How to get a Massachusetts certificate of good standing

Key takeaways

• Massachusetts has two different certificates of good standing: one from the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Corporations Division and one from the Department of Revenue (DOR).
• The Corporations Division charges $12 for a certificate of good standing for a domestic or foreign corporation and $25 for a limited liability company, according to its fee schedule checked November 13, 2026.
• The DOR Certificate of Good Standing and/or Tax Compliance has no fee and is requested through MassTaxConnect.
• DOR says approved certificates are generally mailed within 24 to 48 hours of an online request, while a paper application takes 4 to 6 weeks.
• The Corporations Division does not email LLC certificates of good standing; those are sent by regular mail.
• The DOR certificate covers state taxes under G.L. c. 62C only, so unemployment insurance and city or town taxes are outside it.

A Massachusetts certificate of good standing is an official state letter confirming that a business is current with a state agency as of the date the letter is issued. If you own or manage a company in Boston or anywhere else in Massachusetts and a bank, landlord, buyer or licensing board has asked for one, the first job is to find out which of two certificates they mean. The Secretary of the Commonwealth issues one about your entity’s filings. The Department of Revenue issues the other about your state taxes.

This guide explains what each certificate says, what each costs, how to order both, how long delivery takes and what can block a request. Both certificates are state documents. The City of Boston does not issue either one.

What is a Massachusetts certificate of good standing?

A Massachusetts certificate of good standing is a document from a state agency that confirms a business has met that agency’s filing or payment requirements. Two agencies use the same name for different documents, which is the usual source of confusion.

The two certificates are:

• The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s certificate of good standing, issued by the Corporations Division at One Ashburton Place in Boston. It speaks to the entity’s record with that office, such as annual reports and fees.
• The Certificate of Good Standing and/or Tax Compliance, issued by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue. It speaks to state tax returns and payments.

The Corporations Division’s own fee schedule flags the difference: beside its corporate certificate of good standing, the schedule notes that the document is not a tax good standing.

What does the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s certificate of good standing show?

The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s certificate of good standing shows that your entity is current in that office’s records. For a Massachusetts business corporation, G.L. c. 156D, section 1.28 describes a certificate that gives the corporation’s name and date of organization and states that required annual reports have been filed and their fees paid, that no dissolution proceedings are pending and that no articles of dissolution have been filed.

For a limited liability company, G.L. c. 156C, section 68 treats an LLC as in good standing when the Secretary’s records show that it exists, that it has paid all fees then due to the Secretary and that no certificate of cancellation has been filed. The LLC certificate also names the managers listed in the certificate of organization and anyone it authorizes to sign real property documents.

A certificate of legal existence is a separate, shorter document. Under section 1.28, it gives the corporation’s name, its organization date and a statement that the corporation legally exists according to the Secretary’s records.

How much does a certificate of good standing cost from the Corporations Division?

A certificate of good standing from the Corporations Division costs $12 for a corporation and $25 for an LLC, limited partnership or limited liability partnership. The figures below come from the Corporations Division filing fees page as checked on November 13, 2026.

Entity type	Certificate	Fee
Domestic profit or professional corporation	Certificate of good standing	$12
Foreign corporation	Good standing	$12
Limited liability company	Certificate of good standing	$25
Domestic profit corporation	Legal existence with up to one name change	$7
Limited liability company	Certificate of existence	$12

Online and fax orders carry an added expedited service fee based on the order subtotal. The schedule lists $3.00 on a subtotal up to $14.99 and $6.00 on a subtotal from $25.00 to $84.99. By that schedule, one corporate certificate ordered online comes to $15 and one LLC certificate comes to $31.

The fee page lists no certificate fee for nonprofit corporations organized under Chapter 180. If your organization is a nonprofit, call the Corporations Division at 617-727-9640 for the current charge.

How do you order a certificate of good standing from the Secretary of the Commonwealth?

You order a certificate of good standing from the Secretary of the Commonwealth through the Corporations Division’s online Certificate Request Form. The form asks for the entity’s ID number, its name, the certificate type and your contact details. The steps are:

1. Look up your business in the Corporations Division’s online database, note its ID number and open the Certificate Request Form.
2. Choose the certificate type, such as good standing or legal existence.
3. Enter the name, mailing address and email of the person who should receive it.
4. Check the email box if the form shows one for your certificate type.
5. Pay the fee and the expedited service fee.

Payment method affects timing. The request form says a certificate paid for by credit or debit card before 7 p.m. may issue the next business day, an electronic check takes about three business days and a paper check takes about 10 business days.

The division’s Order Room is on the 17th floor of One Ashburton Place and is open Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to its hours page. A related program lets you pick up a printed certificate at certain Registries of Deeds, including Middlesex South in Cambridge, by typing “PRINT AT” and the registry name in the form’s special instructions box. The corporate certificates page lists 13 participating registries. Suffolk, the registry for Boston, is absent from that list.

Can you get the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s certificate by email?

Email delivery of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s certificate is available for corporations but not for an LLC certificate of good standing. The Corporations Division’s electronic certificates page lists the types it sends by email. Good standing certificates appear on that list for domestic profit corporations, foreign corporations and nonprofit corporations. For a domestic LLC, only the legal existence certificate is on the list.

Any certificate type missing from that list goes out by regular mail, so an LLC owner facing a closing date should order early. An emailed certificate carries the state seal and a unique certificate number. A recipient can check that number on the division’s certificate verification page.

What is the DOR certificate of good standing and tax compliance?

The DOR certificate of good standing and tax compliance, formally the Certificate of Good Standing and/or Tax Compliance, is a letter from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue stating that, as of the letter’s date, a taxpayer is in full compliance with its tax obligations under G.L. c. 62C. Corporations, other organizations and individuals can all request one, so sole proprietors are eligible. DOR charges no fee.

Administrative Procedure 613, dated January 30, 2026, lists common reasons for a request: selling a business, getting financing, renewing or transferring a liquor license, marijuana licensing, Gaming Commission registration and reinstating a business license or state contract.

The DOR certificate has limits. AP 613 says it does not cover unemployment insurance or local taxes administered by cities and towns.

How do you request the DOR certificate on MassTaxConnect?

You request the DOR certificate on MassTaxConnect, the Department of Revenue’s online tax portal, with or without an account. DOR’s instructions for the certificate give these steps for a registered user:

1. Log in to MassTaxConnect and click “More.”
2. Under “Other Actions,” select “Request a Certificate of Good Standing.”
3. Pick a reason from the “Reason for Certificate Request” dropdown, such as “Liquor License” or “Other.”
4. Complete the application and submit it.

If you have no account, the same request link sits under “Businesses” or “Individuals” on the MassTaxConnect home page.

DOR says approved certificates are generally mailed within 24 to 48 hours of the request and can be printed from MassTaxConnect in the same window. The paper form, called the Request for a Certificate of Good Standing and/or Tax Compliance or Waiver of Corporate Tax Lien, takes 4 to 6 weeks to process.

What can stop Massachusetts from issuing a certificate of good standing?

Massachusetts will not issue a certificate of good standing when the agency’s records show something missing or unpaid. At the Corporations Division, the statutes tie good standing to filed annual reports and paid fees, so a missed annual report has to be filed first.

At DOR, unfiled returns or an outstanding balance can block the application outright. AP 613 says DOR notifies the taxpayer of the liability or missing returns, and that you must wait at least 24 hours after resolving them before you reapply. For help, DOR’s Collections Contact Center is at 617-887-6400, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The corporate tax lien waiver is a different document

A waiver of corporate tax lien is a DOR letter under G.L. c. 62C, section 52, for a corporation selling all or substantially all of its Massachusetts assets. DOR handles it through the same MassTaxConnect application, with “Waiver of Corporate Tax Lien” as the reason, and charges nothing. Nonprofit corporations and sole proprietors cannot get one, and an LLC qualifies only if it files corporate or corporate combined returns.

What should you recheck before you act?

Each item below was checked on November 13, 2026, and can change:

• Corporations Division certificate fees ($12 for corporations, $25 for LLCs) and the expedited service fee: confirm on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s filing fees page.
• Which certificates can be emailed, including the LLC exclusion: confirm on the electronic certificates page.
• Processing times by payment method and the registries that print certificates: confirm on the Certificate Request Form and the corporate certificates page.
• DOR’s no-fee policy, the 24 to 48 hour turnaround and the MassTaxConnect menu names: confirm with DOR, whose instructions were last updated December 5, 2024.
• How recent the certificate must be: neither agency’s pages state an expiration period, so ask the bank, board or buyer what date they accept.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; confirm the current requirements with the agency named before you file or pay.

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