How to Start a Massage Business in Maine
A Maine massage practice is licensed under its own chapter, on its own clock, with no establishment license anywhere in it. Title 32, chapter 127 gives an applicant two doors into the massage therapist license: pass the examination sponsored by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, or complete a course of training of 500 or more hours approved by the department. The license costs $40 a year, plus a $21 state police background check on the first application, and it renews annually on the anniversary of the original license, not on the October 31 that governs the cosmetology chapter. Only an individual may hold the license, the chapter creates no establishment license for the studio, and section 14310 expressly preserves the power of Maine towns to regulate massage by ordinance on top of the state license. Around the license sits the standard business stack: a $175 LLC with an $85 annual report due between January 1 and June 1, the split assumed name system, and services untaxed while retail product sells at 5.5 percent. This guide walks the massage route in order, including the local layer that does the work an establishment license does in other states.
Maine sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026
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Who regulates massage in Maine
Massage therapists are licensed by the Commissioner of Professional and Financial Regulation through the Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the same office that runs the cosmetology program, but under a separate statute: Title 32, chapter 127, the massage therapists chapter. The chapter's licensing gate is section 14306-C, which provides that a person may not, unless specifically exempted, claim to be a massage therapist or a massage practitioner unless licensed, and that only an individual may be issued a license. The definition work is in section 14301: a massage therapist or massage practitioner is a person who provides or offers to provide massage therapy for a fee, and massage therapy is the scientific or skillful manipulation of soft tissue for therapeutic or remedial purposes, specifically excluding manipulation of the spine or articulations, which keeps chiropractic territory outside the license.
Two features of the chapter shape everything in this guide. First, its exemptions in section 14307 run to people, not premises: other state licensed professionals performing soft tissue manipulation consistent with their own practice laws, without using the massage titles, and practitioners of tissue work the chapter names as outside massage therapy, rolfing, Trager, reflexology, Shiatsu, Reiki and polarity, again provided they do not use the titles. Second, the chapter contains no establishment license at all, and section 14310 fills the space with municipal home rule: nothing in the chapter prohibits a municipality from adopting or enforcing an ordinance regulating massage, massage practitioners or massage therapists, and where one exists the individual complies with both. The remaining agencies are the standard set: the Secretary of State for the LLC and entity names, Maine Revenue Services for retail tax and withholding, and the Department of Labor for unemployment.
Maine massage at a glance
| Item | Maine rule |
|---|---|
| Regulator | Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation under Title 32, chapter 127 |
| Qualification | Pass the NCBTMB or FSMTB sponsored examination, or complete a department approved course of 500 or more hours; 18 or older with a high school diploma or equivalent |
| License fee | $40 for a one year term, plus a $21 state police background check fee on the initial application |
| Renewal | Annually on the anniversary of the original license; $40 renewal fee; $50 late fee |
| Late renewal | Renewable up to 90 days late with the late fee; after 90 days the applicant is treated as a new applicant, with an examination waiver possible within 2 years |
| Establishment license | None. Chapter 127 licenses individuals only |
| Local layer | Municipal massage ordinances preserved by section 14310; the therapist complies with the chapter and the more restrictive local rule |
| Exemptions | Other licensed professionals working within their own scopes without the titles; named tissue work practices such as reflexology and Reiki without the titles |
| LLC | Certificate of Formation, Form MLLC-6, $175; annual report $85 due between January 1 and June 1 |
| Assumed name | Entities file Form ASUM-5 with the Secretary of State at $125 per name; sole proprietors file with the town or city clerk |
| Tax on services | None. Massage is outside the sales tax base and off the service provider tax list; retail product sales are taxed at 5.5 percent |
| Minimum wage | $15.10 an hour from January 1, 2026 if the practice hires; tip wage $7.55 |
The massage therapist license, step by step
Section 14306-D sets the qualifications, and its structure surprises applicants who expect a single school route. The applicant must either pass the examination sponsored by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, or a successor or other department approved organization, or demonstrate completion of a course of training consisting of 500 or more hours approved by the department. The statute states the two as alternatives joined to the same remaining conditions: the applicant is 18 years of age or older, possesses a high school diploma or its equivalent, and pays the application fee and annual licensing fee set under section 14306-G, which authorizes the Director to set fees by rule and caps the fee for any one purpose at $100 annually. OPOR's licensing page prices the license at $40, with a $21 state police criminal background check fee on the initial application, $61 to start, and OPOR Rule Chapter 10 confirms the massage therapist license at $40 for a one year term.
The renewal clock is the chapter's own. Under section 14306-F, licenses expire annually on their anniversary date, the date of the original license, rather than on a chapter wide day. A license not renewed by expiration automatically expires. Renewal up to 90 days late is available on payment of the late fee, which OPOR's page sets at $50, with the $40 renewal fee. After 90 days, the applicant is subject to all requirements governing new applicants and reapplies with the original application, documentation and fees, except that the Commissioner may waive the examination requirement if the renewal application, with late fee and renewal fee, is received within 2 years of expiration. Section 14306-F also authorizes the department to establish continuing education and supervision requirements by rule; the renewal materials published for this license state the fee and the anniversary timing, and this guide prints no continuing education hour figure, because none is stated in the chapter text or the renewal page this cluster's research rests on. A therapist should confirm any rule based requirement with OPOR at renewal rather than rely on the hour counts other states publish.
