Get your tax IDs in Pennsylvania

An EIN comes first, and it takes minutes online. Pennsylvania then asks for sales tax and withholding registration through the Department of Revenue’s myPATH, which is separate from unemployment insurance with the Department of Labor & Industry, Office of UC Tax Services. Local taxes follow your payroll, so which ones apply depends on where your employees live and work.

What’s different in Pennsylvania

• Sales tax has two local additions. The state rate is 6%, plus 1% in Allegheny County and 2% in Philadelphia. The Department of Revenue’s page lists no combined rate.
• The entity decides the income tax. Partnerships, S corporations and LLCs not taxed as corporations fall under the 3.07% personal income tax. A C corporation pays corporate net income tax: 7.49% for 2026, falling each year to 4.99% from 2031. The capital stock and foreign franchise tax was eliminated for tax years beginning January 1, 2016 and after.
• Employees pay unemployment tax too. In 2026 you withhold 0.07% of gross wages, on top of your own contributions. Wage cap: none; it applies to all gross wages.
• Local earned income tax and a local services tax come out of paychecks. Local earned income tax is withheld at the rate published on the official register, plus a local services tax of up to $52 a year per worker.

Do this

1. Get an EIN from the IRS if you need one. It is free and, if approved, issued immediately online. Pennsylvania wants a federal EIN before you register as an employer. Form your LLC or corporation first. Don’t pay a website to apply for you.
2. Register for sales tax on myPATH (Pennsylvania Online Business Tax Registration) before making taxable sales, rentals or leases. You are applying for the Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Retail Tax License, which you need for selling taxable items or performing taxable services. The pages we read do not state a license fee or how long the license takes to arrive.* Check the official source on myPATH. Out-of-state sellers register too once they make more than $100,000 of gross sales into Pennsylvania in the previous calendar year.
3. File sales tax returns on your schedule. Under $600 a quarter but over $300 a year, returns are quarterly, due the 20th day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter. Above $600 a quarter, returns are monthly, due the 20th day of the month following the end of each calendar month. From $25,000 a quarter, an advance payment based on the same month of the preceding year also applies. The license is renewed automatically every five years. The Department of Revenue’s sales tax pages cover the rest.
4. Plan for income tax. See the next section for your entity.
5. Register as an employer when you hire. Register for withholding through the same myPATH registration. You withhold Pennsylvania income tax at a flat 3.07% of compensation. File a Quarterly Withholding Return (W-3) each quarter. Deposits follow how much you withhold: under $300 a quarter, due the last day of April, July, October and January; from $300, due the 15th day of the following month; from $1,000, due within three banking days of the close of the semi-monthly period; from $5,000, due the Wednesday after a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday payday, and the Friday after a Saturday through Tuesday payday. Whether employees use the federal W-4 or a state form for withholding was not stated on the pages we read.* Check the official source. Pennsylvania has reciprocal tax agreements with Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia, so read the withholding page for employees who live there.
6. Register for unemployment tax. Register with the Department of Labor & Industry’s Office of UC Tax Services within 30 days after covered work is first performed for you, or risk a penalty of up to $10,000 per assessment. Liability starts with one or more workers, full or part time, with no payroll minimum. A new employer pays 3.822% of the first $10,000 of each employee’s wages in 2026 (10.5924% in construction), for the first two or three calendar years the employer pays wages.
7. Report new hires. Report new hires through PA CareerLink. The rule covers every employee who lives or works in Pennsylvania, however short the job. The page we read states no deadline in days.* Check the official source. E-Verify is required for construction industry employers (Act 75).
8. Insure your workers. Workers’ compensation is mandatory for most employers, overseen by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Department of Labor and Industry. Employers must insure with the State Workers' Insurance Fund or an authorized insurer, unless the Department exempts the employer. In a corporation, executive officers of a corporation count as employees, but an executive officer of a for-profit corporation (or an unpaid volunteer officer of a nonprofit) may elect not to be covered as an employee. The hiring your first employee guide covers the federal side of a first hire.

By entity

Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC and S corporation

These report business income on their owners’ returns at 3.07%. Whether a pass-through entity tax or election exists in Pennsylvania was not stated on the pages we read.* Check the official source, and see entity vs. tax election.

C corporation

A C corporation, or an LLC taxed as one, pays corporate net income tax at 7.49% for 2026, 6.99% for 2027 and 4.99% from 2031. The report is due the 15th day of the month after the federal return is due, and payment is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the taxable year ends. The rates table has each year in between.

Local taxes

Local earned income tax is withheld at the rate published on the official register, and the local services tax is capped at $52 a year per person. Act 32 sets those limits. Where to find the official register, and which collector your employees’ taxes go to, was not stated on the pages we read.* Check the official source.

Philadelphia, as the Philadelphia Department of Revenue’s pages list it. The Business Income & Receipts Tax (BIRT) applies to every business in Philadelphia, regardless of profit. For tax year 2025 the rates are 1.410 mills ($1.410 per $1,000) of gross receipts and 5.71% of taxable net income, due April 15 of each year, for the previous calendar year. Exemption: none; the first-$100,000 exemption ended with tax year 2025. Estimated tax is due with the return by April 15, except for new businesses. From July 1, 2026, the Wage Tax is 3.735% for residents and 3.425% for nonresidents. Per the city, the resident and non-resident rates fall over the next five years. It is filed quarterly, through the Philadelphia Tax Center. Philadelphia also requires a license: Licenses and permits.

Pittsburgh, as the city’s page lists it. Residents have 3% earned income tax withheld. A payroll expense tax of 0.55% applies to any employer with people working in the city, wherever the employer is located. The City of Pittsburgh describes both.

What you get back

• EIN: a nine-digit federal tax ID, shown on screen when approved. Print the confirmation letter.
• Sales tax: the Sales, Use, and Hotel Occupancy Retail Tax License, issued after your myPATH registration.
• Withholding: a withholding account with the Department of Revenue.
• Unemployment insurance: an account with the Office of UC Tax Services, with quarterly reports filed through the Unemployment Compensation Management System (UCMS).

Not selling anything taxable or hiring yet? The EIN may be all you need for now.