Key figures
Pennsylvania compliance
2026, with sources
Registering and staying registered
A Delaware corporation doing business in Pennsylvania files a Foreign Registration Statement with the Department of State ($250) and registers for its tax accounts with the Department of Revenue through myPATH. Since 2025, every corporation also files a $7 annual report with the Department of State between January 1 and June 30, beginning the year after it registers. From 2027, missing it leads to administrative cancellation of a foreign corporation’s registration.
The tax calendar
The RCT-101 is due on the 15th day of the month after the federal return’s due date: May 15 for a calendar-year company. The unclaimed property report is due to Treasury by April 15. A company with Pennsylvania employees adds quarterly UC reports, withholding returns, and local earned income tax returns to each employee’s local collector, due within 30 days after each quarter under Act 32.
An example calendar for a two-person startup that hires its first employee in Pittsburgh in 2026: register with Revenue and Labor & Industry before the first payroll, register with the Allegheny County EIT collector, file quarterly UC and local returns from that quarter, and add the $7 annual report by June 30, 2027 and the RCT-101 by May 15, 2027.
Philadelphia is its own jurisdiction
A company doing business in Philadelphia needs a Commercial Activity License and files the Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) by April 15. For tax year 2025 the rates are 1.410 mills on gross receipts and 5.71% on net income; for tax year 2026, 1.395 mills and 5.65%. Since tax year 2025 Philadelphia no longer excludes the first $100,000 of receipts, so even a small company doing business in the city owes BIRT from its first dollar. A worked example: a startup with $800,000 of Philadelphia-apportioned receipts and $50,000 of apportioned net income in 2026 owes $1,116 on receipts (1.395 mills) plus $2,825 on income (5.65%), $3,941 in all. New filers get relief on estimated payments in their first years; after that, the full next-year estimate is due with the return.
Deadlines
- 15th day of the month after the federal due date (May 15 for calendar years)Corporate Net Income Tax reportRCT-101
- Jun 30 (corporations)Annual report to the Department of State, $7
- Apr 15Unclaimed property holder report
- Apr 15Philadelphia BIRT return and estimated payment
The federal baseline
This page covers what Pennsylvania adds. The federal rules underneath it apply here too.
Common questions
Does Pennsylvania have an annual report now?
Yes, every year from 2025. Corporations, domestic and foreign, file a $7 annual report with the Department of State between January 1 and June 30, starting the year after they register. From 2027, failing to file leads to administrative dissolution or, for a foreign corporation, cancellation of its registration.
Do we owe Philadelphia business tax?
If it does business in Philadelphia, yes. Philadelphia’s Business Income & Receipts Tax has a gross receipts part (1.410 mills for 2025, 1.395 mills for 2026) and a net income part (5.71% for 2025, 5.65% for 2026), and since tax year 2025 the first $100,000 of receipts is no longer excluded, after a legal challenge under the state’s Uniformity Clause. Returns are due April 15, with estimated tax for the next year, and the company needs a Commercial Activity License.
Compliance next door
- DEDelaware complianceEvery Delaware corporation files an annual report and pays franchise tax by March 1, keeps a registered agent, and reports unclaimed property, wherever it operates. The franchise tax is computed two ways, and the lower one has to be asked for.
- MDMaryland complianceMaryland compliance is a $300 annual report to SDAT by April 15, Form 500 in the fourth month after year end, and unclaimed property by October 31.
- NJNew Jersey complianceNew Jersey compliance is a $75 annual report in the company’s anniversary month, the CBT return a month after the federal one, and an unclaimed property report before November 1.
- NYNew York complianceQualifying in New York is cheap ($225, then $9 every two years). The calendar is not: state and city returns on April 15, March mandatory first installments, and a March 10 unclaimed funds report.
- OHOhio complianceOhio has no annual report and no franchise tax; compliance is a $99 foreign license, BWC coverage from the state fund, local tax registrations and a November 1 unclaimed funds report.
- WVWest Virginia complianceWest Virginia compliance is a $25 annual report by June 30, a combined corporation net income tax report for unitary groups, and unclaimed property before November 1. Cities can add a gross receipts tax.
More of the Pennsylvania guide
- AccountingAccounting and state tax in PennsylvaniaCorporate tax, conformity to federal rules, apportionment and what it does to your books
- ReceivablesReceivables and sales tax in PennsylvaniaSales tax registration, economic nexus, whether SaaS is taxable, and collecting from customers
- PayablesPayables and contractors in PennsylvaniaPaying vendors and contractors: 1099 filing, use tax, contractor tests and withholding
- PayrollPayroll taxes and employer rules in PennsylvaniaWithholding, unemployment insurance, paid leave, minimum wage and the rules on paydays
- AdvisoryAdvisory: credits and decisions in PennsylvaniaCredits, incentives and the decisions that are cheaper to get right the first time
Sources
Checked against each agency’s own page on . Rates and thresholds change, usually on January 1.
General information for US companies, not tax, legal or accounting advice for yours. Rules and thresholds change; confirm the specifics with a CPA or the agency before you act on them.