Guest Blog Authors: Nonprofit Attorneys at Cheshire Law Group | Learn More about Cheshire Law Group and their affiliate site, PAnonprofitlaw.com | Connect with Cheshire Law Group on LinkedIn
Don’t Forget to File Your Nonprofit’s Pennsylvania Annual Report!
Starting June 30, 2025, Pennsylvania requires all nonprofit corporations and other certain entity types formed in or doing business in Pennsylvania to file an annual report every year, regardless of whether the organization’s officers have changed. There’s no filing fee for nonprofit entities.
This is a new Pennsylvania form effective in 2025 that most nonprofits in Pennsylvania must file annually. As of May, 2026, only 11% of nonprofits registered domestically in Pennsylvania have done so – meaning that 89% remain out of compliance. Make sure yours is not one one of them!
This is not:
- Pennsylvania’s charitable solicitation registration filing requirement.
- The CTA (Corporate Transparency Act) requirement – a separate federal filing that does not impact most nonprofits.
- The same as the annual report many nonprofits already put together highlighting the previous year’s mission impact, donor/volunteer contributions, and more.
Consequences for not filing this PA form. If you fail to file your annual report, your organization can be administratively dissolved – and your organization will have to reinstate its corporate entity status with Pennsylvania before it can continue to carry on business. Administratively dissolved organizations will not be able to close on real estate and financial transactions, and their funding streams may be impacted; organizations also risk losing their entity names if they fail to file.
- If you have filed no annual reports for your nonprofit corporation – don’t delay.
- If you filed in 2025, you still need to file in 2026.
- The annual filing deadline for nonprofit corporations is June 30 (and limited liability company annual reports are due September 30).
File now and set a reminder to do so every year by April 30th so you don’t miss this annual deadline.
Filing online is simple and best:
- STEP ONE – Go to: https://hub.business.pa.gov/. Login or Register (new users will need to register for a Business Filing Services (BFS) account; for account registration instructions, see the Customer Portal Overview). Once logged in, click on “Complete Annual Form” (it’s in a blue box). Scroll down and click on “Continue to BFS” (it’s in another blue box). This should take you to the entity “Search” bar that looks like this:
- STEP TWO – Search for your organization name in the Pennsylvania Department of State database: https://file.dos.pa.gov/search/business. Click on your organization’s name (highlighted by a blue box) in the search and look at the panel on the right that opens. Click on the “File Annual Report” icon. If you do not see an annual report button, that means it has already been filed for your organization.
- STEP THREE – Complete the annual report. Some information will be pre-populated based on what the DOS has available from the Business Search database, but make sure you have ready:
- Business name
- Jurisdiction of formation
- Registered office address
- Principal office address
- Name of at least one governor (i.e., director, member, partner, etc.)
- Names and titles of the principal officers, if any
- Entity number issued by the PA DOS
Need help filing online and want more details?
- Check out these webinar recordings from February 2025, offered in partnership by PANO and Cheshire Law Group:
- Download this FAQ sheet compiled after the above-listed general legal update webinar on this new reporting requirement (note: this does not include any library-specific questions – if you are affiliated with a PA Library and would like to ask a question about whether/how this reporting requirement applies to you, please email your question to Anne Gingerich at anne@pano.org)
- See this helpful step-by-step guide from the Pennsylvania Department of State.
- PA DOS Helpline: (717) 787-1057 (phone lines open at 8 a.m., M-F)
- PA DOS Email: RA-CORPS@pa.gov
Please note: This post is a general overview and does not constitute legal advice.
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This guest blog post was authored by PANO Corporate Partner Cheshire Law Group. If you have specific questions, need a legal opinion about how to proceed, and/or would like Cheshire Law to handle the filing for you, please contact a member of the Cheshire Law Group team.
