Pennsylvania State Income Taxes

The state of Pennsylvania imposes the same April 15th deadline for the filing of your income tax return as the IRS imposes for the federal income tax return.


This page:

  • Lists basic Pennsylvania state tax information

  • Links to the major Pennsylvania income tax forms

  • Shows you how you can save time and money by e-filing

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Pennsylvania state taxes at a glance:

Tax Rate Range: Low - 3.07%; High - 3.07%
Income Brackets: Flat Rate
Number of Brackets: 1
Personal Exemptions: None
Standard Deduction: None
Medical/Dental Deduction: None
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None

Filing your Pennsylvania state income tax return

You are required to file a Pennsylvania state tax return if you have a gross taxable income of more than $35.

Nonresidents earning a salary from a Pennsylvania source must file a Pennsylvania state income tax return. To find out more about special provisions

Unlike most state, Pennsylvania does not require you to use the same filing status on your federal and state return.

Also, Pennsylvania does not allow any standard or itemized deductions, so coinciding your federal and state returns in this area does not have to be a concern.

Pennsylvania classifies income in eight separate categories. To these classes of income Pennsylvania levies a flat tax of 2.8%. The categories are:

1. Compensation,
2. Net profits
3. Net gains from dispositions of property
4. Net gains from rents, royalties, patents and copyrights,
5. Dividends
6. Interest
7. Gambling winnings
8. Net gains from income derived through estates or trusts.

Retirement income is not taxable to Pennsylvania resident if you are 59 1/2 years of age and receive retirement income from a qualified plan

Although nonresidents have to file a Pennsylvania income tax return, resident of Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia may not. Under reciprocity agreements, employee compensation will not be taxed in Pennsylvania, if the taxpayers is a resident of one of these states.

These agreements apply to employee compensation only. It is your responsibility to notify your employer that you are a resident of another state.

Sidebar
You can work on your Pennsylvania tax return online while filing your federal return (you can work on it for free, and pay nothing until you are ready to file).

Note: if you are filing more than one state return, you must file a paper return for each additional state, as TurboTax for The Web only allows one state prep.

Pennsylvania income tax forms

The main Pennsylvania tax forms are:

PA-40 | 2011 Pennsylvania Income Tax Return| Instructions

PA Schedule C | Profit or Loss from Business

PA Schedule A/B | Taxable Interest and Taxable Dividends

If you need Pennsylvania income tax forms that are not listed here, you can download them from the Pennsylvania tax forms site.


Or, just simply e-file!

Additional PA state taxes help

If you need help with your federal tax return, start with our basic guide to tax filing.

For additional help with filing PA income tax returns, see the official site of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.)

State income tax info: