PA Notary Fees — The Complete Schedule

Pennsylvania caps notary fees. Since March 28, 2026, the ceiling is set by 4 Pa. Code § 167.3 — a short table of maximums running from $2 to $5 per act, plus an additional $20 surcharge for electronic or remote notarization. The statute authorizing those caps is 57 Pa.C.S. § 329.1. Anything a notary charges beyond that table — travel, copies, postage, RON platform fees — has to be itemized, disclosed before the appointment, and labeled as a non-notarial charge.

TL;DR — the three rules that govern PA notary billing

Per-signature cap. Acknowledgments and signature witnessings are priced per name or per signature, not per document. One deed signed by three grantors = three acts = $5 + $2 + $2 = $9, not $5.
Per-act cap with a $20 RON surcharge. Base maximums under § 167.3 top out at $5. If the act is performed electronically or remotely, add up to $20 per act — so a remote acknowledgment can be billed up to $25.
Travel and admin are extra — but disclosed and reasonable. § 167.3 does not cap travel, mileage, copies, or postage. § 329.1(c)(1) and § 167.3(c) require notaries to itemize every charge on a receipt and disclose non-notarial fees before the act.

If you take nothing else from this page: fees are maximums, not price tags. You can waive any of them. You cannot exceed any of them.

The official fee schedule (4 Pa. Code § 167.3)

The March 28, 2026 final regulations moved the schedule from its old home (§ 161.2 in the 2016 proposed regs) to its current location in the new Chapter 167. § 167.3(a) reads, verbatim:

“The maximum fees that notaries public may charge for notarial acts may not exceed:“

#	Notarial act	Maximum fee	Billing unit
1	Taking acknowledgment (first individual in the certificate)	$5	Per name
2	Taking acknowledgment (each additional name in the same certificate)	$2	Per additional name
3	Administering an oath or affirmation	$5	Per individual taking the oath
4	Taking a verification on oath or affirmation (affidavit / jurat)	$5	Per individual making the declaration
5	Witnessing or attesting a signature	$5	Per signature
6	Certifying or attesting a copy or deposition	$5	Per certified copy
7	Noting a protest of a negotiable instrument	$3	Per page
8	Electronic or remote notarization surcharge	+$20	Per notarial act
9	Fee-exempt acts (below)	$0	—

Fee-exempt categories, codified at § 167.3(d)–(e):

Notarizing the supporting affidavit for an Emergency Absentee Ballot.
Notarizing the affidavit of a voter needing assistance to vote by absentee ballot.
Acknowledgments for active-duty military personnel under 51 Pa.C.S. § 9101.

Separate from § 167.3, the closely related 4 Pa. Code § 161.1 sets the fees the Department of State charges (notary appointment: $42; education provider initial approval: $1,013; renewal: $525; master notary list: $50). Consumers occasionally confuse the two; § 161.1 is what the Commonwealth charges notaries and providers, § 167.3 is what notaries may charge the public.

Per-signature, not per-document — the billing unit that trips everyone up

Every line in the table says “per name,” “per individual,” “per signature,” or “per page.” None of them say “per document.” That distinction determines your actual invoice.

Worked examples:

Example 1 — One deed, three grantors, all acknowledging. A residential deed conveying a jointly owned property. Three sellers sign; each signature is acknowledged in the same certificate.

First acknowledgment: $5
Two additional names on the same certificate: $2 × 2 = $4
Total: $9, not $5, not $15.

Example 2 — Affidavit with two signatories. A verification on oath or affirmation (affidavit) with two declarants. The statute bills per individual making the declaration, so both are full acts.

First individual: $5
Second individual: $5
Total: $10. There is no “additional name” discount for verifications — that concession only applies to acknowledgments under § 167.3(a).

Example 3 — Power of attorney (one signer, acknowledgment + witnessing). The principal signs once. The certificate on one page is an acknowledgment; a second page requires attested signature witnessing.

Acknowledgment (first name): $5
Signature witnessing (per signature): $5
Total: $10 for two separate notarial acts on the same instrument.

Example 4 — Certified copy packet. Client brings a 40-page contract and asks for one certified copy of the whole instrument. Copy certification is “per certified copy,” not per page.

$5 total, regardless of page count.

Example 5 — Protest of a 6-page note. Protest of a negotiable instrument is one of only two per-page line items (the other is DOS’s own per-page copy fee under § 161.1).

