How to Form a Corporation in Pennsylvania
By Edmond Hui · Facts verified July 29, 2026 against primary state sources
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
What you file in Pennsylvania
Incorporation filing
| Document | Articles of Incorporation – For Profit [DSCB:15-1306] (filed with a Docketing Statement [DSCB:15-134A]) |
| Fee | $125 |
| Recurring report | Annual Report [DSCB:15-146] — every year, $7 |
| First report due | Corporations (business and nonprofit, domestic and foreign): filing window January 1 – June 30 each year. (LLCs: January 1 – September 30; LPs, LLGPs, business trusts and professional associations: January 1 – December 31.) |
This page covers the state filing and the charges that follow it. For the procedural side — name availability, registered agent, bylaws and the federal EIN — see the formation guide and how to get an EIN, both of which apply to corporations as well as LLCs.
What it costs to incorporate and stay filed
State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded — both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure would be true for every corporation.
| Charge | Amount | How often |
|---|---|---|
| Articles of Incorporation – For Profit [DSCB:15-1306] (filed with a Docketing Statement [DSCB:15-134A]) | $125 | One time |
| Annual Report [DSCB:15-146] | $7 | Every year |
| First-year state filing charges | $132 | — |
| Five-year state filing charges | $160 | — |
Pennsylvania is the 34th cheapest of 49 states on the incorporation filing fee alone. Nationally the fee runs from $35 in Montana to $300 in Texas, averaging $113.06. It is a one-off charge, so over five years it is usually outweighed by the recurring report fee and any annual franchise or minimum tax.
States that are cheaper to incorporate in
A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you actually operate in Pennsylvania. Every state sets its own threshold for what counts as transacting business, and where that threshold is met an out-of-state corporation is generally required to register as a foreign corporation — which would mean fees in both states rather than one. Whether it applies to you depends on facts this page cannot see, so check foreign qualification in Pennsylvania before incorporating elsewhere to save on the filing fee.
Pennsylvania corporation vs Pennsylvania LLC
State filing charges only. Corporate income tax and franchise tax are excluded because both depend on income or net worth, so no flat figure exists for either entity.
| Corporation | LLC | |
|---|---|---|
| Formation filing fee | $125 | $125 |
| Report cadence | Every year | Every year |
| Report fee | $7 | $7 |
Both entities cost $125 to file in Pennsylvania, so the filing fee is not a reason to pick one over the other.
Full Pennsylvania LLC cost breakdown · LLC vs C-corp explained · LLC vs S-corp explained
State taxes a Pennsylvania corporation pays
Corporate income tax
| Applies | Yes |
| Rate | Corporate Net Income Tax 7.49% for tax year 2026. Act 53 of 2022 phase-down: 8.99% (2023), 8.49% (2024), 7.99% (2025), 7.49% (2026), 6.99% (2027), 6.49% (2028), 5.99% (2029), 5.49% (2030), 4.99% (2031 and after). Act 45 of 2025 did not change this schedule. |
Franchise or gross-receipts tax
None. Pennsylvania's Capital Stock / Foreign Franchise Tax was eliminated for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2016. There is no minimum corporate tax and no annual franchise or privilege tax on corporations.
What these totals leave out: the filing-charge figures on this page are what you pay the business filing office. They exclude corporate income tax and any franchise or gross-receipts tax, because both depend on income, net worth or receipts. The section above sets out what Pennsylvanialevies — or that it levies neither. Where a state's franchise tax carries a flat minimum, that minimum is an unavoidable annual cost these totals do not include, and over five years it can be the larger number.
C-corp return: RCT-101 (PA Corporate Net Income Tax Report)
Electing S-corporation status in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania follows the federal S election. Full Pennsylvania S-corporation election guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where these numbers come from
This page covers the state filing required to incorporate in Pennsylvania and the charges that follow it. Every figure was checked against Pennsylvania's own published sources on July 29, 2026— the state business filing agency's fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state tax applies, the state Department of Revenue. Commercial formation-service pages were used as leads only and are never cited. Anything the review could not confirm from an official source is left blank on this page rather than filled with an estimate.
Corporate income tax and franchise tax are quoted as the state publishes them, as rate schedules and thresholds, and are excluded from every dollar total here. They depend on income or net worth, so there is no flat figure that would be true for every corporation.
Primary sources:
- https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/types-of-filings-and-registrations/annual-reports
- https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/fees-and-payments
- https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-rates/corporation-tax-rates
- https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/corporation-taxes/corporate-net-income-tax/act-45-of-2025
- https://www.pa.gov/agencies/revenue/resources/tax-types-and-information/partnerships-s-corporations-llcs
- https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/dos/programs/business/forms/offsite-forms/15-1306-Art-of-Incorp-For-Profit.pdf