Asking for a friend...
She is a real dummy. She is a CPA who struck out on her own preparing 1040s in mid 2015 with a Pennsylvania LLC. However, her little business never really took off and soon it cost as much to buy the software than she was making preparing returns, and to pay the bills, she got a job signing returns for a big firm, paid by W2.
***LESSON LEARNED, NOT EVERYONE IS AN ENTREPRENEUR***
She kept her little LLC and prepared fewer than 10 returns a year. Fees, less than $3000 - $6000 a year, were deposited in a bank account in the name of her little LLC. She has a Fed EIN and used it for the return filings along with her ptin.
Now she learns that her state, PA, requires tax prep firms to file annual registrations with a filing fee of $560. Not only that, but the late fee is $500.
2015 - 2020: 6 x $560 = $3360 registration fees
6 x $500 = $3000 late filing fees
Total: $6360 in potential outlay to get caught up.
She is considering
1) filing the registration fees and writing a sad letter to see if the Secty of State will let her off the hook for the penalties.
2) retroactively terminating the little firm
3) getting busy reorganizing the garage and put this off again
Advice? Sarcasm is expected, but I'm hoping for sage words from the wise folks here.
THANK YOU