Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax: Rates, Rules, Forms, and Deadlines

A calm, source-checked guide for whoever is handling the return — an executor or administrator appointed by the Register of Wills, or someone who simply received property and has been told a return may be needed. Which return you file turns on the decedent's legal domicile at death. Nothing here has to be finished this week.

Pennsylvania imposes an inheritance tax on property transferred at death — by will, by intestacy, and by transfers that take effect by operation of law, which includes many assets that never pass through probate. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue's current inheritance tax rates are 0% on transfers to a surviving spouse and to a parent from a child aged 21 or younger, 4.5% on transfers to direct descendants and lineal heirs, 12% on transfers to siblings, and 15% on transfers to other heirs, with qualifying charitable organizations, exempt institutions, and government entities exempt. A further 0% category — transfers to or for the use of a child aged 21 or younger from a parent — appears in the current return instructions and is set out below. The return is due nine months after the date of death.

The rate is only part of the answer. What is taxed, which return is filed, and where it goes depend on the decedent's legal domicile at death, where the property was located, how it was titled, how it passed, the date of death, who received it, and which deductions and exemptions the estate can document. The rate applies to the net value subject to tax, not to the gross value of what someone inherits.

This guide explains Pennsylvania's public rules and forms. It is not a determination of a particular estate's tax, filing duty, or beneficiary classification.

Where to start depends on a few facts, and the free official path comes first in every case.

• Start with the resident return and the county Register of Wills if the decedent was legally domiciled in Pennsylvania at death: the return and its payment go through the Register of Wills in the county where the decedent lived, and the state's forms are free.
• Start with the nonresident return and the Department of Revenue if the decedent was domiciled outside Pennsylvania but owned real estate or tangible personal property located here.
• Start by writing down how each asset was titled if some property passed by joint ownership, a beneficiary designation, or a trust — the transfer path decides which schedule reports it, and avoiding probate does not by itself avoid the tax.
• Don't choose yet — pause and get professional review before filing or paying if domicile is genuinely uncertain, the beneficiary class is unclear, the estate may be insolvent, or farm or family-business property is involved.

Your first official action: determine whether the decedent was domiciled in Pennsylvania at death, then open the matching return instructions and identify the filing destination — the statewide directory of Registers of Wills maintained by Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System for a resident estate, or the Department of Revenue's inheritance tax payment page for a nonresident estate. Do that before you estimate or pay anything.

On this page

• Does a Pennsylvania inheritance tax return have to be filed at all?
• What to handle now, and what can wait
• Which Pennsylvania inheritance tax rate applies
• Which estates and which property Pennsylvania taxes
• What may be excluded or deducted
• How to file and pay
• When to pause and get professional review
• Choosing the right kind of help
• Common questions
• How this page was verified

Does a Pennsylvania inheritance tax return have to be filed at all?

Both current return instructions state the same threshold: a Pennsylvania inheritance tax return must be filed for every decedent who has property which is or may be subject to tax. There is no estate-size floor beneath which the question disappears.

So "no return" is a conclusion you reach after listing the assets, not a starting assumption. Being told there's nothing there is not the same as confirming it, and neither is the absence of probate: joint accounts, payable-on-death accounts, beneficiary-designated accounts, and certain lifetime transfers are reportable even though no court is involved.

Where the decedent left none of those, there may be nothing to report. Work through the six-fact gate, the return you would file, and the schedule map before settling on that answer. If an asset surfaces later, the original nine-month clock is still the one that governs.

What to handle now, and what can wait

None of this is resolved in the first week. Sequencing the work by dependency keeps the return accurate and keeps you from paying on facts that later change.

Now. Secure the decedent's records, including account statements, deeds, titles, insurance and retirement paperwork, and any will or trust. Order certified death certificates. Note the exact date of death and the address where the decedent legally lived, which is not always the address on the mail or the place where the death occurred. Hold off on distributing or retitling anything.

If the death was recent and the practical first steps are still ahead of you, what to do when someone dies covers them, and grief resources lists free support. One practical warning belongs here too. Pennsylvania probate filings are public records, and solicitations often follow within weeks — offers to advance money against an expected inheritance, to buy out a beneficiary's share, or to locate assets for a percentage. None of those is part of Pennsylvania's official process, and none appears anywhere on this page.

Soon. Locate the will and any trust document. List every asset with how it was titled and how it passes. Gather beneficiary designations. Identify whether anyone has been appointed by the Register of Wills to act for the estate. Open the correct official return instructions.

Later. Establish date-of-death values, assemble deductions with documentation, complete the schedules and the return, file and pay, review the Department's assessment, and file a supplemental return if additional assets surface.

Only if it applies. A nonresident return; an agricultural or family-owned business exemption; a request to extend the filing deadline; a payment arrangement with the Department; a protest or appeal of an assessment; a copy of a federal Form 706.

Confirm local filing mechanics with the Register of Wills in the decedent's county, and bring in a Pennsylvania estate-tax CPA, enrolled agent, or tax attorney before signing a return when a classification, valuation, or exemption is unresolved.

Which Pennsylvania inheritance tax rate applies

The six-fact gate

The rate table below answers one question — what percentage applies to a given recipient. It cannot tell you what an estate owes. Before you use it, write down six answers: the decedent's legal domicile at death; where each piece of real or tangible property was located; how each asset was titled; how each asset passed, whether by will, intestacy, survivorship, beneficiary designation, trust, or lifetime transfer; the date of death; and who legally receives each interest. If you cannot answer one of them yet, treat the rate as provisional. This is the six-fact gate, and the rest of the page refers back to it.

