State hub · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, in full
Everything a Pennsylvania business owes its state, on one page: the office it must keep, the report it must file, what each costs at the Bureau counter, and what happens when one is missed. Every figure below is from the Pennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations and was verified 2026-11-14.
The annual report — deadlines by entity type
Pennsylvania replaced its old decennial filing with an annual report under Act 122 of 2022 (15 Pa.C.S. § 146). The fee is trivial; the deadline is the obligation. No annual report is due in the year an entity is formed or registered in Pennsylvania. The first report is due in the following year (15 Pa.C.S. sec. 146(c)).
| Entity type | Filing window | State fee | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited liability company | January 1 – September 30 | $7 | DSCB:15-146 |
| Corporation (for-profit) | January 1 – June 30 | $7 | DSCB:15-146 |
| Nonprofit corporation | January 1 – June 30 | $0 | DSCB:15-146 |
| Limited partnership / LLP | January 1 – December 31 | $7 | DSCB:15-146 |
| Foreign LLC registered in PA | January 1 – September 30 | $7 | DSCB:15-146 |
| Foreign corporation registered in PA | January 1 – June 30 | $7 | DSCB:15-146 |
Foreign entities registered in Pennsylvania file in the same window as their domestic equivalent. Beginning with reports due in 2027, an entity that fails to file its annual report is subject to administrative dissolution, termination, or cancellation six months after its due date.
The registered office rule
Pennsylvania does not use registered agents. Every entity must keep a registered office address in Pennsylvania on file with the Department of State, and may instead name a Commercial Registered Office Provider (CROP) under 15 Pa.C.S. sec. 109. The office address is a public record: anyone can look it up, and process servers and state agencies deliver there. Three ways businesses satisfy it:
Your own address
Lawful and free — and your home address becomes a permanent public record, with legal papers arriving at your front door during business hours whether you are there or not.
A commercial provider (CROP)
A company whose business is being the office — like us. The provider's name and address go on your record instead of yours. Changing to a CROP is a $5 state filing (DSCB:15-108).
Nothing on file
The failure mode. Mail from the state goes unanswered, service of process goes to a stale address, and from 2027 the annual-report clock runs toward administrative dissolution.
What forming and staying current costs at the state
| Filing | State fee | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization (LLC) — DSCB:15-8821 | $125 | One time, at formation |
| Articles of Incorporation (corporation) | $125 | One time, at formation |
| Foreign registration | $250 | One time, for out-of-state entities entering PA |
| Annual report — DSCB:15-146 | $7 | Every year; nonprofit corporations $0 |
| Change of registered office — DSCB:15-108 | $5 | The switch filing, charged at cost when you move to us |
| Certificate of subsistence | $40 | The state's proof-of-standing document, when a bank or counterparty asks |
Bureau fees are nonrefundable. Fee schedule and annual report guidance published by the Department of State; 15 Pa.C.S. secs. 109, 146, 153. Verified 2026-11-14.
Switching your office to Registered Steady
The order matters: the new designation is filed and read back from the state record first, and only then is the old office released. Run in that order, there is never a day your business has no office on file. The state fee is $5, charged at cost; our part of the switch is inside your membership.
Questions this hub does not answer? The answers page covers the ones owners actually ask, and the guides go long on the annual report and the dissolution timeline.