Pennsylvania Sales Tax Calculator

Three Pennsylvania rates: 6%, 7% in Allegheny County, 8% in Philadelphia

Pennsylvania’s sales tax is 6% statewide. Only two places add a local sales tax. Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh, adds 1% for a 7% rate, and Philadelphia adds 2% for 8%. Everywhere else, including Harrisburg, Erie, Allentown and Lancaster, the rate is exactly 6%. That is why the statewide average is only 6.34%.

Because there are only three possible rates, you do not need a rate lookup tool. Use 6% unless the sale happens in, or is delivered to, Allegheny County or Philadelphia.

Clothing, groceries, candy and medicine are exempt

Pennsylvania exempts a long list of everyday purchases. The Department of Revenue lists food (not ready-to-eat), candy and gum, most clothing, textbooks, pharmaceutical drugs and residential heating fuels such as oil, electricity, gas, coal and firewood. Candy and gum are notable, because most states tax them even when they exempt groceries.

Ready-to-eat food is taxable, which covers restaurant meals and many prepared items from supermarkets. The clothing exemption covers most everyday clothing and shoes, with no price cap. Some apparel is taxable, including formal wear, fur items and sports clothing designed for athletic activity. The Department’s liability lists give item-by-item rulings.

• Exempt: a $90 winter coat, a week of groceries, a bag of candy, prescription drugs, home heating oil.
• Taxable: a restaurant meal, a laptop, furniture, cleaning supplies, a tuxedo rental.
• There is no Pennsylvania sales tax holiday, and with clothing already exempt there is little need for one.

Hotel occupancy tax and short-term rentals

Pennsylvania taxes hotel stays at the same rate as its sales tax: 6%, plus the local 1% or 2% in Allegheny County and Philadelphia. The tax applies to rooms rented by the same person for less than 30 days, and it covers rooms, apartments and houses booked through online or third-party brokers.

Worked example: three nights in Philadelphia at $240 a night is $720 for the room. The state and city hotel occupancy tax at 8% adds $57.60. Local hotel taxes charged by counties and cities are billed on top of that, so a Philadelphia hotel bill usually shows a higher total tax than this example.

Use tax and the Pennsylvania income tax return

When a seller does not charge Pennsylvania sales tax on a taxable item or service delivered to or used in Pennsylvania, you must report and pay use tax to the Department of Revenue. The rate is the same as sales tax: 6%, 7% in Allegheny County or 8% in Philadelphia. Individuals can report it once a year on their Pennsylvania personal income tax return (PA-40).

Common situations include furniture or appliances bought in Delaware, which has no sales tax, and equipment from small out-of-state online sellers that do not collect Pennsylvania tax. A $1,500 refrigerator bought in Delaware and installed in a Pittsburgh home owes $105.00 of use tax.

Worked example: one receipt, several treatments

Pennsylvania’s exemptions mean the tax on a receipt is often much lower than 6% of the total. Here is a shopping day in Philadelphia at 8%: a $90 winter coat, a $900 laptop, $140 of groceries and a $45 restaurant meal.

• Winter coat (everyday clothing): exempt, $0.00.
• Laptop: $72.00.
• Groceries (not ready-to-eat): exempt, $0.00.
• Restaurant meal (ready-to-eat): $3.60.
• Total tax: $75.60 on $1,175 of spending, an effective rate of 6.434%.

Pennsylvania compared with neighboring states

Pennsylvania’s 6% base rate is in the middle of its region. Its broad exemptions for clothing, groceries and candy often matter more than the headline rate. Delaware has no sales tax, which is why use tax on Delaware purchases comes up so often in southeastern Pennsylvania.

Vehicles and checking a receipt

Motor vehicles that must be registered are subject to Pennsylvania sales tax at the same rates, and the clothing and other exemptions do not change that. A $25,000 used car registered to an address in most of the state carries $1,500.00; in Philadelphia it would be $2,000.00.

To reverse a receipt, divide the total by 1.06, 1.07 or 1.08 depending on location. A $84.80 total in Lancaster is $80.00 of goods and $4.80 of tax. If a receipt mixes exempt and taxable items, apply the rate only to the taxable lines.