Keeping it on paper is enough: one line per asset or transfer path, recording how it was titled, how it passes, and its date-of-death value; one line per recipient, marked "needs review" for any step, adopted, half-sibling, in-law, trust, or entity recipient; and, for every rate or exception you rely on, the source, the form revision, and the date you checked it. Any figure you reach this way is a planning estimate, not a tax. Keep the sheet free of Social Security numbers, full account or policy numbers, and medical details — it is a planning sheet, not a return, and it should never become a place where sensitive identifiers accumulate. When the list is assembled, the broader administration sequence is covered in the executor checklist.

The relationship rate bands

Pennsylvania inheritance tax rates by beneficiary class, for dates of death on or after July 1, 2000. Verified against the current REV-1500 instructions (printed revision 08-24), the current REV-1737-A instructions (revision 03-19), and the Department of Revenue's inheritance tax page on August 5, 2026. Status: Verified.

Beneficiary or transfer class	Rate	What the current instructions say
Surviving spouse	0%	Any asset passing to the decedent's spouse is taxed at 0%. No common-law marriage contracted after Jan. 1, 2005 is valid, and a transfer to a surviving common-law spouse that cannot be proved is taxed at 15%.
Natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent receiving from a child aged 21 or younger	0%	Applies to transfers from the estate of a child aged 21 or younger to that child's parent, for dates of death on or after July 1, 2000.
Child aged 21 or younger receiving from a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent	0%	Applies to dates of death on or after Jan. 1, 2020, for transfers to or for the use of a child aged 21 or younger.
Direct descendants and lineal heirs	4.5%	Grandparents, parents, children, the un-remarried widow or widower of a child, and lineal descendants. "Children" includes natural children whether or not adopted by others, adopted children, and stepchildren.
Siblings	12%	Brothers, sisters, half-brothers, and half-sisters — anyone with at least one parent in common with the decedent, by blood or by adoption.
All other beneficiaries (the collateral rate)	15%	Includes aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, a sister-in-law or brother-in-law, stepsiblings, friends, pets, and entities not classified as a charity.
Qualifying charitable organizations, exempt institutions, and government entities	Exempt	The recipient's status has to qualify; a nonprofit name alone does not establish it.

The law in effect on the date of death governs the rate. For a death that occurred years ago, or for a remainder interest created long ago, the current bands may not be the ones that apply; both sets of instructions publish the historical schedule.

One comparison shows why the class definition matters more than the dollar amount. A half-sibling — someone with at least one parent in common with the decedent — falls in the 12% sibling class. A stepsibling, who has no parent in common, falls in the 15% collateral class. Same household, same word in everyday speech, different rate. Adopted, step, in-law, trust, and entity recipients all turn on definitions rather than on family custom, so if a relationship is legally ambiguous, stop and have it reviewed rather than guessing.

Who ultimately bears the tax among several beneficiaries can also be shaped by a tax-burden or apportionment clause in a will or trust. That is a document-interpretation question rather than a rate question, and it belongs with a Pennsylvania attorney or estate-tax professional.

One recent change affects who the recipient is. For deaths in 2026 and after, where someone dies without a will and no relative in the statutory order survives, 20 Pa.C.S. § 2103 as amended by Act 50 of 2025 now directs the share to an endowed community fund — first in the decedent's municipality, then the school district, then the county — before anything passes to the Commonwealth. Two official statements of the effective date differ: the Department of Revenue's inheritance tax page gives January 16, 2026, while the sponsoring associations describe the provisions as effective January 23, 2026. The order of succession is the same either way, so the discrepancy matters only for a death inside that one-week window, and the Register of Wills is the place to settle it. The principle does not change: the recipient's class decides the rate, so identify the recipient before applying a band. Where there is no will, or none can be found, it is the intestate order rather than family expectation that decides who receives each share — and therefore which rate applies to it. Whether a particular endowed community fund qualifies for the charitable exemption is a classification question for the Department or a Pennsylvania professional, not one to assume.

What people commonly get wrong

Six assumptions that change what an estate owes. Sourced to the current REV-1500, REV-1510, and REV-1737-A instructions and to REV-229, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified.

What people assume	What is actually true	Where it bites
A 0% rate means no return	A 0% rate is a rate, not an exemption from filing. The nonresident instructions state that the statute does not exempt a spousal transfer from tax, and the disclosure and return requirements apply even when the surviving spouse is the only beneficiary.	An estate that files nothing because "the spouse gets everything"
It skipped probate, so it isn't taxed	Pennsylvania taxes the transfer, not the court process. Joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary-designated, and trust property have their own schedules.	Beneficiary-designated accounts left off the return entirely
The rate applies to what I received	The rate applies to the net value subject to tax, after documented deductions and qualifying charitable and governmental bequests are subtracted.	Overpaying by treating an appraised value as the taxable amount
Pennsylvania inheritance tax and federal estate tax are the same thing	They are separate taxes with separate rules and separate payers. An estate can face one, both, or neither.	Assuming a federal exemption amount protects a Pennsylvania estate
Pennsylvania has a state estate tax as well	For deaths on or after Jan. 1, 2005 there is no basis for a Pennsylvania estate tax, because the federal credit for state death taxes it was measured by was discontinued. Pennsylvania's death tax is the inheritance tax. One estate tax provision still operates: an estate that must file a federal Form 706 must also file a copy in Pennsylvania.	Hunting for a Pennsylvania exemption amount that does not exist, and missing the Form 706 copy that does apply
My stepbrother counts as a sibling	Stepsiblings are taxed at the 15% collateral rate. Half-siblings are taxed at 12%.	A 3-percentage-point error applied to the whole share

Which estates and which property Pennsylvania taxes

Two separate questions decide scope. Domicile — the decedent's legal home at death — decides which return is filed. Situs — where property was physically located — decides how much of a nonresident's property Pennsylvania can reach. Domicile is a legal conclusion drawn from facts such as where someone lived, voted, and intended to remain; a mailing address alone does not establish it, and the nonresident return requires a sworn affidavit of domicile.

