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Pennsylvania does not hand out one general license when you form a company. The Department of State's Business Guide asks it directly: does the Bureau issue licenses that businesses need for specific activities? It answers no. Businesses are formed and fictitious names are registered by filings with the Bureau. Everything else sits with other offices.
Three places a license can come from
- Your municipality. The guide tells you to contact your local county, township, city, town or borough about additional licensing requirements.
- State and federal bodies. Licenses or permits may be required from regulatory agencies, boards and commissions. Trades and professions are the usual cases.
- The Department of Revenue. It handles state tax accounts, which are not licenses but are often mistaken for them.
We did not read any municipal code or board page, so we cannot name what your town or trade requires. Ask each office before you open.
What do you register for after forming the LLC?
First the formation. The LLC filing is a Certificate of Organization with a Docketing Statement, and the Pennsylvania LLC guide has the $125 fee and the steps. Then the EIN, which you can get through our EIN guide.
Then the state tax account. According to the Business Guide, you get a state business tax account by completing the Online Pennsylvania Business Tax Registration in myPATH. The Department of State says it does not file or record tax information, so the Department of Revenue is the office to ask. We did not read the Revenue pages, so we cannot quote a tax registration fee or a sales tax license rule. The Commonwealth also runs the PA Business One-Stop Shop, which describes itself as a guide to doing business in Pennsylvania.
Professional services LLCs
If your LLC offers a restricted professional service such as law, medicine or public accounting, the filing must note that, and the entity has its own annual registration. Your licensing board comes first in that case. Ask it before you file.
What does keeping the LLC cost?
The LLC filing fee is $125. The annual report is $7 and is due by September 30 for LLCs, with the first report due the year after formation. That is an entity filing, not a license renewal. A missed report does not touch your plumbing license, and a lapsed license does not file your report for you. Keep two calendars.
What order should you work in?
- Pick the name and check it. The LLC name search guide shows how.
- File the Certificate of Organization and Docketing Statement, and pay the $125 fee.
- Get the EIN.
- Open the myPATH business tax registration with the Department of Revenue.
- Call or visit your municipality about a local license, and check whether a board covers your trade.
- If you will sell under a brand name, register the fictitious name with the Department of State. The Pennsylvania DBA page has the $70 fee and the newspaper notice rule.
Keep a note of each office you asked, what it told you and the date. If two offices give you different answers, ask the one that issues the license.
What can the Department of State tell you?
Not much about licensing. Its guide says questions about how state law applies to your case go beyond the Bureau's authority, and it points you to a licensed Pennsylvania attorney. It does offer a one-on-one customer service line for questions across agencies, which the guide describes. Use that to find the right agency, not to get a ruling.
Where can you check a license?
We did not read a Pennsylvania license verification tool, so we do not link one. For the LLC itself, use the Business Entity Search described in our Pennsylvania business search guide. For general lookups, see business license lookup. If you only need a trade name, read the Pennsylvania DBA guide.
Next door
Neighbouring states split the work differently. See the New York business license guide for a comparison.
What this page does not cover
It does not list municipal licenses, board requirements, tax rates or any Revenue Department fee. It is a guide and not legal or tax advice. Confirm every fee and form on the agency's own site before you pay.