachusetts?

The Massachusetts formation fee is often similar for both, so the difference is mostly ongoing. Corporations carry more recurring obligations, annual meetings, minutes, and in some states a share-based franchise tax, so they usually cost more to maintain than an LLC. Choose a corporation for its ability to raise capital and issue equity, not to save money.

Can a non-US founder afford to form a Massachusetts corporation?

Yes, and the cost matches a US founder's: the Massachusetts state fee plus our free formation. The one extra step is the EIN, which we obtain from the IRS for you when you have no Social Security Number, at no added state cost. A C-corp is often the structure non-US founders use to raise money, so plan the tax side early; our EIN guide is the place to start.

What is the realistic first-year cost of a Massachusetts corporation?

Add the Massachusetts filing fee, our formation service (free), any options you select, and the first-year recurring items: the annual report, a registered agent, and any franchise tax, plus the soft cost of running required meetings and records. Because Massachusetts's amounts vary, the pricing page shows current figures so your first-year budget reflects reality, not a padded bundle.

Massachusetts specifics

What is different about what a corporation costs in Massachusetts.

Every state runs its own filing office, its own fee schedule and its own ongoing obligations. These are the ones that apply in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Corporation fees and ongoing obligations
ItemAmountDetail
Corporation filing fee$275Paid to the state, at cost. File.Business charges $0 to prepare and file it.
LLC, for comparison$500
Nonprofit$35
Ongoing state report for a corporation$125Annual Report, annual, due the anniversary of the original certificate for LLCs and limited partnerships, within two and one half months after the close of the fiscal year for corporations, and November 1 for nonprofits
Registering an out-of-state Corporation here$400A certificate of good standing from your home state is required. Filed on the Foreign Limited Liability Company Application for Registration for LLCs, Foreign Corporation Certificate of Registration for corporations.

What the Massachusetts fee schedule actually says

Massachusetts charges LLCs and corporations on completely different scales, and it adds an expedited fee to anything filed by fax or online rather than discounting it. The LLC annual report is 500 by mail and 520 by fax or online. The corporation annual report is 125 by mail, 150 if late, or 100 plus a 10 expedited fee when filed electronically. The limited partnership annual report is 500 on paper or by fax and 450 electronically. Nonprofits pay 15. The corporation formation fee of 275 covers up to 275,000 authorised shares and rises by 100 for each additional 100,000 shares.

Verified 2026-08-17 · against the agency's own filing fees page and fee schedule at sec.state.ma.us and 950 CMR 112.22 | online/fax rates recorded 2026-09-08: LLC 520, corporation 150

Cost calculator

What it actually costs to form your business

Pick your state. We show our service price, the state's filing fee, and your year-one total. No hidden costs.

Filing fees vary by state. We never mark them up.
Our service$0Formation included
State filing fee$500Paid at cost
Year 1 total$500+ $500/yr annual
Massachusetts: $500 to form, $500/yr ongoing. State fee paid at cost · we add $0.
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How we deliver, end-to-end.

Four-step path from request to confirmation. State and IRS turnaround varies; our steps run in parallel where possible to compress the timeline.

1

Intake + scope

You tell us what you need through a short intake form (or a call for complex matters). We confirm scope, surface any gating issues (deadlines, missing documents, entity status), and quote any state fees that pass through at cost.

2

Prepare + verify

Our specialists draft the filing, verify entity details against state databases, run internal QA, and route any items needing your sign-off. You see drafts before anything gets submitted.

3

File with the authority

We submit directly to the state Secretary of State, FinCEN, IRS, USPTO, or whichever authority your filing requires. We pay state fees at cost and track the submission identifier in your account.

4

Confirmation + vault

Stamped certificate, IRS notice, or filing receipt arrives in your encrypted document vault the moment we receive it. Next filing deadline auto-added to your compliance calendar where applicable.

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All 51 US jurisdictions

Every state plus DC plus Puerto Rico - direct filings, not third-party reseller. We hold registered-agent qualifications in every state we operate.

Deadline guarantee

If we miss a filing deadline on a service you pay us to manage, we pay the state penalty. Specific to each plan and the filings it includes.

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60-day money-back promise

Change your mind in the first 60 days and we refund our service fee in full. State filing fees pass through at cost and are non-refundable once paid to the state.

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