Resident and nonresident scope compared. Sourced to the current REV-1500 and REV-1737-A instructions, REV-584, and the Department's payment page, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified.

Item	Resident decedent (domiciled in Pennsylvania)	Nonresident decedent (domiciled elsewhere)
Real and tangible personal property	Taxable when located in Pennsylvania at death — cash, vehicles, furniture, antiques, jewelry, and oil and gas rights among them	All real property and tangible personal property located in Pennsylvania is taxable, including property held in two or more names with right of survivorship, except between spouses
Intangible personal property	Taxable regardless of where it is held — stocks, bonds, bank accounts, loans receivable	Not taxable under the flat-rate method. Under the elective proportionate method the whole estate is reported and a Pennsylvania proportion applied
Return	REV-1500, Inheritance Tax Return — Resident Decedent, filed in duplicate	REV-1737-A, Inheritance Tax Return — Nonresident Decedent, with the REV-1737-1 affidavit of domicile
Deductions	Funeral costs, administration costs, and the decedent's debts, mortgages, and liens, as documented	Depends on the election. Under the flat-rate method, statute allows only mortgages, liens, or taxes encumbering the Pennsylvania property and due at the date of death. The family exemption is not allowable in a nonresident estate under either method
Where it goes	The Register of Wills of the county where the decedent lived	The Department of Revenue's Inheritance Tax Division in Harrisburg — or, where Pennsylvania letters (the Register of Wills' written grant of authority to act) were obtained in the county holding the assets, in duplicate with that county's Register of Wills
Checks payable to	"Register of Wills, Agent"	"Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"
Schedule forms	The REV-1500 series (REV-1502 through REV-1513)	The REV-1737 series (REV-1737-2 through REV-1737-7), plus shared forms for specialized schedules; the schedule letters are the same

Property in another state generally answers to that state's own rules, and an estate with real property outside Pennsylvania may need a separate ancillary process there. That question belongs to the other state's law, not to this page.

Which return you file, and what happens if none is required

The REV-1500 carries a type-of-return selector on its face — original, supplemental, and individual-transferee among the choices — and a nonresident estate uses REV-1737-A instead. The last row below is not a form at all, and for some estates it is the correct answer.

The Pennsylvania inheritance tax filing routes compared, including no return at all. Sourced to the current REV-1500 and REV-1737-A returns and instructions, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified. Every route uses free state forms; county filing fees are set and published locally and are not reproduced on this page.

Route	When it applies	Form, and how it is marked	What it reports	Where it goes, and who is exposed
Original estate return, resident	The decedent was domiciled in Pennsylvania at death	REV-1500, marked "Original Estate Return"	All reportable property, on Schedules A through J as applicable	Register of Wills for the county of domicile, in duplicate. The personal representative signs and is accountable for the return
Original estate return, nonresident	The decedent was domiciled elsewhere but owned Pennsylvania real or tangible personal property	REV-1737-A, with the REV-1737-1 affidavit of domicile	Pennsylvania-situs property under the method elected	The Department's Inheritance Tax Division, or that county's Register of Wills where Pennsylvania letters were obtained in the county holding the assets. The fiduciary signs
Individual-transferee return	No personal representative was appointed, or one was appointed and did not file, or filed without the property in question	REV-1500, marked "Individual-Transferee Return"	Schedule F and Schedule G assets only, reported separately from the estate	Register of Wills for the county of the decedent's domicile. The transferee signs, and a person in possession of the decedent's property is a fiduciary for this tax by law
Supplemental estate return	An asset, transfer, or deduction surfaces after a return was filed	REV-1500, marked "Supplemental Estate Return"	Only the new items. Pennsylvania has no amended inheritance tax return	The same office that received the original. The original nine-month clock still governs, and interest runs on tax not timely paid
No return required	The six-fact gate closes on every asset: nothing Pennsylvania taxes, and nothing on any schedule	None	Nothing	Nowhere — but the duty does not disappear. If an asset surfaces later, the original nine-month clock governs, and whoever holds estate property is a fiduciary for this tax

Transferees do not file separate returns for property already included in the personal representative's return. If you reach "no return required," reach it from a completed list rather than from an assurance, and keep the list.

Probate and non-probate transfers: what each path controls

Pennsylvania's inheritance tax follows the transfer, not the courtroom. A will and the probate process control property titled in the decedent's name alone; joint accounts, beneficiary-designated accounts, and trust property pass outside that process — and a will does not override a beneficiary designation. What changes with the path is which schedule reports the asset, who is billed, and how quickly the recipient sees the money. What does not change is that the transfer may still be reportable; the schedule map below shows what lands on the non-probate schedule.

Transfer path	What it covers	Who has authority, and what the path changes
Probate property	Assets in the decedent's sole name, or held as tenant in common, passing under a will or by intestacy	A personal representative appointed by the county Register of Wills. Being named in a will is not being appointed
Joint property with right of survivorship	Real estate, securities, and bank accounts held in two or more names	Passes to the surviving owner by title; no court appointment needed to receive it. The surviving owner can be billed separately for the tax on that asset
Beneficiary-designated accounts	Payable-on-death and "in trust for" accounts, retirement accounts, annuities	Passes by contract to the named beneficiary, released by the institution rather than the court. A will does not change the designation, and the beneficiary can be billed separately
Living trust property	Property the decedent transferred to a trust during life	The trustee, under the trust document. Reported by the estate, and retained interests or powers pull the property back into the return
Lifetime transfers close to death	Gifts and transfers made without adequate consideration, and transfers with a retained interest	Already transferred, but still within the return's disclosure questions. A $3,000 exclusion may be claimed per transferee, per calendar year, on the amount exceeding $3,000

Separate billing is not automatic and is not always appropriate. The Schedule G instructions say the option should be used only where no tax clause requires the estate to pay the tax — which is a question about the will or trust, not about the form.

