Pennsylvania · reference

Pennsylvania calendar and forms

Every Pennsylvania date that matters for the 2026 return, from the last estimated payment in January 2027 to the extended due date in October, the separate local return that is due the same day as the PA-40, the Property Tax/Rent Rebate deadline, and a plain-English guide to the forms and schedules an ordinary filer will meet. For anyone who files here.

By Charles Trautman, EA, editor

Need to Know Tax · written from Pennsylvania Department of Revenue sources, November 3, 2026; updated November 12, 2026 after the election · not yet reviewed by a Pennsylvania practitioner

Pennsylvania keeps the federal calendar: the PA-40 is due April 15, 2027, the four estimated payments fall on the federal dates, and a federal extension carries over to October 15, 2027 with no state form as long as no Pennsylvania tax is owed. What Pennsylvania adds is a second return. Nearly everyone outside Philadelphia owes a local earned income tax return to a county collector, due the same April 15, filed separately, and never credited on the state return. Philadelphians file with the city instead. The other thing to know is that the extension extends nothing but the paperwork: tax unpaid on April 15 draws interest from that day and a 5% penalty if the return is filed with tax still owing.

Because Pennsylvania computes eight classes of income separately, each class has its own schedule; most people touch two or three. The list below is in the order a filer meets them.

The 2027 filing season, dated

Pennsylvania dates for the 2026 return and 2027 payments
Date	What happens	Form
Friday, January 15, 2027	Fourth and final 2026 estimated payment due.	PA-40 ES
Late January 2027; the IRS announces the date in January	The Department begins accepting 2026 returns, normally on the day the IRS opens. myPATH free filing opens the same day; Fast File letters go out to the simplest filers around then.	PA-40
Monday, February 1, 2027	Employers furnish W-2s. January 31 is a Sunday. Pennsylvania wages are in Box 16, often higher than Box 1.	W-2
Monday, March 1, 2027	Farmers with two-thirds of gross income from farming who made no estimated payments file the 2026 return and pay in full.	PA-40
Thursday, April 15, 2027	PA-40 due, and all 2026 tax due. Local earned income tax return due with the county collector; Philadelphia School Income Tax and Net Profits Tax returns due with the city. First 2027 estimated payment due. REV-276 or an extension payment in myPATH if tax is owed and more time is needed.	PA-40, REV-276, PA-40 ES, local EIT return
Tuesday, June 15, 2027	Second 2027 estimated payment due. Taxpayers abroad on April 15 have until today to file.	PA-40 ES
Wednesday, September 15, 2027	Third 2027 estimated payment due.	PA-40 ES
Friday, October 15, 2027	Extended due date for the 2026 PA-40. The Department grants no more than six months unless the taxpayer is outside the United States.	PA-40
Friday, December 31, 2027 (verify)	Expected last day to apply for a 2026 Property Tax/Rent Rebate, on the pattern of the December 31, 2026 deadline for 2025 rebates.	PA-1000
Tuesday, January 18, 2028	Fourth 2027 estimated payment due. January 15 is a Saturday and the 17th is a holiday.	PA-40 ES
Property tax bills run on a county, municipal and school district calendar, with discount, face and penalty periods set locally; the Property Tax/Rent Rebate counts the taxes paid in the claim year. Inheritance tax is on its own clock: due at death, delinquent nine months after, with a 5% discount for paying within three months.

How the extension really works

If you have a federal extension and owe no Pennsylvania tax, you have a Pennsylvania extension too, and there is nothing to file; the Department says you “do not have to submit PA Form REV-276 or federal Form 4868.” If you owe tax, or you want a Pennsylvania extension without a federal one, pay the expected balance by April 15 in myPATH, which counts as the extension request, or mail REV-276 with a check to the Bureau of Individual Taxes. Either way the money is due April 15. Interest runs from that date at the federal rate set each January 1, and a return filed with tax still unpaid draws a 5% underpayment penalty. A return filed late with no extension draws 5% of the unpaid tax per month, to 25%. The extension itself is up to six months. Only someone outside the United States can get more.

Estimated payments

Pennsylvania requires estimated payments when income not subject to withholding is expected to exceed $14,000 for 2026, which is $430 of tax after withholding and credits; the line rises to $17,000 for 2027. Pay 90% of each installment’s actual tax, or 100% of last year’s net taxable income times 3.07% in four equal timely installments, and there is no penalty; there is no 110% tier. The prior-year safe harbor is not available to someone who filed no Pennsylvania return last year or was not a full-year resident. Payments of $15,000 or more must be electronic, on pain of a 3% penalty capped at $500. Underpayment interest is figured on REV-1630 and applies even when the return shows a refund. Because pensions, IRAs and Social Security are not Pennsylvania income, the people caught are the self-employed, landlords, pass-through owners, and anyone with a large gain or a lottery win. See Estimated payments.