$3 × 6 pages = $18.

The rule is simple and absolute: read the billing unit in the third column before quoting a price. “Per document” is never the unit.

The new $5 signature-witnessing fee (2026)

Before March 28, 2026, PA’s fee schedule was silent — or at best ambiguous — on the standalone act of witnessing or attesting a signature. In practice, notaries either folded the act into an acknowledgment fee or charged nothing extra. Some charged $5 under § 328’s general language; others were told by DOS staff that the act wasn’t separately priced.

The March 2026 final regs ended the ambiguity. § 167.3(a) now lists witnessing/attesting a signature at its own $5 per-signature line. The DOS “Notary Public Fees” page was updated April 6, 2026 to match.

What this means in practice:

Signature witnessing is a full billable act. When a client says “I just need you to watch me sign,” that’s $5 per signature — not free.
Witnessing and acknowledgment are distinct. If a document calls for both certificate forms, both are separate acts with separate fees.
Pre-2026 quotes and price lists need to be refreshed. Any standing retail price sheet that doesn’t list “Signature witnessing — $5 per signature” is now out of date.

Note the statutory difference: acknowledgment is a declaration by the signer that they signed (and had authority to sign). Signature witnessing is the notary’s own attestation that they personally observed the signature being made. Both require personal appearance and identity determination, but they are separate acts under § 304 and now separately priced under § 167.3.

RON and e-notary fees — the $20 surcharge and platform pass-throughs

Electronic notaries and remote online notaries may add up to $20 per notarial act under § 167.3(b). This is in addition to the base fee, not a replacement.

Scenario	Max base	Max RON surcharge	Max total per act
Remote acknowledgment (first name)	$5	$20	$25
Remote acknowledgment (additional name)	$2	$20	$22
Remote verification on oath	$5	$20	$25
Remote signature witnessing	$5	$20	$25
Remote certified copy	$5	$20	$25

Two things the surcharge is not:

Not a discretionary markup on the platform fee. § 167.3(b) caps the surcharge at $20 regardless of what the technology costs the notary. Some RON platforms take $7 per session; others charge $15+. Either way, the statutory surcharge ceiling is $20.
Not a wrapper for platform pass-throughs. If a third-party RON platform (Proof, DocVerify, Stavvy, etc.) bills the signer directly for an escrow, journal-storage, or transaction fee, that charge is a pass-through — it isn’t your notarial fee and it doesn’t count toward the § 167.3 cap. Best practice: itemize it on the receipt as a platform charge, not a notarial fee.

Platform-fee disclosure rules are underdeveloped in PA regulation. § 329.1(c)(1) requires notaries to separately state every fee charged, and § 167.3(c) requires an itemized receipt. The safe practice: quote the base act fee, the RON surcharge, and any platform pass-through as three distinct line items before the appointment. Don’t mark up a platform fee and call it notarial.

A standalone cluster article covers approved RON platforms and their fee structures in detail — see the link in “Further reading.”

Travel fees — not capped by § 167.3, but disclosed

Travel fees are where mobile notaries make most of their money, and § 167.3 is silent on them. So is § 161.1. So is the statute at § 329.1. The only constraint is the general itemization-and-disclosure rule.

What the law actually says:

§ 329.1(c)(1). “Fees shall be separately stated.”
§ 167.3(c). “A notary public shall provide an itemized receipt for all fees charged.”
DOS Notary Public Fees page (April 6, 2026). Clerical/administrative fees — copying, postage, travel, telephone — are “reasonable and customary” and “must be disclosed to customers prior to notarization.”

There is no statutory mileage rate, no cap, no geographic limit. PA case law has not meaningfully defined “reasonable” in this context. In practice, mobile notaries commonly charge:

A flat trip fee ($25–$75 urban; $50–$150 rural or after-hours).
Per-mile rates (often the IRS standard business-mileage rate as a defensible benchmark).
Time-based surcharges for nights, weekends, or wait time.

Best-practice disclosure pattern:

Quote the travel fee separately from the notarial fee before the appointment.
Put it in writing — text, email, or signed engagement letter — before arrival.
Itemize it on the receipt as “Travel fee” (not “Notary fee”), so the § 167.3 caps aren’t muddied.
Keep the rate consistent. Charging more when you discover the client can pay more looks like gouging and can trigger a complaint under the § 323 “honesty, integrity, competence or reliability” standard.