Joint accounts, and the convenience trap

Property owned jointly between spouses is exempt. Other joint property with right of survivorship is taxable on the decedent's interest, which the Department's inheritance tax brochure, REV-584 (revision 10-22) calculates as the value divided by the number of joint owners at the date of death, regardless of who put the money in. The brochure answers the question that surprises people most: someone who added a parent's name to their own savings account purely for convenience is still taxed on half of it when the parent dies. Where the decedent created the joint interest within one year of death, the current Schedule G instructions (revision 03-19) state that the asset is fully taxable and the transferee may claim a $3,000 exclusion.

Retirement accounts, annuities, and life insurance

This is the area where the source you read decides the answer, so use the current Schedule G instructions rather than the older brochure.

• Traditional IRAs — if the decedent was 59½ or older at death, or was considered disabled at any age. The IRA is fully taxable.
• Traditional IRAs — if the decedent was younger than 59½ and not disabled. The IRA is generally not taxable. Disability is the condition that decides this branch, and the instructions frame it in terms of the federal 10% penalty for a premature withdrawal, so where disability status is arguable this is a question to ask rather than to assume.
• Annuities. Fully taxable.
• Employer-sponsored retirement and pension plans. Exempt only if the decedent had no right during life to possess, enjoy, assign, or anticipate the payments. A plan where the only rights were to name a beneficiary and receive a regular monthly payment is not taxable, and a plan summary must accompany the return when exemption is claimed.
• Life insurance. Proceeds on the life of the decedent are not subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax.

Status: Verified against the current Schedule G instructions. Verified with limitation for any specific account, because the plan document and the decedent's rights under it control the result, and because those instructions do not separately address Roth accounts — a question for the Department's own service line or a Pennsylvania preparer rather than one to infer. One caution: REV-584 answers only the narrower question of deaths before age 59½, and read alone it can look like a general exemption. It is not one. Federal distribution rules for an inherited account are a separate subject; see inherited IRA and 401(k) rules.

Valuation, and who has authority

Valuation is generally fair market value as of the decedent's date of death, and Pennsylvania has no six-month alternate valuation date like the one in the Internal Revenue Code. Special rules apply to life estates, future interests, sole-use spousal trusts, and farmland.

On authority: only the Register of Wills appoints a personal representative, and until that appointment exists no one holds estate authority merely because a will names them. If you are working out whether an estate needs administration at all, how probate works covers the court side; this page stays with the tax return.

What may be excluded or deducted

A rate applied to a gross value is not a return. Pennsylvania allows specified deductions and exemptions, and each one carries eligibility and documentation conditions.

Deductions and exemptions on a Pennsylvania resident inheritance tax return. Sourced to the current REV-1500 instructions, REV-584, and the Department's inheritance tax page, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified for the items and dates shown; Partial for the agricultural and family-owned business exemptions, whose full eligibility and continuation conditions sit outside this page's verified scope. Nonresident estates: see the deductions row in the scope table above.

Item	How Pennsylvania treats it	What to confirm
Funeral and burial expenses, administration costs	Deductible, including attorney fees, fiduciary fees, and the cost of the burial lot, tombstone, or grave marker	Actual, documented amounts on Schedule H, not estimates
Debts of the decedent, mortgage liabilities, liens	Valid debts owed by the decedent at the time of death are deductible on Schedule I. These are the estate's obligations, not the family's	That each debt was the decedent's, and see the section below before you pay anything personally
Family exemption	$3,500 for decedents who died after Jan. 29, 1995, under Section 3121 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code	Claimed by a qualifying spouse, or a child or parent who was a member of the decedent's household; not available in a nonresident estate
Property owned jointly between spouses	Exempt from inheritance tax	That the ownership form is what the deed or account record actually shows
Qualifying charities, exempt institutions, government entities	Exempt	The recipient's exempt status, in writing
Active-duty military personal property	Exempt for deaths on or after Sept. 6, 2022, where a serving member died as a result of an injury or illness received on active duty in the armed forces, a reserve component, or the National Guard	Each condition — service status, cause, date of death, and that the property is personal property
Agricultural property, and qualified family-owned business interests	Certain farm land and agricultural property transferred to eligible recipients are exempt for deaths after June 30, 2012, claimed on Schedule AU. A separate exemption exists for qualified family-owned business interests for deaths on or after July 1, 2013, claimed on Schedule C-SB	Eligibility, recipient class, and the continuing-use and ownership conditions that run for years after the death, with professional review

Use "may be deductible" as your working assumption until the schedule and the supporting documents exist. The two specialized exemptions need the most care: the Department's informational notice on the agricultural exemptions and the current Schedule AU form, REV-1197 set out conditions that continue for years after the death, including an annual income requirement for the business-of-agriculture exemption. These are narrow provisions with follow-through obligations rather than savings tactics, and an exemption resting on continued use or ownership can be lost later. Have a Pennsylvania tax professional review either one before you claim it.

Debts of the decedent, and what you are not personally liable for

Debts belong to the estate, not to the family. Valid debts the decedent owed at death are deductible on Schedule I and are paid from estate assets, and where the estate cannot cover them, unsecured creditors are generally not paid in full. In general, you do not become personally liable for a parent's or a sibling's debts by inheriting from them, by serving as personal representative, or by paying a bill out of kindness. The usual exceptions are debts you co-signed or guaranteed, accounts you held jointly, and obligations already in your own name.

