Pennsylvania certificate of authority: how every kind of entity gets one

Under that name, no. Where the phrase is used, the state approves an application and issues a certificate. Pennsylvania files a registration statement and returns a stamped copy of it. The practical effect matches: business may begin once the filing is in, and the Department's rule forbids it before then. If a bank or licensing office insists on a certificate, the Department issues a certificate of registration for foreign entities at $40.

An LLC from elsewhere picks the limited liability company box in item 1, writes its home name in item 2 and answers item 8, which asks whether the company is organized to render one of 10 restricted professional services. Its name needs a designator (the term company, limited or limited liability company, an abbreviation of one of those terms, or words of like import used in the home state) and must not sound like a business corporation. The annual report is due by September 30.

A foreign nonprofit corporation pays $250 to register and files its annual report for $0. Its name may carry a corporate designator but does not have to. It publishes the same notice a business corporation does.

Besides the fee, the instructions allow for any needed consent to appropriate a name (DSCB:19-17.2) and any needed governmental approvals. A docketing statement, DSCB:15-134A, completes the package; it records the entity name, the person responsible for initial tax reports with a mailing address, a description of the business activity, the federal employer identification number and the fiscal year end.

The $250 is the whole government charge for authority to start. After that come the yearly report at $7, an optional certificate of registration at $40, a faster tier if wanted at $100, $300 or $1,000, and a $250 amendment if something on the statement changes. The fees page adds them up for common cases.

When an entity stops operating in Pennsylvania it files DSCB:15-415/417 and attaches clearance certificates from two tax departments. See the withdrawal page.

The statement says who the entity is, where it was formed and where it can be reached in Pennsylvania. The docketing statement tells the Commonwealth's tax and records systems who handles the entity's tax reports and what the business does. The fee pays for the filing, and any faster tier is paid on top of it. Once the Department files the registration, the annual report keeps the record current: it restates the entity name, the registered office, the principal office and a governor.

An entity whose only Pennsylvania ties are lawsuits, a bank account, distributor sales, out-of-state order acceptance, or a passive investment property does not need authority on that account. The page on whether you need one lists the exempt activities in full.

You tell us the entity type, the name as registered at home, where the business runs from and the Pennsylvania office. We draft the statement and the docketing statement, test the name against the designator rule for your type, and file. We charge $199, and Pennsylvania's $250 is shown separately at checkout. For a first look at filing alone, see the page on filing without us.