Premises: no establishment license, and the town ordinance instead
There is no premises license to apply for. Chapter 127 licenses individuals, states that only an individual may be issued a license, and creates no establishment category for the studio, the wellness center or the room inside a salon. The old registered massage practitioner tier was repealed in 2007, so Maine massage today is a single license held by a person. What regulates the premises instead is a combination of the ordinary and the local. The ordinary part is the town's zoning, occupancy and building approvals for the space itself, which apply to a massage studio as they do to any personal services use. The local part is section 14310: a municipality may adopt and enforce an ordinance regulating massage, massage practitioners or massage therapists, and the individual must comply with both the chapter and any more restrictive local provision. A practice opening in a town with a massage ordinance therefore holds two rule books, and the ordinance is the one most likely to speak to the premises, hours and local registration.
The multi therapist studio feels the absence of an establishment license in its paperwork rather than in its freedom. Each therapist's license is personal, posted and renewed on its own anniversary, and the studio as an entity holds no license the therapists shelter under, which is the reverse of the salon model's Level 1 and Level 2 tiers. A studio owner who does not practice cannot hold the business's license, because there is none to hold; her compliance role is verifying that every therapist working under her roof is currently licensed, and tracking the anniversary dates that differ from therapist to therapist. The practical system is a simple register: license numbers, issue dates, renewal confirmations, kept with the same care a salon gives its October 31.
Forming your business: the LLC
A massage practice typically forms a limited liability company under the Maine Limited Liability Company Act, Title 31, chapter 21: the Certificate of Formation, Form MLLC-6, filed on paper with the Division of Corporations in the Secretary of State's office at $175, naming the company and its registered agent. Formation is not offered online, so the filing goes to Augusta by mail or delivery. The annual report, Form MLLC-13, costs $85 and is due between January 1 and June 1, the first in the year after formation, under section 1665, with a $50 late penalty after the window and administrative dissolution for continued failure. A solo therapist may practice as a sole proprietor instead, in which case the state level filings reduce to the town clerk's name certificate described next.
Registering your practice name
The assumed name filing follows the entity. An LLC trading under a practice name different from its legal name files a Statement of Intention to Do Business Under an Assumed Name, Form ASUM-5, with the Secretary of State before trading under it, at $125 for a for profit entity, one statement per name, with no renewal term, so the filing stands until the company terminates it. A sole proprietor deposits a sworn certificate stating the business name and the owner's name and residence with the clerk of the city or town where the practice sits, under Title 31, chapter 1, at a fee the municipality sets. The name used on the door, the booking page and the intake forms should be a name one of those filings covers, and it should never borrow the protected titles in a way that suggests a license the practitioner does not hold.
Getting your EIN
The Employer Identification Number is the practice's federal tax identity, issued free by the IRS. A practice with employees needs one before the first payroll, because Maine withholding and unemployment reporting key off it, and a solo therapist's LLC will be asked for one by the bank and the landlord. Apply on the IRS site and keep the legal name identical across the EIN record, the Secretary of State filings and the municipal paperwork.
Sales tax: services untaxed, retail taxed at 5.5 percent
Maine Revenue Services taxes retail sales of tangible personal property at 5.5 percent, a single statewide rate. Massage services are outside the base on both of the state's transaction taxes: the sales tax reaches retail sales of goods and the enumerated categories in the department's Business Guide to Sales, Use, and Service Provider Tax, and massage is in neither, and the service provider tax's own enumerated list never included massage before that tax was repealed effective January 1, 2026. Sessions therefore ring up untaxed. Oils, linens and supplies the practice consumes are its own purchases, while products sold to clients to take home, oils, balms and self care retail, are retail sales at 5.5 percent, and the practice registers with Maine Revenue Services as a retailer for that stream.
Renting a room as a massage therapist
A massage therapist renting a room inside a salon, spa or wellness center holds no second license for the room, because chapter 127 has no renter tier to match the cosmetology chapter's Level 2 license. Her position rests on her individual license, the rental agreement, and the town's ordinance if there is one. The contrasts with the salon model are worth stating for both parties. The host salon's Level 1 establishment license governs the chapter 126 practices in the building and does not extend to massage, which the host cannot shelter or supervise as a licensed service of the establishment. The therapist's independence is therefore structural rather than contractual: she is licensed personally, books her own clients, and answers to OPOR and the town for her own practice. A written agreement should still cover rent, access, linens and laundry, insurance and the parties' respective clients, and the host should verify her license and its anniversary date at signing and annually.
