REV-1500 PA Inheritance Tax: Schedule Guide

Overview

The REV-1500 is a three-page cover document. The substance is in the schedules, each one a separate form with its own REV number. You only file the schedules that apply to the estate. Most Bucks County estates file at minimum Schedules A or E, H, I, and J. For tax rates, deadlines, and the 5% discount , see our complete inheritance tax guide.

Asset Schedules (A through G)

Schedules A through G report everything the estate owns or has transferred. Each has its own valuation rules and classification traps.

Schedule A (REV-1502). Real Estate. Pennsylvania real estate held solely or as a tenant-in-common, reported at fair market value as of the date of death. The Department cross-checks reported values against the county assessment multiplied by the Common Level Ratio factor. In Bucks County, the CLR factor is currently 17.86 (July 2026 to June 2027): report too low without an appraisal and you will get a deficiency notice. Spousal joint property held over one year is exempt. Out-of-state real estate is generally outside the Pennsylvania taxable estate. The narrow exception: real or tangible personal property the decedent had contracted to sell is taxable here if the jurisdiction where it sits does not impose a death tax on it. 72 P.S. § 9102. Retained life estates go on Schedule G, not here.

Schedule B (REV-1503): Stocks & Bonds. Publicly traded securities valued at the mean between high and low trading prices on the date of death, not the date you looked it up. Weekend and holiday deaths require weighted averaging across adjacent trading days.

Schedule C (REV-1504): Closely Held Business Interests. The decedent's interest in any corporation, partnership, LLC, or sole proprietorship. Requires supplemental schedules C-1 (REV-1505) and C-2 (REV-1506) with detailed financials. Valuation disputes, especially around marketability and minority discounts, are among the most common sources of inheritance tax litigation.

Schedule D (REV-1507): Mortgages & Notes Receivable. Debts owed to the decedent, not the decedent's own mortgage (that is a deduction on Schedule I). Private mortgages, promissory notes, and loans the decedent made to others.

Schedule E (REV-1508): Cash, Bank Accounts & Personal Property. The catch-all: checking and savings accounts, CDs, vehicles, household furnishings, jewelry, and collections, all at date-of-death value. Proceeds of insurance on the decedent's life are exempt from Pennsylvania inheritance tax under 72 P.S. § 9111(d), whether they are paid to a named beneficiary or to the estate, so they do not belong on a taxable asset schedule at all. The rule was the opposite for deaths before December 13, 1982, when estate-payable proceeds were taxable, which is why the old advice still circulates. 61 Pa. Code § 93.131(c). Severed oil, gas, and mineral rights are also reported here on Schedule E; see inheriting oil, gas, and mineral rights in Pennsylvania for how those interests are valued.

Schedule F (REV-1509): Jointly Owned Property. Assets held jointly with a non-spouse. The critical issue is the fractional-share rule under 72 P.S. § 9108: the taxable transfer is the decedent's fractional portion, computed by dividing the whole value by the number of joint owners, without regard to who contributed the funds. A parent who adds one child to a $200,000 account creates a $100,000 taxable transfer (one-half). One exception: if the asset became jointly owned within one year of death, the fractional-share rule does not apply. The entire interest is taxable as though it were part of the estate of the person who created the co-ownership, reduced by the $3,000 per-transferee, per-calendar-year exclusion under 72 P.S. § 9107(c)(3). The Department requires that asset to be reported on Schedule G, not here.

Schedule G (REV-1510): Inter-Vivos Transfers & Non-Probate Property. Often the most complex schedule and the one most likely to generate a deficiency notice. It captures retirement accounts with named beneficiaries (reported here even though they bypass probate, and taxable unless the exemption in 72 P.S. § 9111(r) applies), revocable trusts, retained life estates, transfers within one year of death, and POD/TOD accounts. For many estates, Schedule G contains the largest single tax liability, and it is the schedule executors most often miss entirely.

Deduction Schedules (H & I)

Schedule H (REV-1511): Funeral & Administrative Expenses. Deductions that reduce the taxable estate: funeral costs, executor commissions , attorney and accounting fees, appraisal costs, court costs, and bond premiums. The Department requires that all claimed expenses be "reasonable", and will verify against the final accounting.

Schedule I (REV-1512): Debts, Mortgages & Liens. The decedent's outstanding obligations at death: mortgage balances, credit cards, medical bills, taxes owed. Most liabilities of the decedent are deductible, subject to the limits in 72 P.S. § 9129. Enforceability is not the dividing line: a debt that is unenforceable because a statute of limitations has run is deductible if the estate pays it, and so is a pledge to a charity or other transferee exempt under 72 P.S. § 9111(c), whether or not the pledge was legally enforceable. § 9129(g), (h). A mortgage also stays deductible where the property securing it passes to the surviving spouse, because a secured debt is deductible whether or not the security is part of the taxable estate, and the decedent's share of a joint obligation, net of any collectible contribution, is deductible whether or not the property passes by entireties or right of survivorship. § 9129(c), (d). One limit runs the other way: debt secured entirely by real or tangible personal property located outside Pennsylvania is not deductible, except to the extent the debt exceeds the value of that property. 72 P.S. § 9130(4). Medicaid recovery claims from DHS are reported here if asserted.

Schedule J: Beneficiaries (REV-1513)

Schedule J lists every beneficiary, their relationship to the decedent, and the amount or share each receives. It does not compute the tax owed per beneficiary. Section I covers taxable distributions, and the form directs outright spousal distributions there. Section II covers non-taxable distributions: spousal distributions under 72 P.S. § 9113 for which no election to tax is taken, plus charitable and governmental distributions. The Section II total flows to Line 13 of the REV-1500, and the taxable distribution amounts flow to Lines 15 through 18 of the cover sheet, where the rate classes are applied. Line 19 (Tax Due) is the cover-sheet sum of Lines 15 through 18, that is the bottom-line tax due.

Specialty Schedules

Most estates do not need these. Schedule K (REV-1514) handles life estates and remainder interests using IRS actuarial tables. Schedule L (REV-1644) is the Remainder Prepayment / Invasion of Trust Corpus schedule, appropriate only for estates of decedents who died on or before December 12, 1982. Schedule M (REV-1647) resolves future interest compromises. Schedule N (REV-1648) is the Spousal Poverty Credit, available only for deaths from January 1, 1992 through December 31, 1994. Schedule O (REV-1649) covers the spousal trust election under 72 P.S. § 9113(a). Schedule AU (REV-1197) claims the agricultural use exemptions under 72 P.S. § 9111(s) or (s.1) for qualifying farmland, for deaths on or after July 1, 2012.

Why This Matters

The schedules look like straightforward forms. But every one involves classification decisions (which schedule does this asset go on?), valuation judgments (what is the correct date-of-death value?), and documentation requirements (what does the Department need to see?). Getting any of those wrong results in a deficiency notice: additional tax, plus interest accruing from nine months and one day after the decedent's date of death. The cost of professional preparation is usually less than the cost of a single deficiency assessment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do not file a REV-1500 on a guess. I prepare and file inheritance tax returns for estates in Bucks County and the surrounding counties, and I make sure every asset lands on the right schedule. 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.