Do I need to file annual reports for my Pennsylvania LLC?

Yes. Since 2025, Pennsylvania requires every LLC to file an annual report with the Department of State under Act 122 of 2022. This replaced the state's old regime, in which LLCs filed only a decennial report once every ten years, so an LLC formed when no annual filing existed now has a yearly deadline. The report costs $7 and is filed online at file.dos.pa.gov between January 1 and September 30 each year, confirming your registered office, principal office address, and at least one member or manager name. It applies to all Pennsylvania LLCs, domestic and foreign, with no small-business or inactive-entity exemptions. The one timing exception is the first year: no annual report is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed or first registers in Pennsylvania, so an LLC formed in 2026 files first in 2027. At $7 the burden is small and the main risk is simply forgetting. There is no monetary late fee, but beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, failing to file leads to administrative dissolution six months after the due date, after which the association cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available to others. Set a recurring reminder for early in the year and file well before September 30.

When is Pennsylvania's LLC annual report due and how do I file it?

Pennsylvania LLC annual reports are due by September 30 each year, and the filing window opens January 1. Every LLC shares the same fixed deadline rather than one tied to its formation anniversary, and no report at all is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed, so your first filing comes the following year. File online through the Department of State's Business Filing Services portal at file.dos.pa.gov: log in, find your LLC by name or entity number, confirm or update your registered office, principal office address, and at least one member or manager name, and pay the $7 fee. The filing is a quick information confirmation, not a financial disclosure, so most owners finish it in minutes. This annual requirement, created by Act 122 of 2022 and effective in 2025, replaced Pennsylvania's decennial report. You no longer file the once-a-decade report, and you cannot skip yearly filings the way older guides suggest. Beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, failing to file triggers administrative dissolution six months after the due date, which costs the association its subsistence certificate and the protection of its name. Set a calendar reminder for January when the window opens and file early. The Department of State does mail a notice to the registered office at least two months ahead, but says failure to receive it does not excuse the filing.

What happens if I don't maintain a registered agent in Pennsylvania?

Failing to maintain a registered office in Pennsylvania puts your LLC's standing with the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, at risk. Without a valid registered office on file you will not reliably receive service of process, tax notices, or state correspondence, including the annual report notice the Department mails at least two months before the September 30 deadline. Missed lawsuits and missed deadlines both start here. Your registered office must be a physical street address in Pennsylvania, or a commercial registered office provider, available during standard business hours to receive legal documents. The annual report you file each year confirms this information, so an out-of-date registered office tends to surface as a compliance problem at filing time. The practical consequence of letting filings lapse is real: beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, an association that does not file is subject to administrative dissolution six months later, after which it cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available to other associations. Reinstatement costs $35 electronically or $40 on paper plus $15 for each annual report not previously paid. To comply, designate either a Pennsylvania street address you control or a commercial registered office provider, file the change with the Department of State when it moves, and confirm it each year when you file at file.dos.pa.gov.

How much does it cost to start and maintain an LLC in Pennsylvania?

Starting an LLC in Pennsylvania costs $125 for the Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State, and processing has run two to four days by the Department's own account. Ongoing state cost is low: a $7 annual report, filed online at file.dos.pa.gov by September 30 each year, with the first report due the calendar year after your LLC is formed rather than in the formation year. That puts first-year cost at $132, roughly $100 below the national average, and $7 a year after that. Optional Bureau charges are less cheap: a name reservation is $70, a subsistence certificate is $40, and certified copies are $55 plus $3 per page. Expedited filing is $100 same-day, $300 for three-hour, or $1,000 for one-hour, and only for documents hand-delivered in Harrisburg. Note also that the Bureau takes only check or money order for regular filings, with cards accepted for expedited services only, and that veteran-owned and reservist-owned small businesses may qualify for a fee exemption under Act 135 of 2016. Beyond state fees, budget for a commercial registered office provider if you use one instead of your own Pennsylvania address, plus any local licensing costs, which vary by municipality and industry. File your Certificate of Organization with the $125 fee, then put the annual report on your compliance calendar so a $7 filing never turns into a dissolution problem.

Compliance · PA

Pennsylvania LLC Annual Compliance Requirements (2026)

Everything your Pennsylvania LLC must do to stay in good standing, annual report deadlines, registered agent rules, and state-specific obligations.

