Sales Tax Rate in Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania has a six percent sales tax, but Allegheny County has an additional one percent local tax on taxable sales and Philadelphia County has an additional two percent local tax on taxable sales, effectively making their sales taxes seven percent and eight percent, respectively.
  
  

Entities Required to Pay Sales Tax

• Any person, business, or other entity that sells products subject to sales tax in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is required to register for a Sales Tax license before selling any products subject to the tax. The person, business, or other entity must register for the Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax by filing a Pennsylvania Enterprise Registration Form with the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue or by registering on the Internet on the PA Open for Business website.
  
  

Products Subject to Sales Tax

• Nearly all products in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are subject to the sales tax. Most books and paper products with the exception of textbooks sold by schools, toilet paper, feminine products and diapers are subject to the sales tax. All jewelry, luggage, hobbies, toys, games, religious products, hair products, home goods, soaps and cleaning supplies are subject to sales tax. Most business supplies, cosmetics and home garden supplies are subject to the sales tax. Most clothing (except non-essential clothing or luxury clothing), pre-packaged or prepared foods, farming supplies, baby supplies and medicines are exempt from the sales tax.
  
  

How Sales Tax is Collected

• Sales tax is collected by the seller when the sale is made. If the sale is made on credit, then the merchant must collect and submit the tax within thirty days of the sale. Generally, the amount of tax is added to the total purchase price of the product and collected at the same time the money is tendered for the product.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Many people believe that if they purchase a product subject to sales tax in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from a catalog, over the internet, in another state, or by the telephone, then they need not pay a tax. Even though a sales tax is not collected in these instances, the person buying the product must still pay a tax. In Pennsylvania, if you did not pay the sales tax on a normally taxable purchase, you must pay a use tax for using the product in the Commonwealth. The use tax rate is the same rate as would be the sales tax rate had the person bought the product in the county in which it is being used. In Pennsylvania, the use tax is six percent throughout the Commonwealth with an additional one percent local tax in Allegheny County and two percent local tax in Philadelphia County. The use tax can be reported on the Pennsylvania Use Tax return (PA-1) and must be sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue on the twentieth day of the month following the month of purchase.