Pennsylvania Sales Tax

If you operate or do business in Pennsylvania, you may be responsible for collecting and remitting payment of sales and use tax to the State of Pennsylvania. With a state tax and several local counties and cities charging additional sales tax, it’s important to know how the system works in this state and whether you are responsible for collecting.

Pennsylvania Sales Tax Rates

Pennsylvania has state and local tax rates depending on where you operate. They include:

• The state sales tax rate in Pennsylvania is 6.0%.
• There is an additional local sales tax in some counties and municipalities. The highest tax rates in the state are in Philadelphia with 8.0% and Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) with 7.0%.

Because the additional sales tax rates apply mostly to these two large cities and a handful of other municipalities, you will likely deal with them at some point, depending on the transactions you perform in the state.

Tax Sourcing

Pennsylvania utilizes a split sourcing model. It applies origin-based sourcing rules for businesses physically located within the state, but enforces destination-based sourcing rules for out-of-state remote sellers. For businesses managing compliance across multiple states, understanding the operational differences between these models is critical. You can learn more by checking out this guide on Destination vs. Origin Sales Tax.

Pennsylvania Nexus

Sales tax nexus is the legal connection a business establishes with a state that requires it to register, collect, and remit sales tax on transactions within that state. In Pennsylvania, a company can trigger nexus through physical activities inside state borders or by hitting specific revenue milestones from remote sales.

Physical Nexus

A physical nexus is established instantly when a business has any tangible presence or operational footprint inside Pennsylvania boundaries. Business activities that establish physical nexus include:

• Maintaining a brick-and-mortar storefront, office, or physical facility.
• Having employees, independent contractors, or sales representatives working or living in the state.
• Storing inventory, goods, or materials in an Amazon fulfillment center or any other third-party warehouses located within Pennsylvania.
• Delivering products to customers using company-owned or leased delivery vehicles.
• Participating temporarily in trade shows, craft fairs, or marketing events within the state.

Economic Nexus

Remote sellers who lack a physical footprint can still trigger a tax collection obligation through economic activity alone. In Pennsylvania, economic nexus is established if your business meets the following threshold during the previous calendar year:

• Gross Sales: Exceeds $100,000 in total gross sales to Pennsylvania customers.
• Transaction Count: None. Pennsylvania does not utilize a transaction count threshold (such as 200 individual orders) for economic nexus.
• Inclusions: Gross sales include all gross revenue from sales made into the state, including tax-exempt items and wholesale transactions.

Marketplace Facilitators

If a marketplace facilitator has nexus in Pennsylvania, whether physical or economic, it’s required to register, collect, and remit Pennsylvania sales tax on behalf of the third-party sellers using its platform, rather than leaving that obligation to the individual sellers.

What is Taxable in Pennsylvania

Tangible Goods

Pennsylvania sales tax applies to the retail sale, rental, or lease of most tangible personal property in the state, unless a specific exemption applies. The Department of Revenue publishes an extensive, itemized list of taxable and exempt goods in its Retailer’s Information guide (REV-717), which is the best single reference for determining whether a specific product is taxable.

The State of Pennsylvania maintains an up-to-date document with a list of all applicable sales tax and exemptions on their website for review of these items in greater detail.

Services

Unlike many states, Pennsylvania taxes a defined list of specific services rather than either taxing all services or none. Taxable services generally include things like lobbying services, collection and credit reporting services, secretarial and editing services, employment agency and help-supply services, disinfecting and pest control services, building maintenance and cleaning services, lawn care services, self-storage services, premium cable services, and catering services, among others. Most personal, professional, and repair-of-real-property services fall outside this list and are not taxable. Businesses that provide services should check the current list of taxable services in REV-717 before assuming a service is exempt.

Shipping and Handling

Pennsylvania taxes shipping, handling, and delivery charges the same way it taxes the underlying sale. Under the Department’s regulations, tax applies to the full purchase price without any deduction for the cost of shipping, handling, delivery, or installation. If the item being shipped is taxable, the shipping and handling charge on that item is taxable too, regardless of whether it’s separately stated on the invoice. Separately stated charges for returnable containers, and wrapping supplies whose use is incidental to delivering the property, are exceptions and are not subject to tax.

Digital Goods and Services

Pennsylvania taxes most digital products delivered electronically. This includes e-books, streaming video and audio subscriptions, downloaded music and video games, mobile apps and in-app purchases, and canned (pre-written) computer software, whether it’s delivered on physical media or accessed electronically or via the cloud. Sales and use tax applies to any transfer of a digital product for which the purchaser pays consideration, unless a specific exemption applies.

