Pennsylvania LLC Filing Fee (2026): $125 to Form, $7 a Year After
Download This Resource
Get the fillable cost worksheet, the editable version, and a filing checklist:
The short version (2026): The Pennsylvania LLC filing fee is $125, paid once with the Certificate of Organization (form DSCB:15-8821) and its docketing statement (DSCB:15-134A). A do-it-yourself filer with no rush can finish year one at that same $125: no newspaper notice, no notary, no state franchise tax. The recurring cost is a $7 annual report, due between January 1 and September 30 every year, starting the year after you form. Starting with reports due in 2027, an LLC that skips it faces administrative dissolution six months after the deadline.
The bottom line: $125 gets a Pennsylvania LLC on the state’s books, and a careful filer can stop spending right there. There’s no newspaper ad to buy and no notary to track down. Pennsylvania also dropped its capital stock tax years ago, so no franchise tax bill arrives either.
The one charge that repeats is small. Seven dollars. It is also the filing most owners have never heard of, because Pennsylvania only started requiring it in 2025, and from the 2027 cycle on, ignoring it can cost the company its legal existence and its name.
Below: every 2026 number from the Department of State’s fee schedule and annual-report guidance, plus the extras you’ll want to recognize before someone quotes you a price.
How much does a Pennsylvania LLC cost to start?
$125, in nearly every case. That’s the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee, paid with the Certificate of Organization (the document that legally creates a domestic LLC). The Department of State fee schedule gives it one flat price, and it doesn’t scale with the size of your business.
Everything that pushes the number past the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee is a choice you make. Speed is extra, at $100, $300, or $1,000 over the base fee depending on how fast you need it. A name hold before filing adds $70. Take the fastest expedite tier and the formation bill reaches $1,125; skip every extra and your pa llc cost stays at $125.
After that, the meter barely moves. Starting the year after formation, the company owes a $7 annual report each year, and for a typical small LLC that is the entire recurring state charge. If you’d like a year-one estimate that folds in a registered office service or other add-ons, our LLC formation cost calculator builds one from your own picks.
Every Pennsylvania LLC filing fee on the 2026 schedule
Pennsylvania’s list is short, and most of it is optional. Here is each charge the state can attach to forming or keeping an LLC, when it applies, and which office collects it.
| Item | Amount | When | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) with docketing statement (DSCB:15-134A) | $125 | Once, at filing | Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations |
| Name reservation (optional) | $70 | Before filing | Department of State |
| Same-day expedite (optional) | $100 on top of the filing fee | Received before 10:00 a.m. | Department of State |
| 3-hour expedite (optional) | $300 on top of the filing fee | Received before 2:00 p.m. | Department of State |
| 1-hour expedite (optional) | $1,000 on top of the filing fee | Received before 4:00 p.m. | Department of State |
| Annual report (DSCB:15-146) | $7 ($0 for an LLC with a not-for-profit purpose) | January 1 to September 30, every year starting the year after formation | Department of State |
| Subsistence certificate (Pennsylvania’s good standing certificate) | $40 | When a bank, lender, or another state asks | Department of State |
| Certified copies | $55 plus $3 per page | As needed | Department of State |
| Fictitious name (DBA) registration | $70 | Only if you trade under a different name | Department of State |
| Change of registered office | $5 | If you move or switch to a CROP | Department of State |
| Reinstatement after administrative dissolution | $35 online or $40 on paper, plus $15 per unpaid annual report | Only if dissolved (reports due in 2027 onward) | Department of State |
| Capital stock / franchise tax | $0 (eliminated for tax years beginning January 1, 2016 and after) | Not applicable | Department of Revenue |
Two lines are unavoidable: $125 at the start and $7 a year after. The rest only shows up if you ask for speed, a name hold, a certificate, or a trade name. One more rule shapes how you should file: Pennsylvania fees are nonrefundable, and the Bureau applies that to rejected filings too. A typo that bounces your Certificate of Organization means paying the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee a second time, so proofread before you submit.
Filing the Certificate of Organization yourself keeps formation at $125. The document the state never asks for, but banks and co-owners often do, is an operating agreement. LawDepot’s LLC operating agreement template is fully editable, so you can set out ownership, voting, and profit splits without paying drafting fees on top of the state fee.
