Tax update · Compliance
Pennsylvania’s Annual Report: Don’t Let a $7 Filing Cost You Your Business
Amanda Taraborelli, CPA · September 29, 2026
Pennsylvania used to ask most businesses for one report every ten years. That’s over. Act 122 of 2022 replaced the old decennial report with an annual report for nearly every Pennsylvania-registered business. If you own an LLC, corporation, or partnership, this is now a yearly item on your calendar.
The filing takes about ten minutes and costs $7. The penalty for ignoring it, which begins with reports due in 2027, is the loss of your entity’s good standing and possibly your business name.
File your annual report here Pennsylvania Department of State, Business Filing Services file.dos.pa.gov →Who has to file
Most active Pennsylvania entities and registered foreign entities must file, including:
- Business corporations and nonprofit corporations
- Limited liability companies (including single-member LLCs)
- Limited partnerships and limited liability limited partnerships
- Limited liability (general) partnerships and electing partnerships
- Professional associations and business trusts
- Out-of-state entities registered to do business in Pennsylvania
Sole proprietorships and general partnerships operating only under a fictitious name are not required to file. If your entity is already dissolved or terminated and shows as “Inactive” on the state’s business search, no report is required.
Your first report is due the year after you form your entity or register it in Pennsylvania.
Deadlines
The due date depends on your entity type. The filing window opens January 1 each year.
The fee is $7 for business corporations, LLCs, LPs, and LLPs. Nonprofit corporations and any LP or LLC with a not-for-profit purpose pay $0. There is no fee waiver for veteran- or reservist-owned businesses, and there is no expedited option because online filings are processed immediately.
The consequences of missing it
Pennsylvania built in a transition period so businesses had time to adjust. That period is ending.
Through 2026
No dissolution or termination for a missed report. Your entity will show as noncompliant, but nothing is taken away.
Beginning with reports due in 2027
An entity that fails to file is subject to administrative dissolution (domestic entities), administrative cancellation (domestic limited liability partnerships), or administrative termination of registration (foreign entities). This takes effect six months after the report’s due date.
What that means in practice:
- You lose exclusive rights to your business name. While an entity is dissolved, cancelled, or terminated, its name is available to any other filer. If someone else grabs it, you keep your entity but have to choose a new name to reinstate.
- A domestic entity that is administratively dissolved can only wind up its affairs or apply for reinstatement. It is no longer in good standing, and it cannot obtain a subsistence certificate.
- A domestic LLP that is cancelled falls back to a general partnership and loses its limited liability status.
- A foreign entity that is terminated is no longer registered to do business in Pennsylvania and can’t simply reinstate. It must re-register with a new Foreign Registration Statement and will receive a new entity number.
- Your compliance status is public. The Department of State displays each entity’s annual report information and whether it is compliant on its public business search. Lenders, buyers, and clients can look it up.
Reinstatement is possible, but it’s a hassle
A domestic entity can reinstate at any time, with no deadline. It will pay:
- $35 for the reinstatement application filed online ($40 on paper)
- $15 for each delinquent annual report that was not previously filed
- Current annual report information
The state fees are small. The real cost is the disruption: a gap in good standing, a possible lost name, and explaining it to your bank, your insurer, or a buyer.
What information you’ll need
The annual report asks for:
- Business name and jurisdiction of formation
- Entity number issued by the Department of State
- Registered office address
- Principal office address
- The name of at least one governor (a director, manager, general partner, or member with material management responsibility, depending on entity type)
- Names and titles of principal officers, if any
No financial information is required. The information must be current as of the day you file, not as of the prior year.
How to file
- Go to file.dos.pa.gov and log in. First-time users need to register for a Business Filing Services account.
- Search for your company name under Business Search.
- Click the Annual Report icon. No PIN is required.
- Confirm or update your entity information. It will be pre-filled from what the state has on file.
- Pay the $7 fee by credit card (no fee for nonprofits).
- Download your filed report and acknowledgement letter within minutes.
The Department of State also publishes a step-by-step filing guide and a video walkthrough. Official details are on the Department of State annual reports page.
If you spot an error after filing, you can file a free Annual Report Update at any time until the end of that calendar year.
Three things that trip people up
1. Your registered office address must be current. The Department of State mails a reminder postcard to each entity’s registered office at least two months before the deadline. Not receiving it does not excuse a missed filing. If your address is stale, the notice goes nowhere, and you find out when it’s too late.
2. This is not the same as the federal BOI report. The Pennsylvania annual report is a state requirement filed with the Department of State. The federal Beneficial Ownership Information report is a separate filing with FinCEN. Changes to the federal rules do not affect your Pennsylvania obligation.
3. It doesn’t replace the Certificate of Annual Registration. If you have a limited liability partnership, LLLP, or a restricted professional company (PLLC), the annual report does not replace your Certificate of Annual Registration, which is still due April 15 each year. Those entities have both filings.
What to do now
- Check your status. Look up each of your entities on the Department of State business search and confirm your annual report shows as filed for the current year.
- File now if you haven’t. Don’t wait for 2027 to start.
- Calendar it. Put your entity’s due date on the calendar as a recurring annual item.
- Update your address. Make sure your registered office and email notification address are current.
Own more than one entity? Each one files its own report on its own deadline, so this adds up quickly.
If you’d rather not track this yourself, we’re happy to include annual report filings in your compliance calendar. Reach out at contactus@manadatax.com or book a time with me.
Amanda Taraborelli, CPA
Manada Tax Service, PC
Rather not track this yourself?
We’ll add annual report filings to your compliance calendar.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Requirements and deadlines are set by the Pennsylvania Department of State and can change; confirm current details at pa.gov.