Updated August 7, 2026. Quick answer: every figure Clear Money Guide holds about Montana, on one page, each one copied from a dataset that cites its own statute or agency. Built for reporters on deadline — take any line, follow the link for the source.
What stands out about Montana
These are the figures where Montana differs most from the rest of the country — selected by counting how many jurisdictions share each value, not by editorial preference.
- Return deadline: 10 days if no deductions; 30 days if deductions are taken — the only jurisdiction of the 51 we have data for
- Formation fee: $35 (articles of organization); series LLCs add $50 for each series member named — the only jurisdiction of the 48 we have data for
- Free look days: 10 days, or a longer period if the policy provides one — the only jurisdiction of the 31 we have data for
- Trigger: the premium due date, for any premium after the first — one of only 2 of 47
What dying costs here
- Small estate limit: 100000
- Small estate scope: personal_only
Source and full detail: the cost-of-dying index. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Estate and property law status
- Authorized: yes
- Statute or act: Mont. Code Ann. Title 1 ch. 5 pt. 6, enacted HB 370 (2019); rules at A.R.M. Title 44 ch. 15 subch. 1
- Effective date: 2019-10-01
- Conditions: Notary must be specifically authorised by the SOS for remote/remote-online notarization, must be physically in Montana, must use SOS-approved technology, verify identity, and record the session. Montana is also reported to allow remote notarization of TANGIBLE (paper) documents, a related but dis…
- Association name: Montana Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association
- Death benefit limit: $300,000
- Cash surrender limit: $100,000
- Annuity limit: $250,000
- Aggregate limit: $300,000
- Statute citation: Mont. Code Ann. § 33-10-224 (Coverage, limitations, and extent of liability)
- Free look days: 10 days, or a longer period if the policy provides one
- Trigger: delivery of the policy
- Extended windows: no statutory extension; the statute defers to ‘a longer period if provided by the policy’
- Refund basis: the premium paid, refunded directly to the person to whom the policy was issued
- Grace period days: 30 days, or at the insurer’s option 1 month of not less than 30 days, or 4 weeks for industrial life policies whose premiums are payable more frequently than monthly
- Coverage during grace: the policy continues in full force; if a claim arises during grace, any premium due or overdue may be deducted from the policy proceeds
- Variations: 4 weeks for industrial life insurance policies whose premiums are payable more frequently than monthly
Source and full detail: notary rules by state · guaranty association limits · life insurance free-look periods · life insurance grace periods. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Working and earning here
- Quit deadline: Next regular payday for the pay period of separation, or within 15 days of separation, whichever occurs first
- Fired deadline: Immediately upon separation, unless a written personnel policy provides for the next regular payday or within 15 days, whichever is first
- Statute citation: Mont. Code Ann. §§ 39-3-205, 39-3-206
- Has law: No
- Disclosure trigger: none
- Salary history ban: No
- Contested: No
Source and full detail: final paycheck laws by state · pay transparency laws by state · paid family leave by state · the convenience-of-the-employer rule. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Renting here
- Return deadline: 10 days if no deductions; 30 days if deductions are taken
- Interest required: no
- Statute citation: Mont. Code Ann. §§ 70-25-201, 70-25-202, 70-25-203, 70-25-204
Source and full detail: security deposit law by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Starting a business here
- Formation fee: $35 (articles of organization); series LLCs add $50 for each series member named
- Annual report: $0 if filed on or before April 15 (fee shown as WAIVED); $35 if filed after April 15
- Franchise tax: not verified
- Publication requirement: none found
- Expedite options: $20 for 24-hour processing; $100 for 1-hour processing
- Statute citation: MCA 35-8-208(3) (annual report window), 35-8-211 (fees delegated to Secretary of State); Montana Secretary of State fee schedule
- Five year total: at least $35
Source and full detail: LLC cost by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
Tax treatment here
- Has law: Yes
- Treatment: preferential
- Rate: Net long-term capital gains: 3.0% / 4.1% (two-tier, not flat). Ordinary income top marginal: 5.65%.
- Preferential mechanism: lower rate
- Tax year: 2026
- Statute citation: Mont. Code Ann. sec. 15-30-2103
Source and full detail: capital gains tax by state. Figures copied from those pages, which own them.
For journalists: how to cite this
Clear Money Guide, Montana Money Statistics 2026. https://clearmoneyguide.com/state-money-statistics/montana/. Every figure on this page is copied from a Clear Money Guide dataset that states its own primary source and the date it was read — follow the section links for the statute or agency behind any number. Free to reuse with attribution under CC BY 4.0.
What this sheet does and does not contain
This sheet aggregates; it does not research. Every figure is copied from the owning page linked in each section, and a figure we do not own is simply absent — not estimated, not inferred from a neighbouring state. That is why sheets differ in length: this one states 42 figures, and a state where we hold less will show fewer. A short sheet means we have less, not that the state has less.
Statutory law changes. Each linked owner page carries the date its figures were read; check there before relying on anything here. See also Montana financial adviser statistics and all 51 state money sheets.
General information about published law and public data, not legal, tax or investment advice. No advertising appears on this page and we earn nothing from it.