Filing the Certificate of Organization: forms, payment, timing
Per the Department of State’s LLC page, a Pennsylvania LLC comes into being when you file a Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) together with a docketing statement (DSCB:15-134A), a companion information form, with the Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations. The same page adds two things worth knowing. You don’t need a lawyer to prepare the certificate. And no advertising is required for a domestic LLC, so a quote that bundles a newspaper notice into your pennsylvania llc fees is padding the bill.
The Department calls online filing the most efficient route, through Business Filing Services at file.dos.pa.gov. None of its forms need a notary. Filing online doesn’t mean instant approval, though: a person still reviews each submission, and filings are handled in the order they arrive unless you pay to expedite. DOS posts current processing times on the search page for each filing type, and its general FAQ guidance is to allow 15 business days.
Mailing it in? Standard paper filings are paid by check or money order made out to the Pennsylvania Department of State. The Bureau won’t take cash, and it accepts credit cards for expedited services only.
You also need a Pennsylvania address for the LLC’s registered office, the official spot where legal papers and state notices get delivered. A P.O. box alone won’t pass. No address you want to use? Put a Commercial Registered Office Provider (CROP) on the form by name instead. A CROP is a business that rents out its Pennsylvania address for exactly this job, and each one sets its own price.
Expedite fees run $100, $300, or $1,000
Pennsylvania’s expedite ladder is steep. All three tiers are charged in addition to the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee, and each one depends on when the Bureau receives your filing:
- Same-day, $100. The Bureau needs it in hand before 10:00 a.m.
- 3-hour service: $300. Your filing must arrive before 2:00 p.m.
- 1-hour service: $1,000. Your filing must arrive before 4:00 p.m.
So the realistic totals are $225, $425, or $1,125 for the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee plus speed. You can request expedited service on an online filing through Business Filing Services, but not by mail; the Bureau does not accept expedite requests sent through the post. The expedite charge itself can go on a credit card, a check, a money order, or an existing customer deposit account.
Is it worth paying? Only when a lease signing, a bank account, or a contract is waiting on proof that the company exists. Otherwise, keep the $100.
The $7 PA LLC annual report, explained
The number that matters most after formation is $7. That charge traces to Act 122 of 2022, which Governor Wolf signed on November 3, 2022. Since 2025, most domestic and foreign filing associations, LLCs among them, have owed an annual report on form DSCB:15-146. The old decennial report, a filing that came around once a decade, is gone. Repealed.
Per the Department’s annual-report page, the pa llc annual report costs $7 for a for-profit LLC and $0 for one organized with a not-for-profit purpose. LLCs, domestic and foreign alike, must file by September 30, and the filing window opens January 1.
The timing detail that trips up new owners: you don’t file in the year you form. The first report is due the year after formation, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first one between January 1 and September 30, 2027.
The form itself is quick. It asks for no financial information, only basics like the company’s name, jurisdiction, registered office, principal office, principal officers if any, and the DOS entity number. It must be signed by the entity under 15 Pa.C.S. § 146(a). Reports filed online are automatically approved, which is why no expedite option exists for them. And don’t confuse it with the federal beneficial ownership (BOI) report; the Pennsylvania annual report is a separate filing that state law requires. For a walkthrough of the online filing screens in other states too, see our guide to filing an LLC annual report online.
Starting with 2027 reports, a missed filing can dissolve your LLC
Right now there’s some slack. It won’t last. Act 122 set up a transition period for reports due in 2025 and 2026, and missing one of those hasn’t led to dissolution. From the reports due in 2027 onward, the rule has teeth: skip the filing and your LLC faces administrative dissolution six months after the due date. For an LLC, count six months past September 30. Administrative dissolution is the state closing the company’s active status on its own records, without a court and without your consent. A foreign LLC registered in Pennsylvania gets terminated instead.
The fallout goes beyond paperwork. While the LLC sits dissolved, its name becomes available to any other filer, and if someone claims it first, you’ll have to pick a new name to come back.
Coming back is possible for a domestic LLC, with no time limit. Reinstatement costs $35 filed electronically or $40 on paper, plus current annual report information and $15 for each annual report you never paid. Two skipped years, fixed online, runs $35 plus $30, so $65 to repair what $14 would have covered. A terminated foreign LLC can’t reinstate at all; it has to register again, and foreign registration is $250.
One more line from the Department’s guidance, in plain terms: not receiving a reminder notice does not excuse the missed report. Put September 30 on your own calendar rather than waiting for mail.
Your year-one Pennsylvania LLC calendar
Your first year, from the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee to the first annual report, fits in one block. Paste it into your calendar app and adjust the dates.
