What is the inheritance tax in Pennsylvania?

Well, that depends.

It actually depends on the relationship between the person receiving the money or property and the person who died, otherwise known as the decedent. 

So if you leave everything to your spouse, there’s no tax on that. If a minor child leaves everything to a parent, there’s no tax on that, and there’s no tax on any money going to charities exempt organizations, or the government, if anybody does that. 

If you leave it to a lineal descendant, it’s 4.5%. Lineal descendants are kids, grandkids, parents or grandparents.

For siblings it’s 12%, and for everybody else its 15%.

So you inherit money. Does that mean you are writing a check? Typically no. When the person who is the decedent dies, the executor completes the inheritance tax return and has to specify how much went to the different classes of beneficiaries, and then the taxes figured out and usually sent in from the estate. So ordinarily, no you don’t. You’re not going to pay inheritance tax when you receive something. There’s no income tax on that money, either.