First-Year Total$132

Annual Ongoing$7/yr

vs National Avg- $99.53

Last updated: August 22, 2026

Pennsylvania is inexpensive to keep an LLC in, but its compliance rules changed with Act 122 of 2022. Starting in 2025, the state's long-standing decennial-only regime was replaced by a mandatory annual report. The good news is the price: at $7 it is among the cheapest annual reports in the country, and the January 1 to September 30 filing window is the same for every LLC.

Two timing points matter most. First, no annual report is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed. The Department of State is explicit that a company's first annual report is due the year following its formation in Pennsylvania or its initial foreign registration, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first report in 2027. Second, that is exactly the year enforcement begins: beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, an association that fails to file in the 2027 calendar year is subject to administrative dissolution six months after the due date. There is no monetary late fee, but a dissolved association cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available for others to use.

The Certificate of Organization costs $125, which puts first-year cost at $132, roughly $100 below the national average, and $7 a year after that. Processing has run two to four days by the Department of State's own account. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh anchor an economy strong in healthcare and life sciences, financial services, logistics, and robotics, and staying in good standing comes down to one $7 filing, a current registered office, and your tax returns.

Stat card for Pennsylvania LLC compliance costs: $132 in unavoidable first-year charges and $7 a year after that, −$99.53 against the $231.53 national first-year average. Its annual report costs $7. — First-year total bundles the state filing fee with any report or entity tax due in year one; the recurring figure is what Pennsylvania costs every year after that. Source: Pennsylvania's published filing requirements and fee schedule, verified July 2026; national average from IncACA's 50-state compliance dataset.

Annual Report Requirements

Due: September 30 each year (filing window opens January 1)

Fee: $7

Frequency: annual

How: Online at file.dos.pa.gov

Full Pennsylvania Annual Report Guide →

Registered Agent Requirements

What Pennsylvania requires of a registered office and registered agent, what the role costs, and how to keep the address current with the Department of State.

Before you compare paid services: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one way to meet the requirement and not the only one. The Pennsylvania registered agent requirements set out what Pennsylvania itself asks.

Registered agent services for Pennsylvania LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

Northwest Registered Agent$125/yr renewal
Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle
Bizee$149/yr renewal
Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat
ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal
Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support
LegalZoom$249/yr renewal
Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

Pennsylvania Registered Agent Requirements →

Late Filing Penalties

Penalty: No monetary late fee. The penalty is administrative dissolution, not a fine

A dissolved LLC loses good standing and its exclusive right to its name; reinstatement costs $35 electronically or $40 on paper, plus $15 per missed annual report

Pennsylvania Late Fee Guide →

Pennsylvania-Specific Compliance Considerations

New Annual Report Requirement (Act 122 of 2022)

As of 2025, Pennsylvania requires every LLC to file an annual report with the Department of State, a major change from the decennial report it replaced. Any guidance saying Pennsylvania LLCs are exempt from annual reports is outdated. The one exception is timing: no report is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed or first registers, so the first one comes the following year.

One of the Lowest Annual Report Fees in the Country

Pennsylvania's annual report costs $7, and every LLC shares the same fixed window. File online between January 1 and September 30 each year at file.dos.pa.gov, so compliance is cheap and predictable once it is on your calendar. The Department of State mails a notice to the registered office at least two months before the deadline, but says failing to receive it does not relieve you of the obligation.

Dissolution Risk Starts With the 2027 Report

Act 122 built in a transition period, so there is no monetary late fee and no immediate dissolution for the first reports. Beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, an association that fails to file in the 2027 calendar year is subject to administrative dissolution six months after the due date. Once dissolution is filed, the association cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available for other associations to use. Reinstatement costs $35 electronically or $40 on paper, plus $15 for each annual report not previously paid.

Registered Office Requirements

Pennsylvania requires every LLC to maintain a registered office with a physical Pennsylvania address for service of process, available during normal business hours. It can be an address you control or a commercial registered office provider. The annual report confirms this information each year, so an out-of-date address usually surfaces at filing time, or worse, when a notice goes undelivered.

