Staying compliant in Pennsylvania

What is the Pennsylvania annual report and when is it due?

The annual report is a short yearly filing, due by September 30, that confirms who your LLC is and where it can be reached, and the state fee for it is $7.¹

The September 30 deadline applies to Pennsylvania LLCs and to out-of-state LLCs registered here.

The requirement is recent. Annual reports began in 2025, according to the Department's annual report page, so owners who formed an LLC years ago and filed nothing since may not realise it applies to them. The Department puts it plainly: "The deadline for limited liability companies (domestic and foreign) is September 30," with the window opening on the first day of the year.¹

What the report asks for

The Department says the report must include these items: Name, jurisdiction of formation, registered office address, principal office address, at least one governor (manager or member), principal officers if any, PA entity number.¹

Most of that is information you already gave at formation. The useful part is the check it forces. If your registered office changed, if you switched commercial registered office providers, or if a manager left, the report shows what the Department has on file, and a mismatch is a signal to file the matching change.

Who pays a different fee or files something extra

• LLCs with a not-for-profit purpose pay $0.¹
• Restricted professional companies also file a Certificate of Annual Registration, on top of the report.¹
• Every other LLC pays the standard $7.¹

This page's sources don't spell out how to submit the report itself, so start from the Department's annual reports page, which is linked in this page's sources. If you also run an LLC in a neighbouring state, its rules are set separately: see staying compliant in New York for one example, and our explainer on how annual reports work across states.

Does Pennsylvania charge LLCs a franchise tax?

No. The Capital Stock and Foreign Franchise Tax no longer applies; the official statement reads "The Capital Stock/Foreign Franchise tax has been eliminated for tax years beginning January 1, 2016 and after." So there is no yearly entity-level franchise bill to plan for at the state level.²

Other taxes are a separate question that this page does not cover. An LLC's income tax treatment depends on how it is owned and whether it has elected to be taxed as a corporation, and sales or employer registrations depend on what the business does. Ask the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue which registrations and returns apply, check federal filings with the IRS, and consider a tax professional for the details.

The practical advice is to keep two lists. The Department of State list is short: the report, plus any change of registered office. The tax list is longer and has its own deadlines that the annual report does not satisfy.

What happens if a Pennsylvania LLC misses its annual report?

Pennsylvania lists no late fee for filing after September 30; the penalty for not filing is administrative dissolution six months after the due date, enforced starting with 2027 reports.¹

The Department's own wording is that "failure to file the Annual Report will subject the association to administrative dissolution/termination/cancellation". Two details stand out.¹

1. According to the Department's page, dissolution is enforced starting with 2027 reports. Reports for earlier years are still due, and if the LLC is later dissolved, reinstatement adds $15 for each missing annual report.
2. The months between the deadline and dissolution don't move the deadline itself, which stays September 30.

How reinstatement works

A dissolved domestic LLC can apply to come back. The application fee is $35 online or $40 on paper, and the Department adds $15 for each missing annual report. There is no time limit for domestic LLCs, so an LLC dissolved for some years can still return, though the missing-report charges keep growing.¹

Foreign LLCs are treated more harshly. Foreign LLCs cannot reinstate and must file a new foreign registration statement. In other words, an out-of-state LLC dissolved in Pennsylvania starts its registration over, at the $250 registration fee, instead of reinstating.^{1, 3}

If the business kept trading or signing contracts while dissolved, ask a lawyer how that affects you. For what happens when the registered office lapses, a separate question from the annual report, see the Pennsylvania registered office guide.

How do you keep your registered office and provider current?

Pennsylvania law says an LLC "shall have and continuously maintain in this Commonwealth a registered office" (15 Pa.C.S. § 8825), so the registered office or commercial registered office provider on file has to stay accurate all year, not just at report time.⁴

When to file a change

A change of registered office costs $5 and is the filing for moving the office; the sources checked here don't say whether a switch to or between providers uses a different form, so confirm with the Department. Line up the new office or provider first, file the change, and cancel the old service only once the Department shows the new one. The general steps are on our guide to changing a commercial registered office provider, and cancelling an agent service covers contract terms.³

A provider that stops serving files its own change and must promptly give the LLC a copy; the statute sets no advance notice period. Keeping your contact details current with the provider makes it more likely that copy reaches you.⁵

What providers' compliance features do here

A Pennsylvania annual report costs $7 in state fees, so a filing service's charge is usually well above the fee itself. Providers publish these options, listed in the order of our score.

• Tailor Brands lists annual compliance report filing and updates in its Essential and Elite plans; its Lite plan leaves it out.⁶
• ZenBusiness lists Annual Report Filing $100 per report or Worry-Free Compliance $199/year.⁷
• LegalZoom charges $99 + state filing fees, billed once.⁸
• Bizee (formerly Incfile) lists annual report filing, with no standalone price stated.⁹
• Swyft Filings sells ComplianceGuard $199/year.¹⁰
• doola includes annual report notifications with its agent service.¹¹
• Northwest Registered Agent charges $100 + state fees.¹²
• Rocket Lawyer lists $100 with Pro membership, excluding state fees.¹³
• InCorp Services charges $89 + state fees.¹⁴
• Harbor Compliance charges $199 per state per year plus filing fees.¹⁵

Reminders cover the main risk, a forgotten deadline, and several providers list them. LegalZoom lists alerts and deadline reminders with RA service; InCorp Services has email reminders included with registered agent service, and Harbor Compliance has annual report reminders included with registered agent service. A paid plan saves you the filing itself, at a price well above what the state charges. For owners who use a service, agent renewals cost far more each year than the state's report fee: ZenBusiness renews at $199/yr, Bizee (formerly Incfile) at $149/year and InCorp Services at $129 per year, while Harbor Compliance needs notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before the end of the current term. Prices side by side are on the Pennsylvania provider comparison, and a wider view is on services with compliance tools.^{16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21}

What does a Pennsylvania LLC compliance calendar look like?

The first year is mostly setup, and from then on the calendar turns on one date: the September 30 report deadline.¹

Year one

1. Certificate filed. No newspaper notice follows: "No advertising is required when forming a domestic limited liability company." How to file is covered in the Pennsylvania LLC formation guide, and the cheapest ways to form a Pennsylvania LLC adds up the fees.²²
2. Confirm the registered office or provider shown on the Department's record, and note your provider's renewal date if you use one.
3. Find out whether a report is due in your formation year. This page's sources don't say how the first report is timed for a new LLC, so check the Department's annual reports page or ask.
4. Ask the Department of Revenue and the IRS which tax registrations apply, and start the separate tax list.

Year two and after

1. Once the filing window opens (January 1 to September 30), file the annual report ($7) and check every field against reality.¹
2. Hit September 30 at the latest. For reports from the enforcement year on, missing it starts the countdown toward dissolution described above.¹
3. Review your provider's renewal before any notice deadline in its terms.
4. After any move or provider change, file the change of registered office ($5) rather than waiting for the next report.³

Terms such as administrative dissolution and county of venue are defined in our glossary, and what a commercial registered office provider is explains the provider's role.