Industry convention — but not PA law — is that a travel fee is never earned if the notarial act doesn’t complete (e.g., the signer can’t produce valid ID). A cancellation fee for confirmed appointments is defensible if disclosed up front.

What you cannot do

The fee caps are enforceable under § 329.1(b) (“A notary public may not charge or receive a fee in excess of the fee fixed by the department”). Discipline under § 323 can follow. The DOS complaint form lists fee overcharges as one of the grounds for a disciplinary proceeding, and civil penalties reach $1,000 per violation.

Specifically prohibited:

Charging above the § 167.3 cap for a notarial act. Even with client consent, the maximum is the maximum.
Splitting one act into multiple. Signing one acknowledgment certificate is one act, not “one per page.” Don’t bill $5 × 10 pages for a 10-page mortgage with one acknowledgment.
Dressing up a notarial fee as a “service fee.” You can’t charge $10 labeled “certification services” to sidestep the $5 cap on copy certification. The substance controls, not the label.
Requiring tips or gratuities. A voluntary tip is not prohibited, but conditioning service on it is a coercive practice inconsistent with § 323.
Requiring a service fee for statutorily free acts. Emergency Absentee Ballot affidavits, absentee-voter-assistance affidavits, and military acknowledgments under 51 Pa.C.S. § 9101 are free. You can still charge disclosed travel, but the notarial act itself is $0.
Keeping an employer’s share without written agreement. Under § 329.1(d), fees are the notary’s property unless the notary and employer have agreed otherwise. An employer cannot unilaterally pocket the fee.
Failing to provide an itemized receipt. § 167.3(c) makes the receipt mandatory. “I don’t normally give receipts” is not a defense.

Fee-disclosure best practice

The statute and regulations require itemization and disclosure. They do not prescribe a format. A defensible, fast pattern that covers the rules:

Before the appointment (in writing, text or email is fine):

List every anticipated notarial act and the cap for each.
Quote the travel fee separately.
Flag any third-party platform pass-through the client will be billed.
Note the total cap and cancellation terms.

At the appointment:

Re-confirm the quote verbally before the first signature.
If the scope changes (extra signer, extra document), requote before performing the additional act.

At payment:

Issue an itemized receipt with each line — act, quantity, unit fee, line total — under § 167.3(c).
Separate notarial fees from travel, copies, postage, and platform charges.
Keep the receipt stub or PDF tied to the journal entry for the same act (§ 319 journal-entry requirements include fees charged).

A sample receipt layout:

Line	Description	Qty	Unit	Total
1	Acknowledgment — first name (§ 167.3(a))	1	$5.00	$5.00
2	Acknowledgment — additional name (§ 167.3(a))	2	$2.00	$4.00
3	Signature witnessing (§ 167.3(a))	1	$5.00	$5.00
4	RON surcharge (§ 167.3(b))	4	$20.00	$80.00
5	Platform fee (Proof — pass-through)	1	$14.95	$14.95
6	Travel fee (disclosed 2026-04-18 email)	1	$45.00	$45.00
	Total			$153.95

If the receipt makes sense to the client and to a DOS investigator six months later, the disclosure rule is satisfied.

How PA compares to neighboring states

PA’s caps sit in the middle of the pack for the Mid-Atlantic. A rough comparison (base per-act maximums for traditional paper notarization as of April 2026):

State	Acknowledgment / jurat cap	RON / e-notary surcharge
Pennsylvania	$5 per name/signature	+$20 per act
New Jersey	$2.50 per act	+$25 per act (RON)
New York	$2 per act	+$25 per act (RON)
Delaware	$5 per act	Schedule set by statute
Ohio	$5 per act	Up to $25 per RON act
Maryland	$4 per act	+$25 per RON act
West Virginia	$5 per act	+$25 per RON act

The mobile/travel-fee picture is more uniform: none of the adjacent states cap travel fees, and every state requires itemized disclosure. PA is slightly below the regional norm on RON surcharge ($20 vs. $25) and at parity on base acts with OH, WV, and DE.

A full comparison, including fee statutes and RON-specific surcharge rules for every adjacent state, lives in the cluster article on notarizing across state lines.

Calculate a quote

The PA notary fee calculator runs the § 167.3 schedule automatically — enter the acts, signer count, and whether the act is remote, and it returns the maximum allowable charge plus a ready-to-send itemized quote. It’s the fastest way to avoid both undercharging and accidentally exceeding the cap.