To file sales tax in PA, a registered business calculates the tax it collected during the reporting period, submits a PA-3 Sales and Use Tax Return through the myPATH portal by the 20th of the month after the period closes, and pays the balance electronically. The statewide rate is 6 percent, with higher combined rates in Allegheny County and Philadelphia. Missing the deadline triggers a 5 percent monthly penalty and daily interest, so filing on time matters even when cash is tight.
Register Before Your First Taxable Sale
You cannot legally collect sales tax without a Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Tax License from the Department of Revenue. Any business with a physical presence in Pennsylvania needs one, whether that presence is a storefront, a warehouse, or a sales representative taking orders inside state lines. Out-of-state sellers cross the threshold when they exceed $100,000 in gross annual sales to Pennsylvania customers in a calendar year.1Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Online Retailers
Registration goes through myPATH and costs nothing. Once the Department approves you, it assigns a tax account number that you use for every future filing. Operating without a license can bring fines, so finish this step before ringing up your first taxable transaction.
Know the Rate and What’s Exempt
The base rate is 6 percent. Allegheny County adds 1 percent for a combined 7 percent rate, and Philadelphia adds 2 percent for a combined 8 percent rate. If you make sales in either location, collect and remit the combined rate on those transactions.2Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax
Several categories are exempt from Pennsylvania sales tax:
- Most food, including grocery items that aren’t ready-to-eat, plus candy and gum
- Most clothing and footwear
- Textbooks for educational use
- Prescription drugs
- Residential heating fuels — oil, electricity, gas, coal, and firewood used to heat a home
- Custom computer programming and related services
- Items purchased by a business for resale
When a customer claims an exemption, they hand you a completed REV-1220 Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate. The certificate stays in your files; you don’t send it to the state. Keep every one for at least four years from the date of the exempt sale, because an invalid or missing certificate can make you personally liable for the tax you didn’t collect.3Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (REV-1220)4PA Business Hub. Complete the PA Tax Exemption Certificate
How Often You File and When It’s Due
The Department sets your filing frequency based on how much tax you collect:
- Monthly if you collect more than $600 in tax per quarter
- Quarterly if you collect between $100 and $600 per quarter
- Semi-annual if you collect less than $100 per quarter
Check your assigned frequency in myPATH or on the registration notice you received after getting your license. If your sales volume shifts significantly, the Department may move you into a different bucket.
Returns are due by the 20th of the month following the end of the reporting period. A monthly filer’s January return is due February 20. Quarterly filers submit on April 20, July 20, October 20, and January 20. Semi-annual filers submit on August 20 and February 20. When the 20th lands on a weekend or holiday, the deadline slides to the next business day.5Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. 2026 State Tax Due Date Reference Guide (DPO-05)
Numbers to Gather Before You File
The PA-3 return walks you through four figures. Have them calculated before you log in:
- Gross sales: every dollar you took in during the period, taxable or not
- Non-taxable sales: exempt goods, resale sales, sales to government, and sales to exempt organizations
- Net taxable sales: gross sales minus non-taxable sales
- Tax due: net taxable sales multiplied by the applicable rate — 6 percent statewide, 7 percent for Allegheny County sales, 8 percent for Philadelphia sales
Working the math on your own books first also gives you a second look at any exempt sales that shouldn’t be there.
Filing Through myPATH
myPATH (my Pennsylvania Tax Hub) is open around the clock and works on any device.6Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. myPATH Log in, open your Sales and Use Tax account tile, and pick the current filing period. Choose “File Return,” enter your gross sales, non-taxable sales, and total tax collected in the appropriate fields, and let the system run its checks. It flags math errors and missing information before you submit. Once you confirm and submit, myPATH generates a confirmation number. Save it as proof of filing.
Paying What You Owe
Payment happens right after you submit the return. myPATH accepts:
- ACH Debit, where you authorize the Commonwealth to pull funds from your bank account. The Department prefers this method.
- ACH Credit, where you tell your own bank to send payment to the Commonwealth’s account with the tax type, period, amount, and date.
- Credit or debit card. Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express credit cards are accepted, along with Visa and Mastercard debit cards.
- Check, available only for balances of $999 or less. Request a payment voucher through myPATH and mail it in with the check.
Any payment of $1,000 or more must be electronic. myPATH produces a filing summary with the total paid and the transaction date once the payment clears.
Filing With No Sales
Even if you had no taxable sales during the period, you still have to file. A zero return takes only a few minutes in myPATH and satisfies the requirement. Skipping it can bring penalties and may prompt the Department to issue an estimated assessment based on what you reported in prior periods.
Fixing a Return You Already Filed
Log back into myPATH and adjust the return directly on your account; that’s the fastest route. You can also mail in a paper REV-1705R (Tax Account Information Change/Correction Form), but paper adjustments can take up to four months to process.7Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Tax Account Information Change/Correction Form (REV-1705R) If the correction adds tax owed, pay it as soon as you can to stop interest from growing. If you overpaid, the amended return can produce a credit or refund.
The On-Time Filing Discount
File and pay on time and you keep 1 percent of the tax collected as a vendor discount, capped by frequency:8Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Sales Tax Discount Q&A
- Monthly filers: the lesser of $25 or 1 percent per return
- Quarterly filers: the lesser of $75 or 1 percent per return
- Semi-annual filers: the lesser of $150 or 1 percent per return
Total annual discount is capped at $300 regardless of how often you file. Both the return and the payment must arrive on time. Miss either and you forfeit the discount for that period and face penalties instead.
Penalties and Interest When You File Late
The late filing penalty is 5 percent of the tax due for each month or partial month the return sits unfiled, up to a 25 percent maximum. The minimum penalty is $5, even on a tiny balance.9Cornell Law School. 61 Pa. Code 121.26 – Penalties for Failure to File or for Filing a Late Return
Interest runs on top of that. For 2026, the annual rate on overdue Pennsylvania taxes is 7 percent, calculated daily from the original due date until the balance clears.10Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. 2026 Interest Rate and Calculation Method for Title 72 Taxes A return that goes several months without being filed can pile on 20 percent or more above the original tax. Filing on time with an estimated figure and correcting later is almost always cheaper than filing late.
Accelerated Prepayments for Larger Filers
If your actual tax liability during the third quarter of the previous year was $25,000 or more, you owe monthly Accelerated Sales Tax (AST) prepayments on top of your regular returns.11Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Accelerated Sales Tax (AST) Prepayments Two tiers apply:
- AST Level 1 ($25,000 to under $100,000): prepay 50 percent of the actual liability for either the same month of the previous year or the current period.
- AST Level 2 ($100,000 or more): prepay 50 percent of the actual liability for the same month of the previous year, with no alternate calculation.
Prepayments are due by the 20th of each month and go in separately from the payment for the prior month’s regular return. Businesses below the $25,000 quarterly threshold don’t have this obligation and can file on the standard schedule described above.