Pennsylvania adds one exception that surprises people, and it is not an estate debt at all. Under 23 Pa.C.S. § 4603, the spouse, a child, or a parent of an indigent person has a statutory responsibility to care for and maintain or financially assist that person, whether or not the person is a public charge, and a care provider can pursue that liability directly. The statute states two limits: it does not apply to an individual who does not have sufficient financial ability to provide the support, and a child is not liable for the support of a parent who abandoned the child and persisted in the abandonment for ten years during the child's minority. Pennsylvania courts have applied the section to adult children for a parent's unpaid long-term care. It is a separate question from this return and filing one does not resolve it.

So if a nursing home, a hospital, or a collector contacts you about your own money rather than the estate's, that is the point to get Pennsylvania advice before you pay anything. Money paid on a debt you did not owe is not recovered by filing a return.

How to file and pay

Which schedule reports what

Schedules on the resident return, REV-1500. Sourced to the current REV-1500 and REV-1510 instructions, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified.

What you are reporting	Schedule and form	What the instructions require with it
Pennsylvania real estate held solely or as tenant in common	Schedule A, REV-1502	A copy of the deed
Stocks and bonds held solely or as tenant in common	Schedule B, REV-1503	Date-of-death values
A closely held corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship	Schedule C, REV-1504	Valuation support and the supplemental corporate or partnership report
Mortgages and notes receivable owed to the decedent	Schedule D, REV-1507	The instrument and the balance at death
Cash, bank deposits, and other probate property not on another schedule	Schedule E, REV-1508	Date-of-death balances
Property held as joint tenants with right of survivorship	Schedule F, REV-1509	A deed for joint real estate; the surviving owner's address if separate billing is requested
Payable-on-death and "in trust for" accounts, beneficiary-designated retirement accounts and annuities, revocable trusts, retained interests, and transfers within one year of death	Schedule G, REV-1510	The trust instrument and a valuation of its assets; a plan summary where a retirement plan is claimed exempt
Funeral expenses and administration costs	Schedule H, REV-1511	Documented amounts
Debts of the decedent, mortgage liabilities, and liens	Schedule I, REV-1512	Support for each debt owed at death
Beneficiaries and their relationship to the decedent	Schedule J, REV-1513	Charitable and governmental bequests in the correct section
A claim for the agricultural use exemption	Schedule AU, REV-1197	One schedule per parcel
A claim for the family-owned business exemption	Schedule C-SB, REV-571	The information the schedule requests

Specialized schedules exist for life estates, future interest compromises, and sole-use spousal trusts. A nonresident estate uses the REV-1737 series, with the same schedule letters. Attach only what the estate needs; the instructions say not to submit blank schedules.

Every Pennsylvania inheritance tax deadline, and what happens if it passes

Deadlines, consequences, and whether each can be cured. Sourced to the current REV-1500 and REV-1846 instructions, REV-229, and the Department's inheritance tax and payment pages, reviewed August 5, 2026. Status: Verified.

Deadline	Measured from	What happens if it passes	Can it be cured
5% discount on tax paid early	Three months from the date of death	The discount is forfeited. Nothing else is lost, and there is no penalty	Not restorable, and not a reason to pay on incomplete facts
The return is due	Nine months from the date of death	A failure-to-file penalty applies, capped at the lesser of 25% of the tax ultimately found due or $1,000. Beyond nine months a citation may be filed with the Orphans' Court Division to compel filing or payment	Yes — file. Filing late is better than not filing, and the penalty is capped
The tax becomes delinquent	Nine months from the date of death	Interest runs from nine months and one day until payment. Unpaid tax and interest are a lien on real property until paid in full	Yes — interest stops when the tax is paid
Request to extend the filing deadline	Must reach the Department before the return is due	No extension is available; the return is simply late	No. An extension cannot be requested after the due date
Protest or appeal of an appraisement (the Department's own valuation), a disallowed deduction, or an assessment	60 days from the date you receive the notice	The Department's figures stand	Generally not. This is the window on this page that closes permanently
Copy of a federal Form 706 filed with Pennsylvania	One month from the date the federal return is filed with the IRS	The Pennsylvania filing obligation under 72 P.S. § 9145 remains outstanding	Yes — file the copy as soon as the obligation is identified
Copy of the final IRS communication	30 days from the date the estate receives it	Same as above; it goes to whoever received the copy of the original federal return	Yes — file it as soon as it is identified
Application for a refund, or use of an overpayment left on the account	Three years — the period the Department maintains an overpayment	The refund cannot be claimed and the overpayment can no longer be used	No

If one of these dates has already gone by, that is a reason to file, not a reason to wait. Interest stops when the tax is paid, the late-filing penalty is capped, and only the 60-day protest window closes for good.

The three timing points

The timing has three separate points, and collapsing them into "nine months" loses the middle one. The return instructions and the Department's payment page describe the same sequence: the tax is due upon the decedent's death, the discount closes at three months, and delinquency begins at nine. The table above carries the consequences. Two details it does not: the discount is capped at 5% of the total tax due, with no discount on any amount later refunded, and interest accrues at rates the Department publishes separately on form REV-1611. Not published on this page — that rate changes and is not reproduced here.

The discount is worth understanding without being rushed by it. Paying early only helps if the estate has the liquidity and enough reliable information to support an estimate; a prepayment can be made to the Register of Wills before the return is filed, in writing, with the decedent's name, date of death, and Social Security number. If the three months pass, nothing is lost but the discount — there is no penalty for declining to pay early.

Extensions, and what they don't extend

A filing extension is not a payment extension. If the return cannot be filed within nine months, a one-time six-month extension may be requested on form REV-1846 (revision 04-19), with the decedent's details and a reason, before the return is due. It is valid only for six months from that due date. Extensions are granted for events beyond the estate's control — litigation over assets, a will dispute — and not for a failure to gather information in time. An extension does not relieve the estate of paying, and interest still accrues on tax due and not timely paid.