Hiring therapists: wages, unemployment and withholding
A practice that employs therapists works under Maine's wage floor of $15.10 an hour from January 1, 2026, with the $7.55 service employee wage available where the therapist earns more than $191 a month in tips and the employer can show at least $15.10 an hour from wage and tips combined at week's end. A therapist whose schedule, prices and clients the practice controls is an employee notwithstanding a room rental label; the genuinely independent therapist is the one renting space and running her own book, as the previous section describes. Hiring triggers unemployment reporting through the Department of Labor's ReEmployME system on the first $12,000 of each employee's wages per year, under Schedule A for 2026, at a new employer combined rate of 2.54 percent, the 2.23 percent base plus the 0.14 percent and 0.17 percent assessments on the 2026 UC-1 form. Maine Revenue Services processes those returns and runs income tax withholding on Form 941ME, quarterly, with new hire reports filed as therapists start.
The local layer: municipal home rule under section 14310
For massage, the local layer is not background; it is half the regulatory structure. Section 14310 provides that nothing in chapter 127 prohibits a municipality from adopting or enforcing an ordinance regulating massage, massage practitioners or massage therapists, and that where a municipality does so, the individual must comply with both the chapter and any more restrictive local provision. Portland and other Maine communities have used that authority, so the first research task for a new practice, after the state license itself, is the town or city code for the exact address: whether the town registers massage establishments or practitioners locally, what it requires of the premises, and where massage uses may locate. Zoning, occupancy, signage and any local business registration run through the same municipal offices. The sole proprietor's assumed name certificate at the town clerk belongs on the same trip, since for massage the clerk's counter may hold two of the practice's filings at once.
Insurance for a Maine massage practice
Chapter 127 does not condition the license on insurance, so coverage is a business judgment, and for bodywork it is a straightforward one: professional liability written for massage therapy is the core policy, alongside general liability for the premises and property coverage for tables, linens and equipment. Landlords and host establishments commonly require certificates from renting therapists, and a multi therapist studio should collect them at signing and at each renewal, matching the register of license anniversaries. A practice with employees carries workers' compensation through Maine's private market. Because the license is personal and the studio holds none, the insurance file is one of the few entity level compliance records the practice keeps, and it deserves the same discipline as the license register.
Renewal and filing calendar
| Item | When | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Massage license renewal, $40 | Annually, on the anniversary of the original license | Each therapist's date is her own; there is no chapter wide renewal day |
| Late renewal | Within 90 days after expiration | $50 late fee; after 90 days the therapist reapplies as a new applicant, with an examination waiver possible within 2 years |
| Municipal requirements | On the town's own schedule | Section 14310 preserves local massage ordinances; check the code for the practice's address |
| LLC annual report, $85 | January 1 to June 1 every year | Form MLLC-13; $50 late penalty, then administrative dissolution for continued failure |
| Sales tax returns | On the schedule Maine Revenue Services assigns | Retail product sales only, at 5.5 percent |
| Withholding and unemployment | Quarterly, if the practice hires | Form 941ME withholding; unemployment on the first $12,000 of wages per employee |
The massage year runs on anniversaries rather than a single deadline: each license renews on its own date, under a spring LLC report and quarterly payroll filings.
Official sources
- Title 32, section 14306-D: massage qualifications, the examination and 500 hour course alternatives.
- Office of Professional and Occupational Regulation: the massage therapist licensing page lists the $40 license fee, the $21 background check fee and the anniversary renewal.
- Title 31, section 1665: the LLC annual report and its January 1 to June 1 window.
- Title 31, section 1510: assumed and fictitious names for limited liability companies.
- Secretary of State: Form MLLC-6 at $175, Form MLLC-13 at $85 and Form ASUM-5 at $125 on the Division of Corporations forms pages.
- Maine Revenue Services: the Business Guide to Sales, Use, and Service Provider Tax and the published 5.5 percent rate.
- Maine Department of Labor: the $15.10 minimum wage release and the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation's Schedule A and $12,000 wage base.
- IRS, apply for an EIN: the free federal application.
Maine massage FAQ
How do you get a massage license in Maine?
Under Title 32, section 14306-D, an applicant qualifies by passing the examination sponsored by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork or the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards, or by demonstrating completion of a course of training of 500 or more hours approved by the department, and must be 18 or older with a high school diploma or equivalent. The license fee is $40, plus a $21 state police background check fee on the initial application.
When does a Maine massage license renew?
Annually, on the anniversary date of the original license, not on the cosmetology chapter's October 31. The renewal fee is $40. A $50 late fee applies to renewals after expiration, and a license more than 90 days expired is handled under the rules for new applicants, with reapplication, documentation and fees.
Does a Maine massage studio need an establishment license?
No state establishment license exists in chapter 127, which licenses individuals only and provides that only an individual may be issued a license. What a studio must check instead is the local layer: section 14310 preserves municipal power to regulate massage by ordinance, and where a town has one, the therapist complies with both the chapter and the more restrictive local provision.
Can a cosmetologist or aesthetician offer massage in Maine?
Section 14307 exempts other state licensed professionals performing soft tissue manipulation consistent with their own practice laws, provided they do not use the titles massage therapist or massage practitioner. A cosmetologist may do the scalp, face and neck work inside the cosmetology scope, but offering massage therapy as a service requires the chapter 127 license.
Is massage taxed in Maine?
No. Massage services are outside the Maine sales tax base and are not on the service provider tax list either. Retail products sold to take home are taxed at 5.5 percent, and the practice registers with Maine Revenue Services as a retailer for those sales.