Forming an LLC is generally a good idea if you’re starting a business. If your business is based in Pennsylvania, then you have to file your LLC with the Pennsylvania state government. That way, you’re legal to operate and you avoid unnecessary fines and penalties.
However, if it’s your first time to form an LLC, then you need to know that it will involve quite a bit of paperwork. And that paperwork doesn’t end once you’ve formally established your LLC. To maintain the good standing of your Limited Liability Corporation, you have to periodically send in more paperwork.
These paper works include filing your LLC Decennial Reports. Pennsylvania law requires all LLCs based in Pennsylvania to file a Decennial Report with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Corporation.
What is an LLC Decennial Report?
An LLC Decennial Report is a report you file every 10 years In the State of Pennsylvania, and it’s meant to furnish the state government with the crucial details regarding your LLC after a period of 10 years. This report should include any updated info or changes that may have happened since the last filing period. As the Decennial report contains crucial data, it’s also sometimes referred to as a statement of information.
Every LLC in most states has to submit its Annual reports. However, a decennial report is what is required in the State of Pennsylvania. The required information may change a bit depending on the state, but usually, the report will contain the following information:
The name of the LLC
- The main business address of the LLC
- The names of each LLC member (owner), and their addresses
- All the crucial ID numbers for the LLC, such as the state entity number
- The main purpose of the LLC
- A list of authorized signatories
- Information regarding your registered agent
Filing Options
The Decennial report in the State of Pennsylvania can be filed online or through the mail. Filing through the mail involves downloading the decennial paper form, completing it, and mailing it along with a payment of 70 USD the state charges for the filing to the address:
Pennsylvania Department of State
Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations
P.O. Box 8722
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8722
The cost of the Decennial Report in the State of Pennsylvania is 70 USD only. If you fail to file the report on time before the due date, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will revoke the right you have to your LLC name and the name will become available to other people.
Filing the Decennial Report helps to make sure that your LLC is compliant with all state regulations. That should keep your LLC in good standing with the Pennsylvania state government, ensuring that your business enjoys all the LLC benefits and protections.
Deadlines
If you’re a member (owner) of a Pennsylvania LLC, you have to ensure that you send in these Decennial Reports on time. You’ll have to file your Decennial report between January 1st and December 31st of every year that ends with “1” years after you have formed your LLC.
Your LLC’s first Decennial Report is required in the first year that ends with “1” after you have formed your LLC. For example, let’s assume your LLC was formed on January 27, 2021. Your first Decennial Report will be due by December 31, 2031, and then 2041, 2051, etc. Also, if your LLC was formed on January 30, 2025, your first Decennial report deadline is the 31st of December, 2031; this is because the year 2031 is the first year that ends with a “1” after the year your LLC was formed.
To keep you from forgetting, the commonwealth of the state of Pennsylvania helpfully sends out a reminder to you or your registered agent on the 1st of November of the year before you will file your Decennial Report. This is a great step by the State of Pennsylvania, however, it is important that you set your own reminder to reduce the chances of forgetting.
Required Steps
It’s easy since you only have to go online. Here are the detailed steps you need to take to file your Pennsylvania LLC Decennial report:
- Go to the PennFile Online system. You’ll have to create an account if you don’t have one on the system yet .
- Log into your account.
- Choose the correct form you want to submit and enter the necessary information that is requested.
- You’ll be required to make a payment of the 70 USD filing fee that the State Charges. Enter your payment information and submit the payment.
- The next page will confirm that you’ve submitted your Decennial Report for Filing and have made the payment.
Again, just make sure you do all this on or before December 31st of the years that end with “1”.
Who Should Do This Task?
Basically, the right person to do the task is the person with access to the necessary information that must be included in the Decennial Report. This can be a member or LLC officer. It can be someone that the LLC authorizes to file on its behalf.
Professional Assistance
It’s very possible that you can foist this task to professionals, such as the online service provider that helped you with the LLC formation procedure and provided you with its registered agent services. This may be part of a package (usually the medium or premium package), though it may be available as an extra service for a fee with the basic formation package.
This does save you a lot of time and tedium. Plus, you can concentrate on your business while the service deals with all the necessary report filing.
In addition, the service provider can maintain your privacy, as it will take care to submit only the absolutely required information. The privacy benefits may include the following:
- The service provider can list their contact information, so that you won’t have to file your residential address and personal smartphone number.
- The service provider will also list only their IP address. This limits the connection between your smartphone, personal PC, and LLC work computers. That way, advertisers can’t track you online.
- In case that the report asks for bank and credit card information (when the filing suddenly comes with a fee), then the service providers also furnish their own bank and credit card information. You still protect your own bank and credit card info.
An online service provider charges much more reasonable rates, compared to what a lawyer might charge. A reputable service provider can also file the Decennial Report as soon as possible, so you can be sure that it won’t be late and your LLC won’t suffer any fines and penalties (such as dissolution). You can check our top brands such as ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent.
There’s no uniform fee as to what a service provider will charge for filing the Pennsylvania LLC Decennial Report. The best brands in the business usually charge $100 or so.
Conclusion
If you’re the sole owner of the LLC and you have the time to spare, then it’s really no trouble doing this yourself. The main risk is that you may make a mistake, by entering the wrong information or by pressing the wrong keys. A professional with extensive experience with this task will be very unlikely to make those mistakes.
Still, it’s all up to you. Just make sure you get the Decennial Report filing done for the decade!