Payment Rules and Other Bureau Fees

The Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations accepts only check or money order for regular filings; cash and credit cards are refused, and cards are accepted for expedited services only. Add-ons are comparatively expensive: a name reservation is $70, a subsistence certificate is $40, and certified copies are $55 plus $3 per page. Expedited service is $100 same-day, $300 for three-hour, and $1,000 for one-hour, and is available only for documents hand-delivered in Harrisburg.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Yes. Since 2025, Pennsylvania requires every LLC to file an annual report with the Department of State under Act 122 of 2022. This replaced the state's old regime, in which LLCs filed only a decennial report once every ten years, so an LLC formed when no annual filing existed now has a yearly deadline. The report costs $7 and is filed online at file.dos.pa.gov between January 1 and September 30 each year, confirming your registered office, principal office address, and at least one member or manager name. It applies to all Pennsylvania LLCs, domestic and foreign, with no small-business or inactive-entity exemptions. The one timing exception is the first year: no annual report is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed or first registers in Pennsylvania, so an LLC formed in 2026 files first in 2027. At $7 the burden is small and the main risk is simply forgetting. There is no monetary late fee, but beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, failing to file leads to administrative dissolution six months after the due date, after which the association cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available to others. Set a recurring reminder for early in the year and file well before September 30.
: Pennsylvania LLC annual reports are due by September 30 each year, and the filing window opens January 1. Every LLC shares the same fixed deadline rather than one tied to its formation anniversary, and no report at all is due in the calendar year the LLC is formed, so your first filing comes the following year. File online through the Department of State's Business Filing Services portal at file.dos.pa.gov: log in, find your LLC by name or entity number, confirm or update your registered office, principal office address, and at least one member or manager name, and pay the $7 fee. The filing is a quick information confirmation, not a financial disclosure, so most owners finish it in minutes. This annual requirement, created by Act 122 of 2022 and effective in 2025, replaced Pennsylvania's decennial report. You no longer file the once-a-decade report, and you cannot skip yearly filings the way older guides suggest. Beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, failing to file triggers administrative dissolution six months after the due date, which costs the association its subsistence certificate and the protection of its name. Set a calendar reminder for January when the window opens and file early. The Department of State does mail a notice to the registered office at least two months ahead, but says failure to receive it does not excuse the filing.
: Failing to maintain a registered office in Pennsylvania puts your LLC's standing with the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations, at risk. Without a valid registered office on file you will not reliably receive service of process, tax notices, or state correspondence, including the annual report notice the Department mails at least two months before the September 30 deadline. Missed lawsuits and missed deadlines both start here. Your registered office must be a physical street address in Pennsylvania, or a commercial registered office provider, available during standard business hours to receive legal documents. The annual report you file each year confirms this information, so an out-of-date registered office tends to surface as a compliance problem at filing time. The practical consequence of letting filings lapse is real: beginning with Annual Reports due in 2027, an association that does not file is subject to administrative dissolution six months later, after which it cannot obtain a subsistence certificate and its name becomes available to other associations. Reinstatement costs $35 electronically or $40 on paper plus $15 for each annual report not previously paid. To comply, designate either a Pennsylvania street address you control or a commercial registered office provider, file the change with the Department of State when it moves, and confirm it each year when you file at file.dos.pa.gov.
: Starting an LLC in Pennsylvania costs $125 for the Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) filed with the Pennsylvania Department of State, and processing has run two to four days by the Department's own account. Ongoing state cost is low: a $7 annual report, filed online at file.dos.pa.gov by September 30 each year, with the first report due the calendar year after your LLC is formed rather than in the formation year. That puts first-year cost at $132, roughly $100 below the national average, and $7 a year after that. Optional Bureau charges are less cheap: a name reservation is $70, a subsistence certificate is $40, and certified copies are $55 plus $3 per page. Expedited filing is $100 same-day, $300 for three-hour, or $1,000 for one-hour, and only for documents hand-delivered in Harrisburg. Note also that the Bureau takes only check or money order for regular filings, with cards accepted for expedited services only, and that veteran-owned and reservist-owned small businesses may qualify for a fee exemption under Act 135 of 2016. Beyond state fees, budget for a commercial registered office provider if you use one instead of your own Pennsylvania address, plus any local licensing costs, which vary by municipality and industry. File your Certificate of Organization with the $125 fee, then put the annual report on your compliance calendar so a $7 filing never turns into a dissolution problem.

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Pennsylvania sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/businessPennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations: business entity filings
pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/types-of-filings-and-registrations/annual-reportsPennsylvania agency guidance: Annual Report
pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pabull?file=%2Fsecure%2Fpabulletin%2Fdata%2Fvol54%2F54-50%2F1793.htmlPennsylvania agency guidance: Annual Report