Inheritance tax
Pennsylvania inheritance tax, explained properly
Pennsylvania taxes what each person receives, starting at the first dollar. There is no exempt amount, and the rate is set by your relationship to the person who died rather than by the size of the estate.
Most people arrive at this question having checked the federal rules, found that nothing is owed, and assumed that settles it. Pennsylvania is separate. It runs its own inheritance tax, it is charged on the share each person receives, and it starts at the first dollar.
Who pays, and on what
The tax is on the transfer. Every person who receives something from the estate is taxed on the value of what they receive, at the rate set by their relationship to the person who died. A surviving spouse pays nothing. A child pays 4.5%. A brother or sister pays 12%. A cousin, a friend or an unmarried partner pays 15%.
That means two people can inherit identical amounts from the same estate and owe very different sums. The total value of the estate does not change anyone’s rate.
One return covers the whole estate. It is form REV-1500, filed in duplicate with the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived.
There is no exempt amount
Pennsylvania inheritance tax is charged from the first dollar. There is no exempt amount, no minimum estate size, and no threshold an estate has to exceed before the tax applies. This is the point families get wrong most often, because the federal estate tax and the Pennsylvania inheritance tax sound similar and behave nothing alike. One has a very large threshold. The other has none at all.
- Federal estate tax exclusion for 2026
- $15,000,000Which is why most families owe the federal government nothing at all.
- Pennsylvania exempt amount
- $0The tax applies from the first dollar. What changes is the rate, not the threshold.
The rates
What each relationship pays
These rates are set by statute and are unchanged for 2026. The two rows at 0% for people aged 21 or younger are the ones competing summaries most often state incorrectly.
| Who inherits | Rate |
|---|---|
| Surviving spouse | 0% |
| Parent inheriting from a child aged 21 or younger | 0% |
| Child aged 21 or younger inheriting from a parentThe exemption runs in both directions. Most summaries only mention one. | 0% |
| Direct descendants and lineal heirsChildren, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, and stepchildren, which surprises people. | 4.5% |
| Siblings | 12% |
| Everyone elseNieces, nephews, cousins, friends, unmarried partners. | 15% |
| Charities, exempt institutions, government entities | Exempt |
Rates apply to the value of what each person receives, after the estate’s allowable deductions.
Checked against PA Department of Revenue and brochure REV-584 on .
The 5% discount, and the qualifier most summaries drop
Pay the inheritance tax within three months of the date of death and you take 5% off. Almost every page you will read stops there. The statute does not.
The discount is 5% of the tax paid, or 5% of the tax due, whichever is less. That qualifier matters as soon as you are working from an estimate. If you pay more than the estate turns out to owe, the discount is measured against the smaller figure, not against the larger cheque you wrote. Overpaying early buys you a refund, not a bigger discount.
You do not need final figures to make a payment. If you have a reasonable idea of what is owed, paying inside three months is usually the one decision in this whole process that puts money back in the estate.
Nothing dramatic happens on the day the three months expire. You simply stop being able to claim the 5%.
The tax is delinquent after nine months
Nine months from the date of death is the deadline. After that the tax is late and interest runs. The rate for 2026 is 7%.
Those two dates are counted from the date of death, not from the date letters were granted and not from the date the estate was advertised. People mix these up constantly, because the creditor deadline in probate is counted differently.
The under-21 exemption runs in both directions
A parent inheriting from a child aged 21 or younger pays 0%. A child aged 21 or younger inheriting from a parent also pays 0%. Both directions are exempt.
Most summaries state only one of the two. Some describe only the parent-to-child direction, some only the child-to-parent direction, and both versions are incomplete. If you have read somewhere that this exemption works one way only, that page is wrong. It is worth checking, because the difference between 0% and 4.5% on a whole share is real money.
The age that matters is the child’s age. Once a child is over 21, the ordinary lineal rate of 4.5% applies instead.
What is taxed
The tax is charged on what each person receives from the estate. In practice that covers the things most estates are made of:
- Real estate in Pennsylvania, including the family home
- Bank accounts, savings and investment accounts
- Vehicles, furniture and personal belongings
- Business interests and partnership shares
How an asset was owned matters as much as what it was. Property held jointly, property with a named beneficiary and property held in trust are each treated according to the way they were titled. If you are not sure how a particular account will be treated, ask the Register of Wills or an accountant before you file. A general page like this one cannot answer it for your estate, and neither can we.
