PA Inheritance Tax Schedule F: Jointly-Owned Property and REV-1737-5

On the Pennsylvania inheritance tax return (Form REV-1500), Schedule F is where you report property the decedent owned jointly with someone else under a right of survivorship. When the decedent died, the survivor automatically gained the decedent’s share, and Pennsylvania treats that automatic gain as a taxable transfer. Schedule F values it and applies the correct rate based on the survivor’s relationship to the decedent.

What Belongs on Schedule F

Schedule F covers assets where the surviving co-owner gains the decedent’s share automatically at death, outside of probate. Common examples include real estate held as joint tenants with right of survivorship, joint bank accounts, and brokerage accounts registered in multiple names. If the decedent’s interest disappeared at death and the survivor walked away with full ownership, the asset almost certainly belongs on Schedule F.¹

Two categories of property look joint but do not go on Schedule F. Property held as a tenancy in common has no right of survivorship, so the decedent’s share passes through the estate and gets reported on Schedule A (solely owned assets) or Schedule C (partnership and similar interests).² And joint tenancies created within one year of the decedent’s death go on Schedule G, not F. Putting an asset on the wrong schedule can change the tax owed, not just the paperwork.

How the Taxable Share Is Calculated

Under 72 P.S. § 9108, you divide the full fair market value of the jointly held asset by the number of co-owners who were alive immediately before the decedent died. If two siblings shared a bank account worth $200,000, exactly half, $100,000, is treated as a taxable transfer to the survivor.³

Contributions to the account do not change the math. A parent who funded every dollar of a joint savings account still only triggers tax on the fractional share, not the whole balance. The statute looks only at how many names were on the account.

The One-Year Lookback

Joint ownership created within one year before the decedent’s death gets different treatment. Instead of the fractional calculation, the full transferred interest is taxed as if the person who created the joint ownership had simply given the asset away. The rule stops people from adding a co-owner shortly before death as a way to shrink the taxable portion.³

There is a small cushion. Transfers made within one year of death are only taxable to the extent they exceed $3,000 per recipient per calendar year.⁴ Assets caught by this rule move to Schedule G.²

Tax Rates by Relationship

The rate on the decedent’s fractional share depends on the survivor’s relationship to the decedent, not on the type of asset.⁵

0% for transfers to a surviving spouse, transfers from a child aged 21 or younger to a parent, and transfers from a parent to a child aged 21 or younger.
4.5% for transfers to lineal descendants and ancestors (children over 21, grandchildren, parents, grandparents) and to the spouse of a child.
12% for transfers to siblings.
15% for transfers to everyone else, including nieces, nephews, friends, and unmarried partners.

The 12% sibling rate is worth flagging. It is high enough to matter on a jointly held house or brokerage account, and siblings are among the most common joint owners after spouses.

Spousal Joint Property

Property passing by right of survivorship between spouses is fully exempt from the fractional interest calculation. Section 9108(b) carves husband-and-wife survivorship property out of the joint tenancy tax rules, and the 0% spousal rate means no tax is owed.³⁶

Married couples in Pennsylvania often hold real estate as tenants by the entireties, a form of ownership available only to spouses that includes an automatic right of survivorship. These assets still need to appear on the return for a complete accounting of the estate, but they generate no tax. The exemption applies only to legally married couples. Unmarried partners, including long-term domestic partners, face the 15% rate on jointly held property.

Filling Out REV-1737-5

The Schedule F form itself is REV-1737-5, attached to the main REV-1500 return. Page one asks for identifying information about each surviving joint tenant: name, Social Security number, and relationship to the decedent. Assign each joint tenant a letter, because you’ll reference that letter throughout the schedule. Relationship is what determines the rate.

For each asset, the form asks for:²

A sequential item number.
The letter assigned to the surviving joint tenant on page one.
The date the joint ownership was created. This is how the Department of Revenue checks for the one-year lookback.
A description. For real estate, include the street address and parcel ID number. For bank accounts, provide the institution name and account type.
The date-of-death value of the asset, meaning the full fair market value, not just the decedent’s share. Use official bank statements for financial accounts and professional appraisals for real estate.
The decedent’s fractional percentage: 50% for two co-owners, 33.33% for three, and so on.
The date-of-death value of the decedent’s interest, calculated by applying the percentage to the full value.

Part II of the form computes the tax using the proportionate method, covering both real estate and intangible property.

Separate Billing for the Surviving Owner

Schedule F carries a useful option: separate billing. Normally the executor is responsible for paying all inheritance tax owed by the estate. But for jointly owned assets on Schedule F (and inter-vivos transfers on Schedule G), the surviving owner can be billed directly by the Department of Revenue instead.⁷ That keeps the tax on the jointly held asset out of the estate’s probate accounting, which helps when the executor and the surviving joint owner are different people.

To request it, check the box on the REV-1500 recapitulation page next to the Schedule F line item.¹ The surviving owner then gets their own assessment notice and pays independently.

Deadline, Early-Payment Discount, and Penalties

Schedule F is filed as part of the full REV-1500 return, submitted in duplicate to the Register of Wills in the county where the decedent lived.¹ The tax is due at death and becomes delinquent nine months later.⁶

Paying early pays back. The Department of Revenue gives a 5% discount on any inheritance tax paid within three calendar months of the decedent’s death.⁶ On a $50,000 tax bill, that is $2,500 back. The discount does not apply to any amount later refunded.

Missing the nine-month deadline has two consequences. Interest accrues from nine months and one day after death until the tax is paid. And failure to file can add a penalty of 25% of the tax owed or $1,000, whichever is less.⁸

1
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Inheritance Tax Return – Resident Decedent
2
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Schedule F – Jointly-Owned Assets REV-1737-5
3
Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 72 P.S. 9108 – Joint Tenancy
4
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 72 P.S. 9107 – Transfers Subject to Tax
5
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes 72 P.S. 9116 – Inheritance Tax
6
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Inheritance Tax
7
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Can a Beneficiary(ies) Be Billed Separately/Individually for Inheritance Tax
8
Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. REV-720 Inheritance Tax General Information