If the estate cannot pay in full

The Department's inheritance tax payment page describes how to ask about payment options, by email or by phone. Use that route. Inheritance advances, probate advances, and private financing against an expected inheritance are not part of Pennsylvania's official process, and this page does not point readers toward them.

What the county controls

County practice is an overlay rather than the rule. Registers of Wills differ in submission methods, accepted payment forms, appointment procedures, and local filing fees. State inheritance tax law does not vary by county, but the mechanics at the counter do, so check your county office's own page rather than assuming one county's fees apply everywhere. Court staff can explain how to file; they cannot tell you what an estate owes or which beneficiary class applies.

Two official lists cover all 67 counties between them, and both are free. The Unified Judicial System's statewide directory of Registers of Wills gives the officeholder, courthouse address, and phone number for every county office. The Department's inheritance tax county codes list supplies the county code the REV-1500 asks for on its first line. Filing fees themselves are set by each county and published by that office; this page does not reproduce them, because a fee verified in one county is not evidence of the fee in another.

After the return is filed

The Department issues an assessment notice setting out its valuation of the assets, the deductions it allowed, and the tax due. The resident instructions say this may take three to six months from filing; the nonresident instructions say up to six months. If additional assets, transfers, or deductions surface afterward, the supplemental return described above is the route — Pennsylvania does not use an amended inheritance tax return. Obvious factual errors such as transposed figures can be corrected administratively by letter.

Any other disagreement with an appraisement, a disallowed deduction, or an assessment goes to protest or appeal within the 60 days set out above, by one of three routes: the Board of Appeals, an election filed with the Register of Wills to have the matter determined at the audit of the account, or the Orphans' Court Division — the part of the county court of common pleas that handles estates. Note the date you receive the notice, not the date printed on it. That is the date the 60 days runs from, and it is the window on this page that does not reopen.

What signing the return commits you to

The return is signed under penalty of perjury, and the instructions carry a caution worth reading before you sign: those signing are legally responsible and may incur liability for erroneous, false, or fraudulent returns. Willfully filing a false return is a misdemeanor of the third degree.

Two further points rarely reach the people who need them. The duty can attach without an appointment: where there is no personal representative, the instructions state that every person in actual or constructive possession of any property of the decedent is by law a fiduciary for purposes of this tax and must file a return. Holding the property creates the obligation. Separately, keep estate funds apart from your own, and do not distribute before the tax position is settled — a premature distribution can leave whoever signed personally exposed for tax assessed later.

If you are both the personal representative and a beneficiary, which is the ordinary case, you are deciding which schedule an asset belongs on, and whether to request separate billing, in a matter where you have a financial interest. That is not a disqualification. It is a reason to document your reasoning and get a second read where a classification is close.

When to pause and get professional review

Getting help is not an admission that you have done something wrong. These are the situations where the facts cannot be safely reduced to a table, and where a Pennsylvania tax attorney or an estate-tax CPA or enrolled agent should look at the return before it is signed:

• Domicile is disputed, or the decedent kept homes in more than one state, or real or tangible property sits in more than one jurisdiction.
• Ownership records, beneficiary designations, trust terms, or contribution histories are incomplete, or the beneficiary class is unclear — step, adopted, half-sibling, in-law, trust, entity, or charitable-status questions.
• The estate may be insolvent, lacks liquidity, or faces significant creditor claims. Estate debts are settled from estate assets, and premature distributions can expose whoever signed the return.
• The decedent received Medicaid-funded long-term care. Pennsylvania's Estate Recovery Program allows the Commonwealth to recover Medical Assistance payments made for long-term care from the time the person turned 55 until death, which affects what is left to distribute and the order in which claims are paid. That is an elder law question, and it belongs before any distribution.
• A beneficiary is considering refusing an inheritance. A disclaimer has to meet formal requirements and its own timing to be effective, and it changes who receives the interest — which can change the rate that applies to it. Do not sign or refuse anything before a Pennsylvania attorney reviews it.
• There were lifetime gifts, retained interests, joint interests created near death, business interests, farmland, or a specialized exemption; or the return involves retirement accounts, annuities, or deferred compensation.
• A document was changed late in life in circumstances that trouble you, or someone appears to have had improper influence over the decedent's money. That belongs with a Pennsylvania attorney, and where financial exploitation of an older adult is suspected, with the county Area Agency on Aging protective services line or local law enforcement.
• Beneficiaries disagree about valuation, apportionment, payment, or distribution.
• The Department has issued an assessment, requested more information, denied an exemption, or a deadline has already passed.

Tax questions and legal questions are not the same errand. A return preparer is not automatically the right person for a will construction or a contested appointment, and an attorney is not automatically preparing the return. If the underlying question is whether the estate needs legal representation at all, when probate legal help may be useful works through that separately.

Choosing the right kind of help

Most of this work starts free, with the state's own forms and the county office. Below is a way to match a situation to the kind of help it needs. These are help types and the characteristics to look for, not recommendations of particular firms.