Exemptions

Pennsylvania exempts several broad categories of everyday goods. Most clothing designed for everyday wear is exempt — formal wear, real or imitation fur garments (where the fur is more than three times the value of the next most valuable material), and sporting goods or clothing designed for athletic use remain taxable. Unprepared grocery store food is exempt, while prepared or ready-to-eat food sold by a restaurant, caterer, or similar establishment is taxable. Prescription and nonprescription medicines and drugs, along with most medical and surgical supplies, are exempt. Textbooks sold by a school or authorized bookstore, newspapers of general circulation, and residential utilities (gas, electricity, fuel oil, and basic residential phone service) are also exempt.

To make a tax-exempt sale, a seller generally needs to obtain a completed Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (REV-1220) from the purchaser, which must state a valid reason for the exemption. A properly completed exemption certificate accepted in good faith relieves the seller of the responsibility to collect tax on that sale. Exemption certificates aren’t required for sales to government entities, sales of clearly nontaxable property or services, or sales delivered outside Pennsylvania — but the seller should still retain documentary evidence supporting those transactions.

Pennsylvania Sales Tax Holidays

Pennsylvania does not currently have any sales tax holidays.

Registration and Filing

If you have nexus in Pennsylvania and must collect sales tax, you must register with the state to acquire a permit. This can be done online at the following location: Register for a sales tax permit through the Online myPATH website.

There is no charge to apply for a sales tax permit, though if you are also registering a business at the same time, you will need to pay a fee for that, depending on the type and location of your business. Be sure to have business information and licenses ready at the time of application.

You will pay Pennsylvania sales and use tax by:

• For Those in State – For the majority of transactions, the 6% state tax will apply. The state is origin-based, so your location will determine what you charge. This simplifies things greatly for those who live and operate in-state.
• Out of State Sellers – If you have sales tax nexus in the state of Pennsylvania, you must collect sales tax based on the location of the product’s purchaser. Again, determining the destination and the correct rate will be important to ensure accurate reporting. 
• Shipping Charges – In Pennsylvania, the shipping is taxable only if the items shipped are taxable. This applies to handling as well.
• Filing Your Tax Returns – The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has an online portal through which you can pay your sales tax due here.

Like many other states, Pennsylvania offers a discount for paying all of your sales and use tax owed. If you pay on time, you will receive a deduction on your tax returns depending on your filing frequency. For those that file monthly, it is the lesser of 1% or $25. For quarterly filers, it is the lesser of 1% or $75. For semi-annual filers, it is the lesser of 1% or $150.

The deadline for payment will be determined by the filing frequency assigned to you at the time you receive your permit. This will be affected by the total amount owed with each return.

Filing Frequencies and Deadlines

Quarterly: For those with less than $600 in liability for the third quarter of the previous calendar year, you will pay quarterly.

Period	Due Date
January – March (Q1)	April 20
April – June (Q2)	July 20
July – September (Q3)	October 20
October – December (Q4)	January 20

Monthly: For those who owe greater than $600 from the third quarter of the previous calendar year, you will be required to pay on a monthly basis. Pennsylvania also requires those whose liability was greater than $25,000 in that time period to prepay each month 50% of that estimated liability for this time period.

Period	Due Date
January	February 20
February	March 20
March	April 20
April	May 20
May	June 20
June	July 20
July	August 20
August	September 20
September	October 20
October	November 20
November	December 20
December	January 20

Semi-Annual: If your liability for the third quarter of the previous calendar year was less than $75, then you can pay semi-annually.

Penalties and Interest

If you pay your sales tax remittance late, there is a 5% late fee per month overdue up to a maximum of 25% penalty. If you underpaid or did not pay your tax due, then there is also a 3% per month of tax unpaid penalty up to 18% maximum. There are additional penalties as well for fraudulent returns and repeat offenders to the above situations.

Resources:

• State of Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
• Filing deadlines for each frequency
• myPATH online payment portal for sales tax owed
• Retailer’s information guide for State and Local Sales, Use, and Occupancy Tax

Pennsylvania Sales Tax Software

If you operate in the State of Pennsylvania and know you’ll need to collect sales tax there for upcoming transactions, there are a number of things you’ll need to keep track of to ensure tax compliance. From data review to sorting of transactions and determining the best rate for each sale made into the state, it’s important that you get it right. That’s why TaxTools sales tax calculator software is a good fit for so many sellers who do business in the state. If you have an eCommerce site or other online platform, it can work with your existing system and help you get the sales tax collection process right. Contact us today to learn more or to sign up for a free trial.

Last updated June 2026