The forms, in the order a filer meets them

Pennsylvania individual income tax forms, tax year 2026
Form	What it does	Who needs it
PA-40	The return. Lines 1a through 8 are the eight classes of income, line 9 the total, line 10 the few deductions, line 12 the tax at 3.07%, then withholding, estimates, Tax Forgiveness on line 21, the resident credit on line 22 and other credits on line 23. The 2025 form is linked; the 2026 form is to come.	Everyone who files in Pennsylvania
Schedule W-2S	Lists every W-2 and 1099 with the Pennsylvania wages and withholding, so the Department can match them. Replaced by uploaded W-2s in myPATH.	Paper filers with wages
Schedule UE	Unreimbursed employee business expenses: union dues, required uniforms and tools, work travel, with no 2% floor. Comes off line 1b.	Employees with required, unreimbursed costs
Schedules A and B	Interest (A) and dividends and capital gains distributions (B), filed when the PA-40 instructions require the detail. Lines 2 and 3.	Savers and investors
Schedule C or F	Business or farm profit, figured under Pennsylvania rules: no bonus depreciation, no QBI, Section 179 at the federal limit. Line 4. A loss here cannot offset wages.	The self-employed and farmers
Schedule D	Gains and losses on property: stocks, real estate, crypto (the digital asset question is here), like-kind exchanges. Line 5. Losses offset only gains in the same year; no carryforward.	Anyone who sold property
Schedule E, J, T	Rents and royalties (E, line 6), estate and trust income (J, line 7), gambling and lottery winnings with losses netted (T, line 8).	Landlords, beneficiaries, gamblers
Schedule O	Other deductions on line 10: 529 and PA ABLE contributions up to $19,000 per beneficiary, HSA and MSA contributions, and student loan interest up to $2,500 per filer.	529 contributors, HSA owners, student-loan payers
Schedule SP	Tax Forgiveness. Figures eligibility income, looks up the percentage on the table and forgives that share of the tax on line 21. Not automatic; the schedule must be filed.	Households with eligibility income under $8,750 single or $15,250 married, plus $9,500 per dependent child
Schedule DC	Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit, 100% of the federal credit at the 2022 percentages, refundable. Attach federal Form 2441 and Schedule 3.	Parents who claimed the federal care credit
Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit	No schedule. The Department figures 10% of the federal EITC from the attached or uploaded federal Form 1040 and adds it to the refund.	Anyone who received the federal EITC; attach the 1040 or lose the credit
Schedule G-L	Resident credit for income tax paid to another state, limited to 3.07% of the income, with the other state’s return attached. Line 22. Not for the six reciprocal states, and not for foreign taxes or other states’ cities.	Residents working in New York, Delaware or another non-reciprocal state; out-of-state rentals and partnerships
Schedule OC	Restricted business credits awarded by state programs. Line 23. Redesigned for 2025.	Owners with an awarded credit; rarely a wage earner
PA-40 ES and REV-413(I)	Estimated payment vouchers and the instructions with the $14,000 threshold and the safe harbors. Payments can be made in myPATH without the voucher.	Anyone with more than $14,000 of unwithheld income
REV-276	Application for Extension of Time to File. Needed only when paying by check or when there is no federal extension; otherwise the federal extension or a myPATH payment does the job.	Anyone filing after April 15 who owes tax
Schedule PA-40X	Amended return. Filed with a PA-40 marked “AMENDED RETURN.” A refund petition must reach the Board of Appeals within three years of the payment date; underreported income should be corrected within 30 days.	Anyone correcting a filed return
REV-419	Employee’s Nonwithholding Application Certificate. Given to the employer by a resident of Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia or West Virginia, or by an employee who expects 100% Tax Forgiveness, so no Pennsylvania tax is withheld. Pennsylvania has no ordinary withholding allowance form; employers withhold a flat 3.07%.	Reciprocal-state commuters; not filed with the return
PA-1000	Property Tax/Rent Rebate application, a separate program run by the Department. For 2025 rebates: age 65, widowed 50 or disabled 18, household income to $48,110, rebates of $380 to $1,000 plus supplements. Due December 31, 2026. Also filed in myPATH.	Older and disabled homeowners and renters
Local EIT return and Residency Certification Form	The annual local earned income tax return, filed with the county tax collection district for your home municipality, due April 15. The Residency Certification Form, with the six-digit PSD code, tells the employer what to withhold. DCED’s address lookup gives the code and rate.	Nearly everyone outside Philadelphia with wages or self-employment income
Philadelphia residents and anyone working in the city deal with the city Department of Revenue instead: the Wage Tax is withheld (3.735% resident, 3.425% nonresident from July 1, 2026), the School Income Tax on unearned income is filed by April 15, and self-employment income goes on the Net Profits Tax return. All Department of Revenue forms are on its personal income tax forms page.

