7 items, in order: certificate of organization (llc) and the annual report, fictitious name registration (dba), employer identification number (ein), pennsylvania business tax registration (sales tax license, employer withholding), local business license and local taxes and zoning approval and certificate of occupancy (use and occupancy permit), and 1 more.
How to open a business in Pennsylvania
7 licenses, permits and registrations, in the order to get them, each with the agency, the fee and the official page.
What licenses do you need to open a business in Pennsylvania? 7, in the order to get them
These are the steps every business in Pennsylvania takes. A license specific to your kind of business comes from the agency that regulates it; if one of the twenty named businesses is close to yours, its page lists those too.
Every row checked against its agency’s page; the latest on Oct 21, 2026.
Step 1 of 4Set up the business. Now: Certificate of organization (LLC) and the annual report
0 of 7 items done. Each step opens when the one before it is complete. Progress stays on this device. Log in to save it to your account and pick it up anywhere.
Set up the business0 of 3
File online through Business Filing Services. A docketing statement goes with the certificate. Missing the annual report for two years in a row leads to administrative dissolution.
- Fee
- Premium only
- Renewal
- Premium only
- Official page
- pa.gov
Checked Oct 21, 2026
Register for taxOpens after step 1
Approve the spaceOpens after step 2
Before the first hireOpens after step 3
Then pick the place
- The free location checkWho lives and works around an address, the businesses already there and the traffic on its road, from public records.
- The full reportWhether the rules allow a business at that address, the rent it supports, what has opened and closed nearby, and the questions to settle before signing.
Have an address in mind?
Check the address freeNo account. The business check reads public records at the address itself.
Sources and dates
Department of State business filing pages and fee schedule; Act 122 of 2022; Department of State fictitious names page and form DSCB:54-311; IRS EIN page; Department of Revenue myPATH business tax registration pages (the service that replaced form PA-100 in 2022); City of Philadelphia commercial activity license page; municipal business privilege and mercantile tax ordinances; Municipal zoning ordinances; Philadelphia Licenses and Inspections; Department of Labor and Industry UC employer handbook (January 2026) and contribution rate pages; Bureau of Workers’ Compensation employer pages. Fees are as published by each agency on the date checked; cities add their own.