If this describes the estate	The kind of help that fits	Confirm before you engage or pay
Pennsylvania resident, modest asset list, no trust, beneficiaries clearly in one class	The free official path — the current REV-1500 instructions and the Register of Wills in the decedent's county	Does the county accept the return in person or by mail? What form of payment does it take? Is a receipt issued for a prepayment?
Everything passes to a surviving spouse or to a qualifying charity	Still the official path, because a 0% rate does not remove the filing and disclosure question	Whether any asset passes to a trust rather than outright, which changes what the return reports
No one has been appointed, and you received a payable-on-death or beneficiary-designated account	The free official path, using the individual-transferee return	Whether anyone has in fact been appointed, and whether they have filed or intend to; whether your asset is already on their return
Pennsylvania resident, but assets include joint accounts, beneficiary designations, or a trust	A Pennsylvania estate-tax preparer, with the title documents in hand	Have they filed returns with Schedules F and G before? Does the fee include the schedules or only the main return? Who signs the return, and who responds to the Department's assessment?
Out-of-state decedent with Pennsylvania real estate, or Pennsylvania decedent with out-of-state real estate	A preparer or attorney who has handled a multi-state estate and can model the flat-rate versus proportionate election	Which state's process do they handle, and which do they not? Is the affidavit of domicile included? Who coordinates the other state's filing?
Unclear domicile, farmland, a business interest, or a contested relationship class	A Pennsylvania estate-tax CPA or enrolled agent who prepares REV-1500 or REV-1737-A returns regularly	Will they quote a fee basis — flat, hourly, or by return — in writing? Who signs? What is excluded from the fee?
Possible insolvency, Medicaid estate recovery, a dispute among beneficiaries, or unclear authority to act	A Pennsylvania attorney handling estate administration, before any distribution	Is representation available on a limited-scope basis? Who is the client — the estate, the personal representative, or a beneficiary? What is the fee basis, in writing?

Free help, before you pay for any of it. The Department's Taxpayer Service and Information Center answers inheritance tax questions at 717-787-8327, and publishes an online interest and penalty calculator through its online services. Its Taxpayers' Rights Advocate handles inheritance tax problems that normal channels have not resolved, at 717-772-9347. The Register of Wills explains local filing mechanics at no charge. Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network routes income-eligible residents to civil legal aid in every county.

Common questions

Can I open the safe deposit box?

Not yet, in most cases. Because a box may hold assets subject to inheritance tax, REV-584 states that the contents of any box owned by the decedent alone, or with anyone other than a spouse, must be inventoried before removal. Until then no one may enter — not even a joint owner — except to remove a will or burial instructions, which must be taken out in the presence of a bank employee who records the entry on form REV-487. The estate's representative gives the Department at least seven days' written notice on form REV-1845 and returns the completed inventory on form REV-485 within 20 days of entry. No inventory is required for a box held jointly by spouses while one spouse is living.

How long does the Pennsylvania inheritance tax part of settling an estate usually take?

There is no single duration, and anyone who promises one is guessing. In Pennsylvania, the pace is set by the slowest dependency: how quickly the Register of Wills appoints a personal representative, how long valuations and appraisals take, whether real property has to be sold, whether other tax filings are pending, and whether anyone is in dispute. The Department's own instructions say an assessment can take three to six months after the return is filed. Refunds and post-assessment corrections add their own time.

What does it cost to file the Pennsylvania inheritance tax return?

Several different costs get blurred together, and they have different sources. The state's forms and instructions are free, and county filing fees are set locally, as described above. Then there are the estate's own costs — certified death certificates, appraisals, publication or notice costs where required, any bond premium, personal-representative compensation, and any preparer or attorney fee, which should be quoted with its basis stated. The inheritance tax itself is separate from all of these, and is never a service fee.

Who is responsible for filing — the estate or the person who inherited?

Normally the personal representative, meaning the executor or administrator appointed by the Register of Wills. Where no one was appointed, or the appointed representative does not file, or files without the property in question, the recipient files the individual-transferee return instead — see which return you file for how each route is marked and where it goes.

Is Pennsylvania inheritance tax the same as the federal estate tax?

No. Pennsylvania's inheritance tax is a state tax measured by what each recipient receives and by their relationship to the decedent. The federal estate and gift tax is a separate federal tax on the transfer of a decedent's taxable estate, administered by the IRS, and relatively few estates file it. An estate can face one, both, or neither.

If a federal Form 706 is required, Pennsylvania attaches two obligations of its own, set out in REV-229 (revision 08-13). A copy of the federal return goes to the Register of Wills in the county that granted letters — or directly to the Department where no Pennsylvania letters were granted — within one month of the federal filing. A copy of the IRS's final communication follows within 30 days of the estate receiving it, to whoever received the copy of the return. For how the two tax types differ across states, see estate tax vs. inheritance tax.

How this page was verified

Scope. Pennsylvania inheritance tax rates, taxable-transfer scope, deductions and exemptions, forms and schedules, filing routes, deadlines, and official filing destinations, at the state layer. County-level filing fees and local submission procedures are outside this page's verified scope and are routed above to the two official statewide lists that together cover all 67 counties.

Source order. Current official forms and instructions first (REV-1500, REV-1510, REV-1737-A, REV-1846, REV-229); then the Department's own inheritance tax and payment pages; then the statute or official notice cited in those sources; then the statewide court directory; then a county office, for that county's practice only.

Status labels used on this page. Verified, Verified with limitation, Partial, Blocked, Not applicable, Superseded, and Not published on this page. A rule is never described as current without a source and the date it was reviewed.

Missing-data rule. No figure, filing method, exemption, or asset result is inferred from another county, asset class, or state. Where the source set cannot close a question, this page says so instead of approximating. The current interest rate on delinquent tax and county filing fees are both labeled rather than estimated.

Source conflicts. Where the REV-584 brochure and a current return instruction differ, the return instruction controls, most consequentially on retirement accounts. On nonresident filing destination the two are consistent once the condition is read: the county route applies where Pennsylvania letters were obtained in the county holding the assets. On the effective date of the Act 50 of 2025 intestate-succession change, the Department's page and the sponsoring associations give dates one week apart; both are recorded above rather than reconciled silently.

Dates. Sources reviewed August 5, 2026. Form revisions observed: resident return 08-24; Schedule G 03-19; nonresident return 03-19; extension form 04-19; safe deposit box brochure 10-22; estate tax general information 08-13. Next scheduled review: November 5, 2026, and immediately on any Pennsylvania form, rate, statute, or routing change.

