Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: a dissolved Pennsylvania corporation reinstates by filing Application for Reinstatement (filed with the PA Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations) under 15 Pa.C.S. § 383 (Reinstatement); fee under § 153 for $35, with no statutory deadline to do it.
If you’d rather have the reinstatement filed for you
Bizee can prepare and file the Pennsylvania reinstatement paperwork described above on your behalf. State filing fees and any back taxes owed are separate, and you pay those directly either way.
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The filing, and what Pennsylvania calls it
A domestic business corporation that was administratively dissolved/terminated for failing to file its required report may apply for reinstatement by filing an Application for Reinstatement with the Department of State, along with the current annual report information and payment of the reinstatement fee plus a fee for each delinquent annual report that was not previously filed.
How long you have to reinstate
Pennsylvania sets no deadline for reinstating a dissolved corporation. Pennsylvania imposes no time limit: the Department of State states reinstatement is available with no limitation on the period of time for such reinstatement. That does not mean waiting is free; back fees and penalties keep accruing the whole time the entity sits dissolved. (15 Pa.C.S. § 383)
What you must pay before it goes through
Pennsylvania will not reinstate the corporation until every year it sat delinquent is paid for. Reinstatement fee ($35 online / $40 paper) plus a $15 fee for each delinquent annual report not previously filed, and the current annual report must be brought current. (15 Pa.C.S. § 383 (fee under § 153))
Whether your name is still yours
Your original name is not guaranteed to still be yours. Reinstatement does not restore the corporation’s exclusive right to its prior name; if another association took the name during the dissolution period, the reinstating corporation must choose a new name. Check Pennsylvania’s business-name database before assuming the reinstatement filing will go through under the old name. (PA Dept. of State, Annual Reports guidance)
What the filing costs
Pennsylvania’s Application for Reinstatement (filed with the PA Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations) carries a $35 filing fee. $35 online / $40 paper reinstatement fee, plus $15 for each delinquent annual report not previously filed.
What this page does not answer
Reinstating the entity at the state level and squaring things up with the IRS are two separate processes. Late federal returns, penalty abatement requests, and reinstating a lapsed EIN’s associated accounts are governed by federal law, not by Pennsylvania’s corporation statute, and this page does not source them. We have the state-filing answer at primary and the federal-cleanup answer not at all.
This page covers a for-profit business corporation. If you are reinstating an LLC in Pennsylvania instead, the filing, fee and statute are different: see reinstating an LLC in Pennsylvania.
Sources
Every citation on this page is statutory or the Secretary of State’s own official filing instructions. No formation service, no registered-agent marketing page and no aggregator is cited anywhere in this cluster as a source of law; those are the only publishers of the competing versions.
- PA Dept. of State: official reinstatement/annual report guidance: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/types-of-filings-and-registrations/annual-reports