Taxes and annual filings for Pennsylvania notaries

Notary fees are exempt from self-employment tax

Fees for services as a notary public are not self-employment earnings. They are still income, but they escape the 15.3% self-employment tax.

The Schedule SE instructions spell it out. If notary fees are your only self-employment income, you do not file Schedule SE. Instead, you check a box on Schedule 2 and write "Exempt—Notary".

That exemption is narrower than it sounds for a signing agent. It covers fees for notarial acts. It says nothing about the travel, printing and document-handling charges that make up most of a signing fee. Treat those as ordinary self-employment income unless your tax adviser tells you otherwise.

Schedule SE instructions exclude notary public fees from self-employment earnings, and a filer whose only such income is notary fees writes Exempt—Notary instead. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

Self-employment tax on signing service fees

Your service fees are self-employment income. The tax is 15.3% of net earnings, and it applies once net earnings reach $400.

The rate splits into 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. It applies whether you work as a sole proprietor or through a single-member LLC, because the IRS treats both the same way by default.

This is where the itemized receipt pays off. Pennsylvania requires you to list notarial fees and service fees separately. That same split lets you show which income was notary fees, and which was not.

15.3%The self-employment tax rate is 15.3 percent, made up of 12.4 percent for Social Security and 2.9 percent for Medicare, owed when net earnings reach $400. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

A Pennsylvania notary who charges fees must give an itemized receipt, with clerical and administrative fees itemized separately from notarial fees. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

Quarterly estimated tax for a signing agent

Nobody withholds tax from signing fees. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, you generally need to make estimated payments during the year.

The IRS applies that rule to sole proprietors and partners. It also covers S corporation shareholders. A new agent often misses it in the first busy year and meets a penalty at filing time.

A simple habit helps. Move a fixed share of every payout into a separate tax account the day it arrives. Then pay the quarterly amounts from there.

$1,000Individuals, including sole proprietors, partners and S corporation shareholders, generally must make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe $1,000 or more when filing. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

Pennsylvania personal income tax on signing income

Pennsylvania taxes business profit at a flat 3.07%. For a sole proprietor or single-member LLC, it lands on your personal return.

The flat rate applies to individuals, partnerships, S corporations and LLCs not taxed federally as corporations. The federal notary exemption is a self-employment tax rule only. Do not assume it carries over to Pennsylvania income tax.

Local taxes vary by municipality. Some places levy earned income or business privilege taxes on top. Ask your local tax collector which apply to a home-based signing business.

3.07%Pennsylvania personal income tax is levied at 3.07 percent on individuals, partnerships, S corporations and LLCs not federally taxed as corporations. — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, retrieved 2026-09-27

The Pennsylvania LLC annual report

Every Pennsylvania LLC files an annual report between January 1 and September 30. The fee is $7, and filing online is approved automatically.

The report is short. It lists the business name, the registered office, the principal office, at least one governor, and the entity number. Online reports come back within minutes, so there is no expedited option.

Corporations have a different window, January 1 to June 30. If you elected S corporation tax treatment for an LLC, the LLC window still applies. The election is a tax status, not a change of entity type.

$7A Pennsylvania LLC must file its annual report between January 1 and September 30, and the fee for a for-profit LLC is $7. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

What happens if the annual report is missed

From 2027, an LLC that misses its annual report faces administrative dissolution six months after the due date. It also loses protection of its name.

The Department mails a reminder to the registered office at least two months before the deadline. Failing to receive it does not excuse a late report. Keep the registered office address current, and add an email for notices.

Reinstatement is possible. Filing it electronically costs $35, plus $15 for each unpaid report. A dissolved LLC is a problem you can avoid for $7 a year.

6 monthsStarting with annual reports due in 2027, a Pennsylvania association that fails to file faces administrative dissolution six months after the due date. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

$35Pennsylvania charges $35 for an electronic reinstatement application, plus $15 for each annual report not previously paid. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

Year-end forms and the notary fee split

Signing services usually report a year's payments on Form 1099-NEC. That form shows one total, not the split between notary fees and service fees.

The split is yours to prove. Your journal records each notarial fee, and Pennsylvania requires clerical fees to be itemized separately in it. Your receipts carry the same split. Together they support the Exempt—Notary treatment of the notarial part.

Keep both for as long as your tax adviser recommends. Remember that the journal itself goes to the county recorder when your commission ends, so keep your own copy of the fee totals before handing it over.

Form 1099-NECThe IRS uses Form 1099-NEC to report nonemployee compensation. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-27

Pennsylvania requires clerical and administrative fees, if charged, to be itemized separately in the notary journal and on the receipt. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

A yearly calendar for a Pennsylvania signing agent

Put four items on the calendar: quarterly estimated payments, the federal return, the LLC annual report by September 30, and your commission expiry.

The commission runs four years from appointment and does not renew itself. Reapply two to three months before it ends. The renewal guide covers that timing.

If you have not formed an LLC yet, the structure comparison and the setup guide show what each option adds to this calendar. A sole proprietor skips the annual report but keeps the tax dates.

The Department of State recommends filing a notary reappointment application two to three months before the commission expires. — Pennsylvania Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-27

Questions