Copy-paste Pennsylvania LLC compliance calendar (formed in 2026):
Before filing (optional): Reserve the name with DOS for $70. Before filing: Pick a registered office. A Pennsylvania street address (no P.O. box) or a Commercial Registered Office Provider (CROP). Filing day: File the Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) plus docketing statement (DSCB:15-134A) online at file.dos.pa.gov. Pay the $125 Pennsylvania LLC filing fee. Nonrefundable, even if rejected. Need it faster? +$100 buys same-day if it's in before 10:00 a.m. +$300 gets 3-hour service (before 2:00 p.m.); +$1,000 gets 1-hour (before 4:00 p.m.). No expedite: DOS tells filers to allow about 15 business days. After approval: Get the EIN free at irs.gov. Rest of 2026: No annual report in your formation year. Jan 1 - Sept 30, 2027: First annual report (DSCB:15-146), $7. Online filings are approved automatically. Every year after: Same window, same $7. Reports due in 2027 or later that go unfiled can lead to administrative dissolution six months after Sept 30. Philadelphia businesses: BIRT return due April 15 each year for the prior year's activity, even with no profit. Restricted professional companies only: Certificate of Annual Registration, at least $500, by April 15 of the following year.
About the EIN, the federal tax ID number your LLC uses for taxes and a bank account: the IRS hands it out at no charge and warns on its own EIN page about websites that charge for one.
Pennsylvania registers the LLC; it doesn’t decide how the owners run it. While the Bureau reviews your filing, put the ground rules in writing with LawDepot’s customizable LLC operating agreement template: who contributes what, how decisions get made, and what happens if a member leaves.
Optional and situational Pennsylvania LLC fees
A few more charges show up in the pa llc cost conversation, usually because a bank asked for something. None is required, and none changes the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee.
- Subsistence certificate, $40. What most states call a good standing certificate, Pennsylvania calls a subsistence certificate for domestic entities. Lenders and other states’ filing offices are the usual reasons to order one.
- Certified copies, $55 plus $3 per page. A separate product from the subsistence certificate. Some cost guides blur the two; the fee schedule prices them differently.
- Name reservation, $70. Useful only if your filing date is a while off and the name really matters.
- Fictitious name registration, $70. Pennsylvania’s version of a DBA, needed only if the LLC trades under a name other than its registered one.
- Change of registered office, $5. The cost of moving, or of switching to a CROP later.
Two situations cost more. An out-of-state LLC registering to do business in Pennsylvania pays $250 for its foreign registration instead of the $125 domestic Pennsylvania LLC filing fee. And restricted professional companies, the licensed-profession LLCs such as law, medical, or public accounting practices, owe a separate annual registration of at least $500, due by April 15 of the following year. An ordinary LLC files neither.
Veterans, taxes, and the Philadelphia exception
Veterans and reservists can skip the start-up fee. Under Act 135 of 2016, effective January 2, 2017, veterans and reservists starting a small business in Pennsylvania are exempt from the business fee for starting it, per the Department’s veteran-owned business page. A qualifying small business must be independently owned, not dominant in its field, and employ 100 or fewer people. The waiver reaches the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee at formation and stops there. The Department says plainly that the $7 annual report has no veteran or reservist waiver.
On state taxes, Pennsylvania’s Capital Stock/Foreign Franchise tax was eliminated for tax years beginning January 1, 2016 and after, so an LLC owes no franchise-style tax for merely existing. Income taxes are a separate question that depends on how the LLC is taxed; an LLC that elects corporate treatment should confirm its obligations with the Department of Revenue or a tax professional.
Philadelphia is the local wrinkle. An LLC engaged in for-profit activity in the city generally must file a Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) return by April 15 each year for the prior year’s activity, and the city requires the return whether or not the business made a profit. Rates and exemptions are set by the city, so check phila.gov if your company operates there. Other municipalities may have their own business taxes too.