Independence. Estate Made Clear is supported by advertising and, on some pages, disclosed referral links. This page carries no referral links and no sponsored placements, names no provider, and if a compensated link is added to it, it will be disclosed here.

Who wrote this, and what review it has had. Written and edited by the Estate Made Clear editorial team — researchers and writers, not lawyers or accountants. Estate Made Clear is not a law firm, court, government agency, tax preparer, fiduciary, adviser, or insurer. This page has completed editorial and source review against the standards described above. It has not yet been reviewed by a Pennsylvania tax attorney or estate-tax CPA, and we say so here rather than implying a review that has not happened; when that review is completed, it will be credited here by name, role, and date. If you find an error — a superseded form revision, a changed figure, a dead official link — tell us at hello@estatemadeclear.com and we will correct it and move the verification date.

Your next step

Settle domicile first. If the decedent was legally domiciled in Pennsylvania on the date of death, open the REV-1500 instructions and find your county through the statewide directory of Registers of Wills. If not, and the decedent owned Pennsylvania real estate or tangible property, open the REV-1737-A instructions and the Department's inheritance tax payment page. Then read the section covering the property you actually hold — the joint account, the beneficiary-designated account, the house — before you value anything or send a payment.

If domicile, title, a relationship class, an exemption, or the estate's ability to pay is unresolved, that is the point to bring in a Pennsylvania estate-tax professional or attorney — before the return is signed, not after an assessment arrives.

Sources and last verified date

Last verified: August 5, 2026

Next review: November 5, 2026, and immediately on any Pennsylvania form, rate, statute, or routing change.

• Inheritance Tax — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — current headline rates by beneficiary class, the spousal joint-property exemption, the agricultural and active-duty military exemptions, the Act 50 of 2025 intestate-succession change and the Department's stated effective date, and the due-at-death, three-month discount, and nine-month delinquency timing.
• REV-1500, Inheritance Tax Return — Resident Decedent, with instructions — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — who must file, the four return types selected on the face of the form including the individual-transferee and supplemental returns, filing in duplicate with the county Register of Wills, the county code field, the nine-month filing and payment points, interest and lien consequences, the Orphans' Court citation process, date-of-death valuation and the absence of a six-month alternate valuation date, allowable deductions, the full relationship rate definitions including the two 0% parent-and-child categories, the non-probate disclosure questions, the schedule list, assessment timing, supplemental returns, refund and overpayment periods, signer liability, the deemed-fiduciary rule, and the 60-day protest and appeal routes.
• REV-1510, Schedule G — Inter-Vivos Transfers and Misc. Non-Probate Property, with instructions — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — the controlling treatment of IRAs, annuities, and employer-sponsored plans; the life-insurance exemption; the $3,000 exclusion for transfers within one year of death; joint interests created within a year of death; retained interests, life estates, and revocable trusts; and the conditions on requesting separate billing.
• REV-1737-A, Inheritance Tax Return — Nonresident Decedent, with instructions — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — nonresident property scope, the flat-rate and proportionate computation elections and the deductions allowed under each, the affidavit of domicile requirement, the Department filing destination, the unavailability of the family exemption in a nonresident estate, and the statement that a 0% spousal rate does not remove the return requirement.
• REV-1846, Extension to File Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Return, with instructions — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — the one-time six-month filing extension, the requirement to request it before the return is due, and the statement that it does not extend the time to pay.
• REV-229, Pennsylvania Estate Tax General Information — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — that no basis for a Pennsylvania estate tax remains for deaths on or after Jan. 1, 2005 following discontinuation of the federal credit for state death taxes; the surviving obligation under 72 P.S. § 9145 to file a copy of a federal Form 706 with the Register of Wills that granted letters, or with the Department where none were granted; the one-month filing period; and the 30-day period for filing the IRS's final communication.
• REV-584, Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax and Safe Deposit Boxes — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — resident and nonresident property scope in plain language, the $3,500 family exemption and who may claim it, deductible funeral and administration costs, the joint-account rule, the conditional county filing route for nonresident estates, and the safe deposit box inventory procedure and its forms.
• REV-1197, Schedule AU — Agricultural Use Exemptions — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — the statutory basis for the agricultural exemptions and the continuing conditions claimed on the schedule, including the annual gross income requirement.
• Inheritance Tax Informational Notice 2012-01 — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — the Department's own reference for the agricultural exemptions and their continuing conditions.
• Make an Inheritance Tax Payment — Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — resident payments directed to the county Register of Wills, nonresident returns and payments directed to the Department's Inheritance & Realty Transfer Tax Division, and the official routes for requesting payment options.
• Inheritance Tax County Codes — Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — the county code the REV-1500 requires, for every Pennsylvania county.
• Registers of Wills — Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania — the official statewide directory of county Register of Wills offices, with officeholder, courthouse address, and telephone number for every county.
• 20 Pa.C.S. § 2103, Shares of others than surviving spouse — Pennsylvania General Assembly — the intestate order of succession as amended by Act 50 of 2025, including the endowed community fund provision and its municipality, school district, and county sequence.
• 23 Pa.C.S. § 4603, Relatives' liability; procedure — Pennsylvania General Assembly — the statutory responsibility of a spouse, child, or parent to support an indigent person, and the two limits on it: insufficient financial ability, and ten years of abandonment during the child's minority.
• Estate Recovery — Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — the Commonwealth's recovery of Medical Assistance payments for long-term care provided from age 55 until death.
• Find Legal Help — Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network — the statewide route to civil legal aid for income-eligible Pennsylvania residents.
• Estate and Gift Taxes — Internal Revenue Service — the federal estate tax boundary only; it does not establish Pennsylvania inheritance tax treatment.