What you can deduct
The taxable figure is not the gross value of the estate. Pennsylvania allows the estate’s real costs to come off first, which is why the number on the return is usually lower than families expect:
- Debts the person owed at the date of death
- The costs of administering the estate
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Attorney fees and fiduciary fees
- The cost of a grave marker
Deductions are claimed on the return, so keep the receipts for all of it. This is the part people are least organised about and it is the part that reduces the bill.
Filing the REV-1500
The return is form REV-1500. It is filed in duplicate with the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived, not with the county where the property happens to sit.
- Work out who receives what, and which rate applies to each person.
- Total the deductions, with receipts kept for every line.
- File REV-1500 in duplicate with the Register of Wills in the county where they lived.
- Pay within three months for the 5% discount, and in any event by nine months to avoid interest.
You can complete and file the return yourself. Pennsylvania does not require an attorney or an accountant to do it, and many families do it without either. The office will tell you what they need in order to accept the filing.
When to get help, and from whom
We are not a law firm and we are not accountants. We do not prepare returns, we do not calculate what your estate owes, and nothing here is tax advice.
Speak to a probate attorney if the will is contested, if the family disagrees about who receives what, or if anyone is threatening to challenge the distribution. Speak to an accountant if the estate holds a business, a farm, or assets in more than one state. Speak to the Register of Wills in your county about the mechanics of filing: they will explain what their office requires, though staff are not permitted to give legal advice.
If the answer to your question is that you need one of those three rather than us, we will say so, and finding that out costs you nothing.
Common questions
Questions about the inheritance tax
Is there an amount I can inherit tax free in Pennsylvania?
No. Pennsylvania has no exempt amount. The tax applies from the first dollar, and what you pay depends on your relationship to the person who died rather than on how much you receive.
A surviving spouse pays nothing, and so do charities and government bodies. Everyone else pays from the first dollar.
We owe nothing federally. Does that mean we owe nothing at all?
No. They are two different taxes charged by two different governments. The federal estate tax exclusion for 2026 is $15,000,000, so most families owe the federal government nothing. Pennsylvania starts at the first dollar. Owing nothing federally tells you nothing about what Pennsylvania will charge.
My father left me his house. What do I pay?
A child inheriting from a parent is a lineal transfer, taxed at 4.5% of the value of what you receive. Real estate is included. The rate does not change because the asset is a house rather than cash, though the estate’s allowable deductions reduce the taxable figure first.
Why is my rate higher than my brother’s children’s rate?
Because Pennsylvania taxes the relationship, not the generation. A sibling pays 12%. A child or grandchild of the person who died pays 4.5%. Two people inheriting identical amounts from the same estate can owe very different sums, and this is the point that surprises families most often.
Are stepchildren taxed at the higher rate?
No. Stepchildren are included in the 4.5% lineal rate. This is a common error in summaries written for other states, where the treatment differs.
How do I actually get the 5% discount?
Pay the tax within three months of the date of death. The discount is 5% of the tax paid or 5% of the tax due, whichever is less, so paying more than the estate turns out to owe does not buy you a larger discount. You do not need the final figures to make a payment.
What happens if we cannot pay within nine months?
The tax becomes delinquent after nine months from the date of death and interest starts running. The rate for 2026 is 7%. If the estate cannot pay, speak to the Register of Wills about the mechanics and to an accountant or an attorney about your options. We cannot advise you on that.
Do I need an accountant to file the REV-1500?
Not as a matter of law. Pennsylvania does not require an accountant or an attorney to prepare the return, and plenty of families complete it themselves. The Register of Wills in your county will answer questions about how to file, though staff are not permitted to give legal advice.
Get professional help if the estate holds a business, a farm, or assets in more than one state, or if anyone is disputing who inherits. We are not a law firm and we do not prepare returns.
Checked against PA Department of Revenue and brochure REV-584 on .
Start with a conversation, not a contract
Tell us who died, which county they lived in, and what is worrying you most. If the answer is that you need a probate attorney rather than us, we will say so.
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