Pennsylvania does not have a state withholding form equivalent to the federal W-4. Because the state charges a flat 3.07% personal income tax on all taxable compensation, your employer withholds that percentage automatically with no input from you.1Department of Revenue. Personal Income Tax Rates The one state withholding form most employees will ever encounter is Form REV-419, and it exists for the opposite purpose: telling your employer to stop withholding Pennsylvania tax from your paycheck.
Why There’s No PA Version of the W-4
States with graduated brackets need a form where you report filing status, dependents, and deductions so the employer can estimate what to take out. Pennsylvania’s flat rate removes that math. Every dollar of taxable compensation is taxed at 3.07%, so there is nothing for you to calculate or elect.2Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Personal Income Tax
One practical consequence: you cannot ask your Pennsylvania employer to withhold extra state income tax from your paycheck the way you can on a federal W-4. If you have income that isn’t subject to employer withholding, you handle it through estimated payments directly to the Department of Revenue.
Form REV-419: The One State Withholding Form
Form REV-419, the “Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate,” is Pennsylvania’s only employee-facing state withholding form.3Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate REV-419 It doesn’t set an amount. It tells your employer to stop withholding Pennsylvania income tax entirely. You qualify to file it in three situations.
You Qualify for Tax Forgiveness
Pennsylvania’s Tax Forgiveness program reduces or eliminates income tax for lower-income households. If you qualified last year and got back everything that was withheld, or you expect to qualify this year, you can file REV-419 to stop withholding at the source. A family of four can earn up to $34,250 and still qualify at some level; a single person with no dependents hits the ceiling at $8,750. Nearly one in five Pennsylvania households qualifies.4Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Tax Forgiveness5Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Tax Forgiveness
You Live in a Reciprocal State
Pennsylvania has reciprocal tax agreements with Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. If you live in one of those states and work in Pennsylvania, your wages aren’t taxed by Pennsylvania. You file REV-419 to stop PA withholding, and your employer withholds for your home state instead. The agreements cover most W-2 wages but do not extend to independent contractor payments, business income, or compensation paid to certain Ohio-resident S corporation shareholder-employees who own 20% or more.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Determining Residency for PA Personal Income Tax Purposes
You’re a Military Spouse
If you’re the spouse of an active-duty servicemember stationed in Pennsylvania, and you keep legal residence in another state, federal law (the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, as expanded by the Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 2018) may let you claim exemption from Pennsylvania withholding. You must be in Pennsylvania solely to accompany your spouse under military orders.
How to Fill Out and File REV-419
The form is one page. You enter your name, Social Security number, and address, then check the box matching your exemption reason. For Tax Forgiveness there are two boxes, one for qualifying last year and one for expecting to qualify this year. For a reciprocal state, you check the box for your home state. Sign, date, and hand it to your employer. REV-419 does not go to the Department of Revenue. Your employer keeps it on file and adjusts your withholding.3Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate REV-419
One detail trips people up. The Tax Forgiveness exemption must be renewed every year with a new REV-419. If you don’t refile, your employer should go back to withholding the standard 3.07%. Reciprocal state residents are the exception: once you’ve filed REV-419 claiming reciprocal exemption, you don’t need to refile each year unless you move to a different state.
When to Revoke Your Exemption
If your situation changes during the year, submit a new REV-419 or revoke the one on file. The common triggers are income climbing past Tax Forgiveness limits, moving from a reciprocal state into Pennsylvania, or a change in a military spouse’s status such as the servicemember separating from service. Once revoked, your employer resumes withholding 3.07% going forward.
Getting this wrong in the “I’ll deal with it later” direction is where it gets expensive. If you claim an exemption you no longer qualify for and don’t revoke it, you’ll owe the full year’s tax when you file, plus penalties and interest on top.
Prepaying Tax When Your Employer Doesn’t Withhold
Because Pennsylvania won’t let you add extra withholding to your paycheck, estimated payments are how you prepay tax on income your employer doesn’t touch. Rental income, freelance work, investment gains, and similar non-wage income all fall here. If your non-wage income (after subtracting anything already subject to withholding) exceeds $8,000, you’re generally required to make quarterly estimated payments using Form REV-1630.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals REV-1630 Payments go in four installments, typically mid-April, mid-June, mid-September, and mid-January of the following year.
This also catches Pennsylvania residents who work across state lines in a reciprocal state. If your employer in Indiana or New Jersey withholds for that state and not for Pennsylvania, you’re on the hook for making estimated payments to Pennsylvania yourself.
Penalties for Underpaying
If you file on time but haven’t paid enough through withholding or estimated payments, the Department of Revenue charges a 5% underpayment penalty on the balance due.8Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Income Subject to Tax Withholding; Estimated Payments; Penalties, Interest and Other Additions File late and the penalty grows: 5% per month on any unpaid tax, up to 25%, with a $5 minimum. Interest accrues daily at an annual rate set by the U.S. Treasury, currently 7% for 2025 through 2026.9Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 2026 Interest Rate and Calculation Method for Title 72 Taxes
Negligent underreporting (leaving out more than 25% of your actual taxable income without intent to defraud) carries a 25% penalty on the underpaid amount. Fraud carries 50%.
Local Earned Income Tax Is a Separate System
State withholding is only part of what comes out of a Pennsylvania paycheck. Most employees also have local taxes withheld, mainly the Earned Income Tax (EIT) and often the Local Services Tax (LST). These are governed by Act 32 and run by local tax collectors, not the Department of Revenue, and they use their own forms.10PA Business One-Stop Shop. Act 32 and Local Earned Income Tax For local tax, you complete a Residency Certification Form identifying both where you live and where you work, since EIT can be split between those jurisdictions.11PA Department of Community & Economic Development. Local Income Tax Requirements for Employers REV-419 has no bearing on local withholding.