(1) The department may issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Title 15 Certificate," to a domestic corporation or limited liability company (LLC) that has been involuntarily dissolved by the Montana Secretary of State (MSOS) if the business has filed all required tax returns and reports and has paid all taxes, including interest and penalties, owed by the entity. Effective May 6, 2011, an LLC that has only one member and has not elected to be taxed as a corporation is not required to provide a Title 15 certificate from the department to be reinstated under 35-8-912, MCA.

(2) The department may issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Dissolution/Withdrawal Certificate" to a domestic C or S corporation that wishes to voluntarily dissolve, and to a foreign C or S corporation and LLC that wishes to voluntarily withdraw, if the business has filed all required tax returns and reports and has paid all taxes, including interest and penalties, up to the date of the request.

(3) The department may issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Tax Clearance Certificate" to a domestic C or S corporation that has completed its dissolution or to a foreign C or S corporation that has completed its withdrawal, verifying that the corporation has filed all applicable returns, including a final return, and that all taxes owed by the corporation, including interest and penalties, have been paid through and including the corporation's final year of existence in Montana.

(4) The department will issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Reviver Certificate" to a domestic C corporation whose corporate powers have been suspended or to a foreign C corporation whose right to do intrastate business in the state has been forfeited as provided in 15-31-523, MCA, for failure to file a corporation license tax return or to pay a corporation license tax and that is seeking to be relieved from the suspension or forfeiture as follows:

(a) if the application for relief from the suspension or forfeiture is made within one year or less after the date of the suspension or forfeiture and if the suspension was made because the corporation failed to file a required corporation license tax return, then the department will issue the certificate if the corporation has filed the required return and paid any associated tax, interest and penalties; or

(b) if the application for relief from the suspension or forfeiture is made within one year or less after the date of the suspension or forfeiture and if the suspension was made because the corporation failed to pay all or any part of its corporation license tax liability, then the department will issue the certificate if the corporation has paid the tax, interest and penalties.

(5) The department will also issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Reviver Certificate" to a domestic C corporation whose corporate powers have been suspended or to a foreign C corporation whose right to do intrastate business in the state has been forfeited as provided in 15-31-523, MCA, for failure to file a corporation license tax return or to pay a corporation license tax and that is seeking to be relieved from the suspension or forfeiture as follows:

(a) if the application for relief from the suspension or forfeiture is made more than one year after the date of the suspension or forfeiture and if the suspension was made because the corporation failed to file a required return, then the department will issue the certificate if the corporation has filed the required return and paid twice the amount of any associated tax and penalties; or

(b) if the application for relief from the suspension or forfeiture is made more than one year after the date of the suspension or forfeiture and if the suspension was made because the corporation failed to pay all or any part of its corporation license tax liability, then the department will issue the certificate if the corporation has paid twice the amount of tax and penalties.

(6) The department may issue a tax certificate, referred to as a "Certificate of Good Standing," to any entity wishing to show that it filed required tax returns and paid all tax, interest, and penalties. The Certificate of Good Standing will be issued when the department has all the information it needs to determine that all required returns have been filed and all taxes, penalties, and interest have been paid.

(7) The department will not issue any tax certificate unless the application contains the name, mailing address, and federal employer identification number (FEIN) of the entity. If the entity is a single member LLC that has no employees and does not have an FEIN, the single member LLC shall use its owner's social security number (SSN) or FEIN. If the entity is a C corporation requesting a tax clearance certificate described in (3), the entity must provide additional information as provided in ARM 42.23.313.

(8) Except as provided in (9), the tax filing requirements of the single member LLC for purposes of obtaining a tax certificate, are separate from the tax filing requirements of its owner. Because an entity that is disregarded for tax purposes may, and usually does, have an obligation to file an information return (Form DER-1, Montana Disregarded Entity Information Return) with the department, a single member LLC cannot claim to be current on its tax filing requirements on the basis that its owner is current on the owner's tax filing requirements.

(9) For wage withholding purposes a single member LLC that has not elected to be taxed as a corporation and its owner are considered to be the same employer. The department will not issue a tax certificate for the single member LLC unless all withholding taxes have been paid by the single member LLC and the owner.