Filing, paying and checking a refund

myPATH, at mypath.pa.gov, is the Department’s own system and files the PA-40, Schedule SP, Schedule DC and the Working Pennsylvanians credit free with no income limit. It takes payments with or without an account, shows Department letters, and runs “Where’s My Refund.” It does not file the federal or local return. IRS Direct File, which included Pennsylvania for 2025, was not offered for 2026, so the free route is myPATH plus a separate federal product. Fast File, new in 2026, is a Department letter with a QR code that lets a single full-year resident with one W-2 already on file and nothing else to report file the PA-40 in a few minutes. The automated line, 1-888-PATAXES (728-2937), gives refund status around the clock; the personal income tax line is 717-787-8201 and the Property Tax/Rent Rebate line is 1-888-222-9190. Local returns go to the county collector, most of which have their own e-file.

Worked example: filing late with a balance due

A self-employed filer expects to owe $3,200 of Pennsylvania tax for 2026 but will not have the books closed by April 15. She has a federal extension. Two paths.

	Pays $3,200 in myPATH on April 15	Relies on the federal extension, pays in October
Pennsylvania extension	Granted by the payment	Not granted: the federal extension carries over only when no Pennsylvania tax is due
Return filed	October 1, 2027	October 1, 2027
Late-filing penalty	$0	5% a month on $3,200 for 5½ months: up to $800
Underpayment penalty, 5% of tax unpaid with the return	$0	$160
Interest, April 15 to October 1	$0	At the federal rate on $3,200 for 5½ months (verify rate)
Paid in total	$3,200	$3,200 plus roughly $1,000 of penalty and interest

The trap is the second column. A federal extension does not become a Pennsylvania extension when tax is owed, so the return is simply late. A payment of the estimated balance in myPATH by April 15 is the whole fix; if it is too low, penalty runs only on the shortfall, and if too high, the excess is refunded or applied to 2027 estimates.

Behind the scenes: why there is a second return

Pennsylvania’s income tax dates only to 1971, and by then its townships, boroughs and school districts had been taxing wages for years under the Local Tax Enabling Act (verify). The state tax was layered on top rather than replacing them. For decades each municipality collected on its own; Act 32 of 2008 consolidated collection into one collector per county, keyed to the PSD code, but kept the returns separate from the PA-40. Philadelphia, whose wage tax dates to 1939 (verify), was left out of Act 32 entirely. That is why a Pennsylvanian files two returns and a Philadelphian may file three.

What to bring

Every W-2, for Box 16 and the local wages in Box 18, with the PSD code on the Residency Certification Form
The 2026 estimated payments made, with dates; myPATH lists them
Last year’s PA-40, for the 100% safe harbor and the line-by-line comparison
The federal Form 1040 with Schedule EIC, Form 2441 and Schedule 3, because the two refundable credits are figured from them
Brokerage 1099-Bs with basis, since every sale goes on Schedule D with no long-term break
Another state’s return if you worked there, for Schedule G-L
For the Property Tax/Rent Rebate: proof of age, proof of income, receipted property tax bills or a landlord rent certificate
Any Department letter, including a Fast File letter with its Letter ID

Questions people ask

Do I have to file anything to get the Pennsylvania extension?

Not if you have a federal extension and owe no Pennsylvania tax; it carries over automatically. If you owe, pay the balance in myPATH by April 15, which serves as the request, or mail REV-276 with a check. Interest runs from April 15 on anything unpaid, extension or not.

Is the local return really separate from the state return?

Yes. The state does not collect or credit local earned income tax. Your home municipality’s county collector, found by the PSD code on DCED’s lookup, gets its own return by April 15, and most collectors have their own online filing. Philadelphia residents file with the city instead.

Do I need to file a PA-40 if Tax Forgiveness wipes out my tax?

Yes. Forgiveness is a credit claimed on Schedule SP, not an exemption from filing, and a return is the only way to get withholding back or collect the refundable credits. The filing threshold is $1 of tax, about $33 of taxable income.

How long does a Pennsylvania refund take?

The Department says an e-filed return with direct deposit is fastest, and paper is slowest; it does not publish a fixed number of weeks. “Where’s My Refund” in myPATH or the 1-888-PATAXES line shows the status.

I forgot to attach my federal 1040. What happens to the Working Pennsylvanians credit?

The Department cannot figure it without the 1040, so the credit is not paid. Upload the 1040 in myPATH or respond to the Department’s letter with a copy. Amending for a missed credit is allowed within the three-year window.

Where do I mail a paper PA-40?

The address depends on whether you are due a refund, owe tax, or neither, and the three addresses are printed in the PA-40 instructions each year. Using the wrong one slows the return. Filing in myPATH avoids the question.

Two returns, one date, and an extension that only works if nothing is owed

Put April 15 on the calendar twice, once for the PA-40 and once for the local collector, and pay what you expect to owe by then even if the return comes later.

Written by Charles Trautman, EA, editor  ·  Need to Know Tax, Lone Tree, Colorado
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Forms and official pages named in this article

Sources and where to check

Updated November 12, 2026, after the November 3 election · tax year 2026 figures · awaiting review by a Pennsylvania practitioner — use the right article