How Pennsylvania compares, and the cheapest way to file
Pennsylvania lands in the middle of the pack to form, and it is cheap to keep. Pull up our verified 50-state LLC fee table and two figures matter: about $122 is the average LLC filing fee, and $100 is the median. The Pennsylvania LLC filing fee, $125, runs a hair over that average. Montana is the bargain at $35, with Kentucky ($40) and Arkansas ($45) next in line. Massachusetts is the priciest by a wide margin: $500 to form, $500 every year.
| Where | Fee to form | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $125 | Then a $7 annual report each year |
| 50-state average | About $122 | Median is $100 |
| Montana | $35 | Cheapest, followed by Kentucky ($40) and Arkansas ($45) |
| Massachusetts | $500 | Most expensive, with $500 every year |
Over a decade, the recurring side is where Pennsylvania looks good: $7 a year against Massachusetts’s $500. So how much does a Pennsylvania LLC cost if you do it lean? Here is the playbook:
- Choose your name and confirm it’s available before you file; reserve it for $70 only if the filing is weeks away.
- Line up a registered office: your own Pennsylvania street address, or a CROP if you’d rather not list yours.
- File DSCB:15-8821 and DSCB:15-134A online through Business Filing Services and pay the $125 Pennsylvania LLC filing fee.
- Skip the expedite unless a deadline forces it, and then pick the cheapest tier that meets it.
- Get your EIN free from the IRS.
- Set a reminder for September 30 of next year, and every year after.
That’s a $125 formation and a $7 habit. The Pennsylvania LLC filing fee is fixed; the rest is a set of choices, and each has a cheap answer. This is worth doing yourself.
A $125 filing and a $7 annual report cover the state’s side. For your own records, LawDepot’s LLC operating agreement template walks you through each clause in plain English, and you can edit it as the business changes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to form an LLC in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania LLC filing fee is $125, paid once when you file the Certificate of Organization (DSCB:15-8821) with its docketing statement (DSCB:15-134A). For a do-it-yourself filer who skips the extras, that is the whole state bill for formation. Pennsylvania requires no newspaper advertising for a domestic LLC, and its forms need no notary. Optional costs sit on top: $70 to reserve a name, and expedited handling at $100 same-day, $300 for 3-hour service, or $1,000 for 1-hour service. The EIN is free from the IRS. After formation, expect a $7 annual report each year, starting the year after you form.
When is the Pennsylvania LLC annual report due?
LLCs, domestic and foreign, file between January 1 and September 30 each year. You’ll use form DSCB:15-146. A for-profit LLC pays $7; one with a not-for-profit purpose pays $0. Nothing is due in your formation year, so a company formed in 2026 files its first report by September 30, 2027. No financial information goes on it. File online and approval is automatic. The requirement comes from Act 122 of 2022 and has applied since 2025. It is a state filing, separate from the federal beneficial ownership report.
What happens if a Pennsylvania LLC doesn’t file its annual report?
For reports due in 2025 and 2026, Act 122’s transition period applies. Beginning with annual reports due in 2027, an LLC that fails to file faces administrative dissolution six months after the due date; a foreign LLC is terminated instead. While dissolved, the company’s name becomes available to other filers. A domestic LLC can reinstate with no time limit by paying $35 online or $40 on paper, plus $15 for each annual report it never paid, and supplying current report information. A terminated foreign LLC must register again. Not receiving a reminder notice does not excuse the missed filing, so keep your own calendar entry for September 30.
Does Pennsylvania require publication for a new LLC?
No. The Department of State says no advertising is required when forming a domestic limited liability company, so a Pennsylvania LLC does not buy a newspaper notice. That keeps the do-it-yourself formation cost at the $125 Pennsylvania LLC filing fee. If a formation service quotes a publication charge for a Pennsylvania LLC, ask what it is for. The Certificate of Organization also does not have to be prepared by an attorney, and Department of State forms do not require notarization. The one thing you can’t skip is a registered office. That means a Pennsylvania street address (a P.O. box alone won’t do) or a Commercial Registered Office Provider, listed by name.
How long does it take to form an LLC in Pennsylvania?
Standard processing varies. The Department of State posts current processing times on the Business Filing Services search page for each filing type, and its general FAQ guidance is to allow 15 business days. Online filings still get human review and are handled in the order received. If you need it faster, expedited service is charged on top of the Pennsylvania LLC filing fee: $100 for same-day service if received before 10:00 a.m., $300 for 3-hour service before 2:00 p.m., or $1,000 for 1-hour service before 4:00 p.m. You can request expedited service on an online filing, but the Bureau does not accept expedite requests by mail.
Sources & References
Fact-checked: September 2026
ClearLegalTips is an independent publisher of plain-English legal guides, free document templates, and cost calculators for common U.S. legal tasks. Every article is reviewed by founder and editor Fatih Öztürk and fact-checked against official sources: statutes, court fee schedules, and government filing pages. Not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice.
