Verified against Pennsylvania Department of Revenue · Updated August 27, 2026
Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax in 2026: Rates, Exemptions & Calculator
Pennsylvania fully exempts spouses and otherwise skips exemption amounts entirely — every other class pays a flat percentage from the very first dollar. Lineal relatives (parents, grandparents, children, and their spouses) pay 4.5%; siblings pay 12%; everyone else pays 15%.
Calculate Pennsylvania inheritance tax for your situationWho owes Pennsylvania inheritance tax
Pennsylvania sorts beneficiaries into classes based on their relationship to the person who died. Each class has its own exemption amount (if any) and tax rate — here's the full breakdown:
| Relationship to the deceased | Exemption | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse (fully exempt) | — | Exempt |
| Lineal heirs — children, grandchildren, parents, and their spouses | None | Flat 4.5% |
| Siblings | None | Flat 12.0% |
| All other heirs — nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, unrelated individuals | None | Flat 15.0% |
| Charities, exempt institutions, and government entities (fully exempt) | — | Exempt |
Worked example
A grandparent falls into Pennsylvania's lineal-heir class, taxed at a flat 4.5% with no exemption threshold — 72 P.S. §9116 names grandparents directly. $50,000 at 4.5% is $2,250 in tax, from the first dollar.
Rules worth knowing
- There's no exemption amount for any taxed class in Pennsylvania (other than the fully-exempt spouse and charity classes) — even a $1 inheritance to a niece or nephew is taxed at 15%.
- One direction-specific exception: a parent inheriting from a child who was 21 or younger at the time of death owes 0% — this only applies in that direction (child to parent), not the more common parent-to-child transfer.
- Grandparents and a child's spouse (child-in-law) are both directly named at the 4.5% lineal rate by 72 P.S. §9116 — not an inference from a general "lineal relatives" label.
Filing deadline
Pennsylvania inheritance tax becomes delinquent 9 months after the date of death. Paying within 3 months of death earns a 5% discount on the tax due.
More on inheritance tax
For how the calculation works across all five states that still charge inheritance tax, exemptions worth knowing about, and strategies to reduce what's owed, see the full inheritance tax guide.