Everything you need to register a foreign LLC in Pennsylvania.
State filing fee$250one-time
Registered agent$125/yearbased on Northwest RA
Total, all in$646
Pennsylvania data last reviewed Aug 26, 2026 · dos.pa.govTotals include the $250 filing fee once, Northwest RA at $125/year, and Pennsylvania recurring state costs over the selected period.
Foreign Qualification
Filing fee
$250
Form
Foreign Registration Statement (DSCB:15-412)
Annual obligation
$7/year
Processing time
Pennsylvania publishes "Please allow 15 business days for processing" for business filings generally. It separately reported a two to four day average across 2024, which is a performance statistic rather than a service standard and is now well over a year old. Expedited service is $100 same day if received before 10am, $300 within three hours if before 2pm and $1,000 within one hour if before 4pm, and expedited requests cannot be posted
Expedite
$100 for same day if received before 10am, $300 within three hours if before 2pm, $1,000 within one hour if before 4pm. Expedited requests cannot be posted, and the fees are nonrefundable
Pennsylvania data last reviewed Aug 26, 2026 · dos.pa.gov
Formation in Pennsylvania
Formation fee
$125
Annual cost
$7/year
State income tax
Flat 3.07% income tax (2026 tax year)
Privacy
Moderate
Pennsylvania replaced the decennial report with an annual report under Act 122 of 2022. Since January 2025 an LLC files a $7 annual report between January 1 and September 30 each year. There is no monetary late fee in any year. The only sanction is administrative dissolution, and it has not started. The first report that can trigger it is the one due 30 September 2027. The Department may begin the process about six months after that, and a further 60-day notice period applies, so the earliest an LLC can actually be dissolved is around the middle of 2028. Decennial filings still exist for registered insignia and marks.
What triggers foreign qualification in Pennsylvania?
Physical office or place of business
Employees working in the state
Important to know
The annual report is $7 and due September 30. Older guides may state that Pennsylvania requires no annual report.
Activities that do NOT require registration in Pennsylvania
The following activities are explicitly carved out by statute. On their own, they do not require a foreign LLC to register in Pennsylvania.
Maintaining, defending, mediating, arbitrating, or settling an action or proceeding
Carrying on internal affairs, including meetings of interest holders or governors
Maintaining accounts at financial institutions
Maintaining offices or agents for the transfer, exchange, and registration of the association's securities
Selling through independent contractors
Soliciting or taking orders that must be accepted outside Pennsylvania before they become contracts
Creating, acquiring, or incurring obligations, debt, mortgages, or security interests in property
Securing or collecting debts, enforcing security interests, and holding or maintaining property acquired that way
Conducting an isolated transaction that is not one of a series of similar transactions
Doing business in interstate or foreign commerce
Acquiring, owning, holding, leasing as a tenant, or transferring real estate, mortgages and liens, personal property, and security interests, and nothing more
Doing work or providing services in good faith in response to a disaster or emergency
Under 15 Pa.C.S. Section 403. Twelve operative items; statutory paragraph (10) was deleted by amendment, so the printed numbering runs to (13). Pennsylvania puts NO time limit on the isolated-transaction carve-out and has an unusually broad property item covering leasing and fiduciary holding. Unique item: work performed in good faith in response to a disaster or emergency.
This page provides general information based on publicly available state requirements. It is not legal advice. Verify with the Pennsylvania SOS before filing.