Pennsylvania to Texas Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 27, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Pennsylvania to Texas in retirement, the income-tax saving is zero — both states already leave retirement withdrawals alone. The money is at death. Four separate taxes change when you move — state income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. Most comparisons only price the first one.

Pennsylvania vs Texas: every tax that changes

Every cell is quoted from our statute-cited 51-jurisdiction dataset. Download the full dataset as CSV.

1. What changes on your annual tax bill

Nothing. Pennsylvania already leaves retirement withdrawals untaxed: Not taxed in retirement: distributions from eligible employer-sponsored plans (pensions, 401(k), 403(b)) are exempt when made after retirement upon meeting the plan’s age or years-of-service conditions; Texas does not tax them either. If you are moving for the income-tax saving alone, there is no saving to collect — and that is the single most common mistake in Pennsylvania relocation math.

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

Neither state levies an estate tax. Pennsylvania: none Texas: none Only the federal estate tax applies.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

An inheritance tax is charged to the person who receives the money, by relationship — not to the estate. Pennsylvania: yes – rates by relationship, from the first dollar (no exemption thresholds): 0% surviving spouse and parent-to-child under 21; 4.5% lineal heirs (children, grandchildren, parents); 12% siblings; 15% all others; charities/government exempt; family farm and family business exemptions available Texas levies none. Nieces, nephews, siblings and unmarried partners are the heirs most affected.

4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs

Pennsylvania uses a reasonable-fee fee model (No statutory percentage. Compensation of personal representatives and attorneys must be ‘reasonable and just’ (20 Pa.C.S. §3537). Courts often reference the informal ‘Johnson estate’ percentage guideline schedule, but it is case-law custom, not statute.); Texas uses a hybrid model (Executor/administrator standard compensation is statutory (Tex. Estates Code §352.002): 5% commission on cash actually received plus 5% on cash actually paid out (excluding e.g. cash on hand/bank deposits at death and distributions to heirs), capped in aggregate at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration. Attorney fees are reasonable. Note: most Texas probates are independent administrations where compensation is often governed by the will. Verified.). Filing fees — Pennsylvania: Register of Wills fees are set per county and typically scale with estate size; commonly ~$100-$500 to open probate. No statewide schedule — varies-by-county, representative range only (unverified). Texas: County clerk / statutory probate court fees vary by county; typically ~$250-$450 to file an application for probate. Representative range from county schedules, not verified against a single official statewide source.

Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.

Will Pennsylvania still tax me after I move to Texas?

Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.

• Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing state can and does audit residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count.
• Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in Pennsylvania can keep part of the estate within reach of Pennsylvania rules even after you become a Texas resident.
• A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after establishing the new domicile is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.

If you keep a home in Pennsylvania, what happens at death?

Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Pennsylvania levies an inheritance tax, and it reaches a nonresident decedent’s real property situated there — so a home kept behind after the move stays within Pennsylvania’s reach even once Texas is your legal home for every other purpose. For a nonresident decedent, all real property and tangible personal property located in Pennsylvania at death is taxable. Intangible personal property of a nonresident is not taxable.

Same rates as for residents, by relationship, and Pennsylvania inheritance tax has no exemption threshold – it applies from the first dollar. Filed with the Department’s Nonresident Tax Unit, not the Register of Wills. Due within nine months; 5% discount if paid within three. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: there is no threshold at all, so the Pennsylvania property is taxed from the first dollar. Authority: Form REV-1737-A (Nonresident Decedent).

This is the exposure that survives a move, and it is the one worth pricing before the move rather than after. The house also stays within that state’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live — the ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. Confirm the current figures with the state revenue department or a licensed professional before acting — thresholds move, and the arithmetic depends on the whole estate, not just the house.

Full state detail

Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: Pennsylvania retirement taxes and Texas retirement taxes. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.

Talking this through

Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order you do them in changes the total. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide. If a move is genuinely on the table, here is what to look for in an advisor who knows both Pennsylvania and Texas.

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Primary sources

• 72 P.S. § 7301(d) (compensation definition excluding retirement payments)
• 61 Pa. Code § 101.6
• PA DOR guidance: Gross Compensation / retirement income
• 72 P.S. sec. 9116
• Tex. Const. art. VIII, § 24-a
• 20 Pa.C.S. §3537
• 20 Pa.C.S. §3102
• Tex. Estates Code §352.002
• Tex. Estates Code §205.001
• Tex. Estates Code ch. 257

Methodology: every figure is quoted from Clear Money Guide’s statute-cited 51-jurisdiction datasets, compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Nothing here is personalized tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.