Montana

All policies and associated endorsements with an effective date on or after 1/1/2026 should be reported to SLIP+ for States. Any policies and subsequent endorsements where the policy effective date is prior to 1/1/2026 should be filed in OPTins.

The Montana surplus lines tax rate is 2.75 % on all lines of coverage, except tax-exempt coverages and Lawyers Professional Liability (code 7002), which has a tax rate of 0.75%. Montana also assesses a fire tax on various lines of coverage. The fire tax rate varies by line of coverage in accordance with Montana Presumptively Reasonable Allocations Administrative Rule ARM 6.6.4803.

Yes, a current list of Montana eligible surplus lines insurers can be downloaded from the Montana CSI Surplus Lines page.

All policies and endorsements must be filed within 60 days of the effective date.

All policy and carrier fees charged on Montana surplus lines policies are taxable and should be reported in the Policy Fees field in SLIP+. Producer fees are not taxable in Montana and should not be included in the Policy Fees field in SLIP+.

The fire tax is charged under Montana Administrative Rule 6.6.4803 – Presumptively Reasonable Allocations. In SLIP+, customers can submit the primary line of coverage for each policy subject to the fire tax and SLIP+ will calculate the appropriate surplus lines tax and fire tax based on ARM 6.6.4803.  Customers can use the SLIP+ Tax Estimator to calculate the appropriate taxes for each Montana policy or endorsement.

The presumptively reasonable allocation percentages and the additional fire tax percentage for each applicable line of coverage are listed below.

• The following coverages are exempt from the Montana surplus lines tax and the Montana fire tax:
  • Ocean Marine – Hull and/or Protection & Indemnity (3002)
  • Ocean Cargo Policy (3003)
  • Ship Repairers Legal Liability (3004)
  • Stevedores Legal Liability (3005)
  • Personal & Pleasure Boats & Yachts (3006)
  • Ocean Marine Builders Risk (3007)
  • Railroad Protective Liability (5017)
  • Commercial Aircraft Hull and/or Liability (9000)
  • Aviation Cargo (9002)
  • Aviation Product Liability (9003)

Difference In Conditions policies that are subject to the Montana fire tax should be reported as two transactions in SLIP+. The first transaction should be reported under coverage code Difference in Conditions (code 1008) with the premium associated to the DIC exposure. The second transaction should be reported under coverage code Fire (code 1018) with the premium allocated to the fire exposure.

If there is no Fire coverage on the policy, filers should report a single transaction in SLIP+ under Difference In Conditions.

Montana allows producer fees on commercial and personal surplus lines policies. The maximum producer fee for commercial policies is $100, and the maximum producer fee for personal policies is $50. The producer fee is not taxable and should be reported in the Producer Fee field for all Montana policies.

The SLIP+ transaction fee is 0.175% of the gross premium (premium plus all taxable policy fees) for all transactions reported in SLIP+. The transaction fee is charged in addition to the surplus lines tax. The transaction fee is refunded pro-rata on all return premium endorsements, cancellations, and backout transactions (reversals).

Yes. Montana requires brokers to complete an attestation in SLIP+ at least quarterly for all new business and renewal transactions.