How to Get a Pennsylvania Sales Tax License Online

To get a Pennsylvania sales tax license, register your business through the Department of Revenue’s myPATH portal before your first taxable sale. Registration is free, the application is entirely online, and approval typically arrives within seven to ten business days. The license does not expire as long as your account stays active, so there is no annual renewal to worry about. The formal name is the Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Tax license, and every business collecting Pennsylvania sales tax needs one.¹

Who Needs to Register

Any business that sells taxable goods or performs taxable services in Pennsylvania must register before its first transaction.¹ A storefront, warehouse, office, or in-state employees all count as physical nexus.

Out-of-state sellers also register once their annual gross sales into Pennsylvania exceed $100,000. That economic nexus rule, codified by Act 13 of 2019, applies to individual sellers and marketplace facilitators alike.²³ One narrow exception: remote sellers who use a Certified Service Provider to handle their tax obligations don’t need to obtain their own Pennsylvania license, because the CSP manages collection and remittance for them.

If you’re an out-of-state business without a permanent Pennsylvania location and you plan to sell at a trade show, craft fair, or other temporary venue, you need a Transient Vendor Certificate. Notify the Department of Revenue in writing at least 30 days before you enter the state, listing your dates and locations.¹ Last-minute decisions to sell at a Pennsylvania event create compliance problems if you haven’t already registered.

What to Gather Before You Apply

The myPATH application times out after inactivity, so pull these together before you start:

Federal Employer Identification Number. The IRS issues EINs free through its online tool, and you can only apply for one EIN per responsible party per day. Sole proprietors without employees can use a Social Security Number instead.⁴
Your business entity type (sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation, partnership, or other).
Your NAICS code, the six-digit classification for your business activity.
Both your physical business address and your mailing address.
The actual or expected date of your first taxable sale in Pennsylvania.
Names, home addresses, and Social Security Numbers or ITINs for owners and officers with significant control.

One sequencing point catches new founders: if you’re forming a new LLC, partnership, or corporation, complete your state entity formation first, then apply for the EIN, then register with the Department of Revenue. Applying for the EIN before your state entity is on file causes delays because the IRS asks for state-issued entity information.⁴

How to Register Through myPATH

Pennsylvania handles all sales tax registrations through myPATH, the online portal that replaced the old PA-100 paper form. There is no fee.⁵

The application walks you through screens for business details, entity type, owner information, and expected sales activity. At the end you review everything, read a declaration certifying that your answers are truthful, and sign electronically. Submit, and the system generates a confirmation number. Save it. That number is your proof of filing and the only way to check status if the application stalls.

Because you’re submitting Social Security Numbers and other sensitive information, confirm you’re on the official site (the URL ends in .pa.gov) and that your browser shows an https connection. Finish the application in one sitting if you can, and stay off public Wi-Fi.

What Happens After You Apply

Electronic applications typically process within seven to ten business days. Once approved, you can download the license through myPATH or receive it by mail. The license is permanent for as long as your business operates and stays in good standing on its tax account.

You are required to display the license prominently at your place of business, and each additional physical location needs its own visible license. Online-only sellers should keep a copy in their records even without a storefront.

The Rate You’ll Collect

The statewide sales tax rate is 6%. Two local surcharges apply on top of that: Allegheny County adds 1% for a combined 7%, and Philadelphia adds 2% for a combined 8%.⁶ If your business operates in or ships to customers in those jurisdictions, you collect the combined rate. Everywhere else in Pennsylvania it’s a flat 6%.

Pennsylvania taxes tangible personal property, digital products such as streamed music, e-books, and software downloads, and certain related services. Common exemptions include most clothing, unprepared groceries, prescription drugs and medical devices, textbooks, residential heating fuels, computer services, and goods purchased for resale.¹ Confirming the taxable status of each item you sell before you open is worth the time; miscategorizing items is a common audit trigger.

How Often You’ll File

When your license is issued, the Department of Revenue assigns your filing frequency: monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual. The department recalculates the assignment each year.

For businesses already filing monthly or quarterly, the department looks at the tax reported during the third calendar quarter (July through September). Report $600 or more and you file monthly the following year. Report $75 to $599.99 and you file quarterly. Under $75 and you file semi-annually.⁷

Semi-annual filers are evaluated on a different window: the last half of the prior year plus the first half of the current year. A total of $2,400 or more moves you to monthly, $300 to $2,399.99 to quarterly, and under $300 keeps you on the semi-annual schedule.⁷

Buying Inventory Tax-Free

Your license also lets you buy inventory for resale without paying sales tax. Give each supplier a completed Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate, Form REV-1220, listing your eight-digit Pennsylvania Sales Tax License ID number and describing the property being purchased.⁸ You certify that the goods will be resold in their original form or incorporated as an ingredient or component of something you manufacture and sell. One certificate can cover ongoing purchases from the same supplier.

Using an exemption certificate for personal purchases or for business supplies you consume rather than resell is fraud. The Department of Revenue audits for this, and consequences include back taxes on every misused purchase, penalties, and interest.

Penalties for Skipping Registration or Filing Late

Selling taxable goods or services without a license is a summary offense in Pennsylvania, and conviction carries a fine of up to $1,000, on top of every dollar of uncollected tax plus interest.⁹

Missing a filing deadline once you’re registered brings a penalty of 5% of the tax due for the first month, plus another 5% for each additional month, capped at 25%. The minimum penalty is $5.¹⁰ Interest accrues on top, calculated from the original due date.

Pennsylvania requires you to keep all sales tax records, including invoices, receipts, exemption certificates from buyers, purchase orders, and filed returns, for at least three years from the end of the calendar year they cover.¹¹ Auditors look for mismatches between the gross revenue on your federal return and the taxable sales on your state returns, so consistent bookkeeping from day one saves real money later.

Closing the Account When You Stop Selling

The Department of Revenue does not automatically close dormant accounts. When you stop making taxable sales in Pennsylvania, whether you sold the business, shut it down, or lost nexus, cancel your license through myPATH or by submitting Form REV-1706 (Business/Account Cancellation Form) by fax or email.¹² File a final return covering the period through your last day of taxable activity, then submit the cancellation with that end date. An account left open after you’ve stopped operating will keep generating zero-value return prompts or assessment notices that become a nuisance to clear up.

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Online Retailers Selling Goods and Services to Pennsylvania Customers
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Pennsylvania General Assembly. Tax Reform Code of 1971
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Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number
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Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. How To Register Your Business in Pennsylvania: What You Need to Know
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Tax Rates
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Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. How Is My Filing Period for Sales Tax Determined
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Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Pennsylvania Exemption Certificate (REV-1220)
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Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa Code 9.2 – Sales and Use Tax Changes
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Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa Code 121.26 – Penalties for Failure to File or for Filing a Late Return
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Pennsylvania Code and Bulletin. 61 Pa Code 34.2 – Keeping of Records
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Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Business/Account Cancellation Form (REV-1706)