Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Rates (2026)

Pennsylvania charges inheritance tax on the transfer of property at death under 72 P.S. § 9116. The rate depends on one thing: the relationship between the decedent and the person inheriting. There is no estate-level rate, no progressive bracket, no exemption threshold based on size. Two beneficiaries inheriting the same dollar amount can pay wildly different tax depending only on their relationship to the decedent.

The Rates at a Glance

The rate applies to the net value passing to each beneficiary, meaning gross value minus allowable deductions for funeral expenses, administrative costs, and the decedent's debts. Beneficiaries are taxed separately on Schedule J of the REV-1500.

Who Pays Which Rate

Spouse (0%). The marriage must be valid at the time of death. Common-law marriages established on or before January 1, 2005 still qualify if the elements were met before that date. A divorce that was still pending at the decedent's death, with no decree entered, does not defeat the spousal exemption. A bifurcated case is the opposite. Under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3323(c.1), the divorce decree is entered before the economic issues are resolved, so if the decree was already entered when the decedent died, the survivor is a former spouse and pays the 15% rate on what passes to them, even though the equitable distribution case continues against the estate under 23 Pa.C.S. § 3323(d).

Child age 21 or younger (0%). Act 13 of 2019, effective for deaths on or after January 1, 2020, eliminates the 4.5% rate for transfers to a child age 21 or younger when the transfer comes from a natural parent, adoptive parent, or stepparent. Transfers from a grandparent to a minor grandchild still trigger the 4.5% lineal rate. Transfers from a stepparent to an adult stepchild also still trigger 4.5%.

Lineal heirs (4.5%). "Lineal" means up or down the family tree from the decedent: children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, parents, grandparents. It includes adopted children, who are treated identically to biological children for inheritance tax purposes. It also includes stepchildren. Notably, a son-in-law or daughter-in-law (the "wife or widow and husband or widower of a child") also qualifies for the 4.5% lineal rate under 72 P.S. § 9116(a)(1)(ii), even though they are not blood relatives. Other in-laws (parents-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law) pay the 15% catch-all rate.

Siblings (12%). Whole-blood siblings (sharing both parents) and half-blood siblings (sharing one parent) are both taxed at 12%. Adoptive siblings, where both parties were adopted into the same family or where one was adopted by the parents of the other, are also at 12%. Step-siblings who share no biological or adoptive parent fall to the 15% rate.

Everyone else (15%). Nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, fiancés, unmarried partners, and step-relatives outside the parent-child relationship all pay 15%. Pennsylvania does not recognize domestic partnerships outside of legal marriage for inheritance tax purposes; an unmarried partner pays the 15% rate even after decades of cohabitation.

Charities and government (0%). Bequests to qualifying charities under 72 P.S. § 9111(c) are exempt. The charity must be organized for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes. Government entities (federal, state, municipal) are also exempt.

The 5% Early-Payment Discount

The REV-1500 is due nine months after the date of death. But Pennsylvania offers a 5% discount on tax paid within three months of death under 72 P.S. § 9142. On a $500,000 estate passing to a child at the 4.5% rate, the tax is $22,500 and the discount saves $1,125.

You do not need to file the full return to claim the discount. You can submit an estimated pre-payment to the Register of Wills with the decedent's name, date of death, and Social Security number, and a check payable to "Register of Wills, Agent." File the actual return later (within nine months) and reconcile. Any overpayment is refunded; any underpayment owes the difference plus interest only on the shortfall.

Exemptions That Wipe Out the Tax

Some assets are not subject to inheritance tax at all, regardless of the recipient's relationship rate:

• Property held by spouses. Tenants by the entireties property and joint property between spouses with right of survivorship is exempt under 72 P.S. § 9111(m) and generally does not appear on any schedule. There is one limit. If the co-ownership was created within one year before death without valuable and adequate consideration, § 9111(m) makes the entire interest a taxable transfer under 72 P.S. § 9107(c)(3), taxed as though part of the estate of the spouse who created the co-ownership, subject to a $3,000 annual exclusion per transferee. The spousal rate is still zero under 72 P.S. § 9116(a)(1.1), so this rarely produces tax, but the transfer has to be reported.
• Life insurance proceeds on the decedent's life. Exempt under 72 P.S. § 9111(d). For deaths on or after December 13, 1982, proceeds of a life insurance contract are exempt whether they are paid to a named beneficiary or to the estate itself, per 61 Pa. Code § 93.131(c)(2).
• Family-owned business interests. A qualified family-owned business interest can qualify for exemption under 72 P.S. § 9111(t) if the business has fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees, net book value of assets under $5 million, has been in existence for at least five years before death, and continues to be owned by family members for seven years after the decedent's death (with annual certification to the Department of Revenue).
• Working farms. Real estate devoted to the business of agriculture passing to members of the same family can be fully exempt under 72 P.S. § 9111(s) if it continues to be devoted to agriculture for seven years after death and derives a yearly gross income of at least $2,000 (annual certification to the Department of Revenue is required). A separate exemption under 72 P.S. § 9111(s.1) covers agricultural conservation easements, agricultural reserve, agricultural use property, and forest reserve passing to lineal descendants or siblings.
• Certain retirement payouts. Payments under pension, profit-sharing, and other retirement plans, including IRAs, are exempt under 72 P.S. § 9111(r) to the extent the decedent did not have the right to possess, enjoy, assign, or anticipate the payment before death, and to the extent they are exempt from federal estate tax. Whether an IRA qualifies usually turns on the decedent's age and access rights at death, so this one is fact-specific.
• Adjusted service certificates and bonds. The only federal obligations Pennsylvania exempts by name are adjusted service certificates under the Act of Congress of May 19, 1924, and adjusted service bonds under the Act of January 27, 1936 (72 P.S. § 9111(j)). This is a narrow, historical category. Ordinary U.S. savings bonds and Treasury securities owned at death are not exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax, even though their interest is exempt from state income tax. The two rules are unrelated and are commonly confused.

The exemption rules are unforgiving: missing the seven-year holding requirement on a family business or farm exemption triggers retroactive tax plus interest. Document everything and confirm continued qualification annually.

Frequently Asked Questions

For the full filing walkthrough (which schedules to use, common executor mistakes, and how to file in Bucks County), see the complete inheritance tax guide. To run the numbers on a specific estate, try the inheritance tax calculator.

I prepare Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Returns for estates in Bucks County and surrounding areas. Call 215-949-0888 or request a free consultation.

Legal and factual content on this page was last verified: Aug. 2026. If you are reading this significantly after that date, confirm key provisions with current statute text or contact our office.