Rates last verified: August 26th, 2026
Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Revenue; Pennsylvania Code; Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. Full citations at the bottom of this page.
Pennsylvania taxes telecom under its general sales and use tax, and then taxes it again at the provider level through a gross receipts tax on telegraph, telephone, and mobile telecommunications companies. Both reach interstate calls billed to a Pennsylvania service address. On top sit the 911 surcharge and, in two counties, a local sales tax layer.
Quick Facts
| Item | Pennsylvania Treatment |
|---|---|
| Sales tax on telecom services | 6% state; Allegheny County adds 1% and Philadelphia adds 2% |
| What sales tax reaches | Intrastate service, plus interstate and international service charged to a Pennsylvania service address (since October 1, 1991) |
| Gross receipts tax | 50 mills (5%) on the provider's receipts from messages transmitted in Pennsylvania, including mobile telecommunications and interstate landline calls billed to a Pennsylvania service address |
| 911 surcharge | $1.95 per line, per month; $1.95 per retail transaction for prepaid wireless (effective March 1, 2024) |
| Residential basic local service | Exempt from sales tax when purchased solely for the purchaser's own residential use |
| Internet access | Not subject to sales and use tax; also protected by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act |
How Pennsylvania Taxes Telecom Services
The customer-side tax is the sales and use tax. Under 61 Pa. Code section 60.20, the 6% tax applies to intrastate telecommunications service and, since October 1, 1991, to interstate and international service charged to a service address in Pennsylvania. The total charge is taxable whether billed at a flat rate or by message unit, and ancillary services such as directory assistance, call forwarding, caller identification, and connection charges are taxable too. Allegheny County adds 1% and Philadelphia adds 2%, collected against the service address.
The provider-side tax is the gross receipts tax. Telegraph, telephone, and mobile telecommunications companies pay 50 mills, which is 5%, on gross receipts from messages transmitted in Pennsylvania, including mobile telecommunications services and interstate and international landline calls that originate or terminate in Pennsylvania and are billed to a Pennsylvania service address. The Department of Revenue collects it annually on form RCT-111. The tax falls on the company rather than the customer, and providers commonly recover it in their pricing, so it shapes Pennsylvania telecom bills without appearing as a tax line.
One exemption stands out: basic local telephone service purchased solely for the purchaser's own residential use is exempt from sales tax. Business lines carry the full stack.
911 And Other Per-Line Fees
Pennsylvania funds 911 through a uniform statewide surcharge of $1.95 per line, per month, which the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) administers. The 2023 reauthorization (Act 34) raised the amount from $1.65 effective March 1, 2024. The law defines the covered service broadly: anything that gives a subscriber the capability to initiate, route, transmit, or complete a 911 communication through a telecommunications device, which reaches wireless, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and cable-delivered voice alike.
Prepaid wireless pays the same amount at the register: $1.95 per retail transaction, collected by the seller and remitted to the Department of Revenue with sales tax filings. Sellers keep a 1.5% discount for timely remittance.
Taxability By Service Type
Per 61 Pa. Code section 60.20, sales tax applies to:
- Local, toll, and long-distance telephone service
- Private line service
- Cellular mobile service, paging, and specialized mobile radio
- Ancillary services: directory assistance, call forwarding, caller identification, call waiting, and connection or disconnection charges
Not taxable or exempt:
- Basic local service purchased solely for residential use
- Internet access charges, which the regulation treats as enhanced telecommunications charges outside the tax
- Sales for resale
- Sales to charitable organizations, government entities, and qualifying manufacturing operations
How CereTax Handles Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's complexity is structural: two taxes on the same revenue with different bases, a sales tax that follows the service address, a county layer in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, and a residential exemption that turns on how the line is used. CereTax applies each Pennsylvania tax to its own base, sources each charge to the right service address at the rooftop level, and keeps an audit trail behind every calculation. If you serve customers in Pennsylvania, book a demo and bring a real invoice.
Sources
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- 61 Pa. Code § 60.20, Telecommunications service. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Gross Receipts Tax. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, e-911 Information. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, 911 Program surcharge pages. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- Title 35, Chapter 53, Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, 911 emergency communication services. Accessed August 25, 2026.
- Internet Tax Freedom Act, 47 U.S.C. § 151 note.
See how other states compare on the full telecom tax by state table.
