PA TAX FACTS

PENNSYLVANIA

Sales Taxes
State Sales Tax: 6% (food; clothing, text books, heating fuels, prescription and non-prescription drugs exempt) Other taxing entities may add up to 1%.
Gasoline Tax: 30.0 cents/gallon (Federal Tax is 18.4 cents/gallon)
Diesel Fuel Tax: 36.4 cents/gallon
Gasohol Tax: 30 cents/gallon
Cigarette Tax: $1.35/pack of 20

Liquor Tax: 18%

Personal Income Taxes
Tax Rate Range: Flat rate of 3.07%
Personal Tax Exemptions: None
Standard Deduction: None
Medical/Dental Deduction: None
Federal Income Tax Deduction: None

Retired Military Pay: Not taxed.
Retirement Income Taxes: At 59½, Social Security, civil service, state/local government, and private pensions are exempt. IRAs are exempt as are out-of-state government pensions.

Inheritance and Estate Taxes
The Pennsylvania inheritance tax is calculated at a percentage of the value of the assets transferred which is determined by the relationship of the heir to the decedent and the decedent's date of death. The tax rate is 4.5% for transfers to direct descendants (lineal heirs), 12% for transfers to siblings, and 15% for transfers to other heirs (except charitable organizations, exempt institutions, and government entities). Property owned jointly between husband and wife is exempt from the tax, while property inherited from a spouse, or from a child 21 or younger by a parent is exempt.

Business Taxes in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's two major state business taxes are the Corporate Net Income tax and the Capital Stock and Franchise tax. Pennsylvania's Corporate Net Income Tax rate is 9.99%, the third highest rate in the nation (after Iowa & North Dakota) and the highest flat rate in the nation. The median rate in the nation is about 7.5%. The current state Capital Stock and Franchise Tax - which is scheduled to be phased out by 2011 -- is 5.99 mills.

Many Pennsylvania businesses pay both the Corporate Net Income Tax and the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax. In most other states with a Capital Stock and Franchise Tax, a business pays only one of the taxes.

More taxes…

Wagering Tax: - Most people know they have to pay tax on their gambling winnings. But Pennsylvania exacts a wagering tax on casino or track owners, and you, whether you gamble or not!! It gets passed onto patrons through charging admission. They even confiscate unclaimed gambling winnings!

§ 21.5. Unclaimed award money.

General. Winning pari-mutuel tickets shall be presented for payment to the licensed corporation by March 31 of the year following the calendar year of purchase. The failure to present a winning ticket by that date constitutes a waiver of the right to receive the award money. The licensed corporation is required to remit to the Department unclaimed award money.

"Politicians never accuse you of 'greed' for wanting other people's money --- only for wanting to keep your own Money."

[Joseph Sobran]

Scranton--Lackawanna County Taxpayers and Citizens Association, inc.

"The power to tax involves the power to destroy." -- Chief Justice John Marshall in the McCulloch v. Maryland ruling, 1819

"In general the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens to give to the other." [Voltaire]

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage."

They're addicted to your cigarette money!!! The PA Department of Revenue received a list of 63 individuals who purchased a total of 2,681 cartons of cigarettes from the Internet, resulting in a loss of about $26,810 in Cigarette Taxes to the Commonwealth. Possessing or selling unstamped cigarettes in Pennsylvania is illegal. If a Pennsylvania resident is found in possession of more than one carton of cigarettes not marked with a Pennsylvania tax stamp, he or she could be subject to 90 days imprisonment and a fine of $300. Willful evasion of the state's Cigarette Tax can lead to five years in prison and $15,000 in fines.

Indeed, the combined burden of federal, state and local gas taxes costs Americans an average of 45.9 cents per gallon; that amounts to an annual gas tax burden of roughly $271 for every man, woman and child in the United States. American consumers should remember that gasoline taxes have a significant impact on the amount they spend at the pump. Source: Jonathan Williams, Tax Foundation, September 13, 2005.