AgedCorporations.com’s answer is that New Mexico and Montana are the low-maintenance alternatives for a shelf corporation or shelf LLC: a dormant entity in either state costs very little in recurring state charges. New Mexico corporations report every two years and the site has found no periodic report for New Mexico LLCs, while Montana requires an annual report whose fee it is waiving for 2026 and 2027. Low cost is the attraction; unfamiliarity and a second state registration are the trade-offs.
New Mexico LLCs
New Mexico’s reporting rules are written for corporations. The state rule for profit corporations requires a first report within thirty days of incorporation or qualification in New Mexico, followed by biennial reports.1 A domestic profit corporation files its biennial report in even-numbered or odd-numbered years according to whether the last digit of its New Mexico certificate of incorporation number is even or odd.1 The biennial report is due on or before the fifteenth day of the third month after the end of the corporation’s taxable year, and for a new domestic corporation that has not set a taxable year, the rule presumes it ends December 31.1 Each report lists the names and addresses of all directors and officers, and the rule imposes a late filing penalty if a report is filed untimely.1 A supplemental report is due within thirty days if, after a biennial report, the corporation changes its registered office or agent, its directors or officers, or its principal place of business.1
LLCs are the gap. The report requirement sits in the Corporate Reports Act, which the Secretary of State lists with the corporation statutes, separately from the Limited Liability Company Act.2 AgedCorporations.com found no periodic report or report fee for New Mexico LLCs on any state source it reviewed. That is a statement about what the site found, not a guarantee of what the law requires, so confirm it with the Secretary of State before relying on it. For the same reason, the site’s chart leaves New Mexico LLCs out rather than show them at zero.
What a buyer can check is the record itself. The Secretary of State’s business services page links to its online business portal, where an entity’s record can be looked up.3 For an LLC, confirm the formation date, the status and the registered agent. For a corporation, also confirm that the most recent biennial report is on file, because a missed report carries a penalty the buyer would inherit. A sale that replaces the officers and directors of a New Mexico corporation is itself the kind of change the supplemental report rule describes, so the new owners should plan to file one after closing. How that fits with the rest of the paperwork is covered in transfer mechanics.
Montana
Montana requires an annual report every year, due April 15.6 The Secretary of State’s fee page lists the annual report as waived when filed before April 15, with a late fee after that date.4 The office announced that it is waiving the annual report filing fee in 2026, for the third year in a row, and that the fee will be waived again in 2027.5 AgedCorporations.com treats the waiver as a policy choice, not a permanent feature of the law, and assumes nothing about 2028.
A missed report costs more than the fee it replaces. Montana’s fee page sets a reinstatement fee for a profit corporation and for an LLC, plus a further charge for each year of delinquent annual reports.4 The Secretary of State also warns that letters saying a business owes money to file an annual report or to buy a certificate are not affiliated with its office, and tells recipients not to pay them.6 A buyer should confirm on the state’s own portal that each year’s report is filed.6 The office’s business page links both annual report filing and a business search from the same place.6
The site’s reading of the waiver is that it changes the cost of holding a Montana entity but not the discipline. The report is still due every year, and a late report carries a charge even while the waiver lasts. A buyer should ask the seller for each year’s filed report, not only the most recent one, and check that the entity has no reinstatement in its history.
Every figure in the table is a state government charge from the agency page in its row. The private registered agent fee is not a state charge; it is described in words only, and in the site’s view it can be most of what a dormant entity costs to keep in these two states.
| Item | Corporation | LLC | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Mexico biennial report | $25 every two years | No periodic report found | 12.3.2 NMAC |
| New Mexico late biennial report | $200 penalty | Not applicable | 12.3.2 NMAC |
| Montana annual report, filed before April 15 | Waived for 2026 and 2027 | Waived for 2026 and 2027 | Montana SoS fees; Montana SoS waiver release |
| Montana late annual report | $35 | $35 | Montana SoS fees |
| Montana reinstatement | $30 plus $35 for each delinquent year | $35 plus $35 for each delinquent year | Montana SoS fees |
Why low carry cost attracts shelf inventory
The economics are simple, and this section is the site’s analysis. A seller who forms an entity to hold for five or ten years pays the state’s recurring charges every year before the sale. On the chart, a New Mexico corporation costs a fraction of a Wyoming one each year, and a Montana entity currently costs nothing in on-time state fees. Against Nevada, Delaware or California, the gap over a decade is large.
That shifts where the cost sits. In the site’s view, with state charges this low, the registered agent’s fee and the seller’s own overhead become most of what it costs to keep an entity alive, and the state fee stops being a reason to let an entity lapse. In the site’s view that is a point in the buyer’s favor: an entity that was cheap to keep current is more likely to have a clean, unbroken filing record. It is still only a likelihood, and the record has to be checked, as the verify before you pay checklist explains. The ten-state cost table, with late charges, is on the annual fees by state page, and the Wyoming state guide covers that state’s fees, laws and audits.
Trade-offs
Low cost comes with three trade-offs, all of them the site’s assessment rather than a rule of any agency.
Bank and counterparty familiarity. A New Mexico LLC with no New Mexico operations, or a Montana entity owned by people elsewhere, may draw more questions from a bank’s onboarding team or a landlord. Expect to explain why the entity was formed where it was, and have the purchase documents ready. The practical issues for owners who live outside the formation state are covered in non-resident founders.
Foreign qualification when you operate elsewhere. Both states’ own rules contemplate entities formed in one state and registered in another: New Mexico’s rule applies its report requirements to foreign corporations qualified there, and Montana’s fee page lists foreign registration filings.14 The same logic runs the other way. If the business will have people, property or customers in a home state, expect to register the entity there as a foreign entity and pay that state’s recurring charges too, which can erase the saving. Compare both states’ carrying costs before buying; the steps are in how to buy a shelf corporation.
Disclosure. Age bought in a low-cost state is still age bought. When a lender, landlord, agency or counterparty asks how long you have owned or operated the business, the answer is the purchase date, not the formation date.
Questions readers ask
Do New Mexico LLCs file an annual report?
AgedCorporations.com has found no periodic report or report fee for New Mexico LLCs on any state source it reviewed. New Mexico's state rule sets a first report and a biennial report for profit corporations, and the Secretary of State lists the Corporate Reports Act with the corporation statutes, separately from the Limited Liability Company Act. Confirm current requirements with the Secretary of State before relying on that.
Is the Montana annual report free?
For now. The Montana Secretary of State is waiving the annual report fee for reports filed before April 15 in 2026 and has announced the waiver will continue in 2027. A report filed after April 15 still carries a late fee, and a waiver is a policy decision that can end, so it should not be treated as permanent.
Why are New Mexico and Montana popular for shelf LLCs?
In AgedCorporations.com's reading, because they are among the cheapest states in which to keep a dormant entity on the register. A seller holding an entity for years pays little or nothing in recurring state charges, which lowers the cost of holding inventory. The registered agent's private fee then becomes most of the carrying cost.
Do I need to register in my home state if I buy a New Mexico or Montana entity?
Usually, if the business operates there. AgedCorporations.com's summary is that a state generally requires an entity formed elsewhere to register before transacting business within it, which adds that state's filing and recurring charges on top of the formation state's. Check the rules of every state where the business will have people, property or customers before buying.