Guide · Sales tax · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania sales tax on landscaping: what's taxable and what isn't
Short answer
In Pennsylvania, lawn care is taxable: mowing, fertilizing, weed and pest treatments, aerating, dethatching, overseeding or sodding an existing lawn, and similar upkeep (61 Pa. Code § 55.6). Landscaping generally isn't: a new lawn, planting or removing trees and shrubs, tree trimming, bed maintenance such as mulching, landscape design, and separately stated leaf raking. Hardscape and planting are usually construction work, where the contractor pays tax on materials when buying them and doesn't charge the customer sales tax. The state rate is 6%, plus 1% in Allegheny County and 2% in Philadelphia. List taxable and non-taxable work on separate lines: if you don't, the whole invoice is taxable.
This is a plain-language summary of the Pennsylvania rules, not tax advice. Check with your accountant, and see the sources at the end.
Taxable: lawn care services
Pennsylvania taxes "lawn care service", meaning services for lawn upkeep. The regulation (61 Pa. Code § 55.6(c)) lists these as taxable:
- Mowing, trimming, cutting or edging lawns
- Fertilizing and applying lime
- Herbicides, insecticides or fungicides on lawns, and weed, pest, insect or disease treatments
- Dethatching, aerating, raking grass and watering
- Overseeding, sodding or grass plugging of an existing lawn
- Lawn evaluation or soil testing, when bought along with other lawn care
- Shrub trimming or pruning, when done along with other lawn care services
The Department of Revenue confirms this in its current answers: the sale of lawn care services is subject to tax.
Not taxable: landscaping services
The same regulation (§ 55.6(d)) lists what isn't lawn care, and the Department states plainly that landscaping services are not subject to sales tax:
- Seeding, sodding or plugging to establish a new lawn. Seeding or sod laid along with building construction is presumed to be a new lawn.
- Trimming, pruning or fertilizing trees
- Planting or removing shrubs and trees
- Maintaining shrub, flower or vegetable beds, such as mulching, tilling and weeding
- Herbicides or fungicides on shrubs, trees, flowers or vegetables
- Designing lawns or landscapes
- Lawn evaluation or soil testing bought on its own
- Leaf raking, when it's charged separately
Two things to watch. Shrub trimming is taxable when it's done with other lawn care, and not when it's done on its own. And pest control on trees and shrubs is a separate taxable service under § 60.3, so insect spraying on shrubs is likely taxable even though fungicide on shrubs isn't. Ask your accountant about that one.
Hardscape and installs: construction contracts
Patios, walls, walkways, fencing and new plantings attach to the property and become part of it. Pennsylvania treats that kind of work as a construction contract (61 Pa. Code § 31.11), which lists landscaping, shrubbery, trees, fencing, bricklaying and sprinkler systems among the items presumed to become part of the real estate. The regulations don't name patios or retaining walls, but they fall under the same rule.
- You pay the tax on materials when you buy them: pavers, block, base stone, plants and mulch you install (§ 31.12).
- You don't charge the customer sales tax on the materials or the labor, and the Department says not to list the tax you paid as a separate line on the invoice.
- Exception: selling material without installing it, such as stone or mulch delivered to a pile, is a sale, and that is taxable to the customer.
Snow removal
The Department of Revenue says snow removal is not subject to sales tax, and snow plowing is not treated as building maintenance. The exception is clearing snow from a roof or gutters, which is taxable. Salt you spread is taxed when you buy it, because you are its final user.
The rate: 6%, 7% or 8%
The Pennsylvania rate is 6%. Allegheny County adds 1% and Philadelphia adds 2%. According to the Department's local sales tax page, Act 21 of 2026 made the local tax depend on where the product or service is delivered, with enforcement from October 1, 2026. For lawn care that means the customer's property: mowing in Pittsburgh is 7% and in Philadelphia 8%, wherever your shop is. Confirm with your accountant how this applies to your routes.
A mixed invoice, done right
One customer, one month, three kinds of work. The taxable lines are taxed, and the rest aren't, because each one is listed separately:
| Line | Taxable? | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Mowing and edging, 4 visits | Yes, lawn care | $220.00 |
| Fall fertilizer and lime | Yes, lawn care | $95.00 |
| Mulch beds, 4 cu yd installed | No, bed maintenance | $380.00 |
| Leaf cleanup, charged separately | No, separately stated leaf raking | $240.00 |
| Sales tax, 6% of $315.00 | $18.90 | |
| Total | $953.90 |
If the same work went out as one line, "Fall service, $935.00", the whole $935.00 would be taxable under § 55.6(e), and the tax would be $56.10 instead of $18.90. Separate lines are worth the trouble.
Tax-exempt customers
Lawn care isn't taxable when bought by qualifying exempt buyers: charities, religious organizations, volunteer fire companies, nonprofit schools, the federal government, and the Commonwealth and its subdivisions, including public school districts (§ 55.6(f)). Keep their exemption certificate on file. Farms and other businesses do pay tax on lawn care.
Buying for resale
A lawn care company can claim the resale exemption on what it applies to customers' lawns: chemicals, grass seed, sod, plugs, straw, fertilizer and lime. It can't claim it on mowers, trucks or office supplies (§ 55.6(f)(2)).
How Level Yard handles it
In Level Yard you set your own tax rates, and each estimate and invoice line is taxable or not, so lawn care and installs can share one invoice. Tax-exempt customers keep their certificate on file. When you use QuickBooks, each rate is tied to a QuickBooks tax item, and QuickBooks' total is checked against Level Yard's after every invoice. See how sales tax syncs with QuickBooks.
Sources
- 61 Pa. Code § 55.6, Lawn care services
- 61 Pa. Code § 31.11, Construction contracts: definitions and § 31.12
- 61 Pa. Code § 60.3, Pest control services
- PA Department of Revenue: Are lawn care services taxable?
- PA Department of Revenue: Are landscaping services taxable?
- PA Department of Revenue: Construction contractors and sales tax
- PA Department of Revenue: Is snow removal taxable?
- PA Department of Revenue: Sales, Use and Hotel Occupancy Tax and Local Sales Tax
Questions about Pennsylvania sales tax.
Is lawn mowing taxable in Pennsylvania?
Yes. Mowing, trimming, cutting and edging lawns are taxable lawn care services under 61 Pa. Code § 55.6, at 6%, plus local tax in Allegheny County and Philadelphia.
Is mulching taxable in Pennsylvania?
Mulching beds as bed maintenance isn't lawn care, so it isn't taxable as a service. Mulch delivered without installation is a sale and is taxable. When you install mulch, you pay tax on it when you buy it.
Do I charge sales tax on a paver patio in Pennsylvania?
Generally no. A patio becomes part of the property, so it's a construction contract: you pay sales tax on the pavers and base when you buy them, and you don't charge the customer sales tax.
Is snow plowing taxable in Pennsylvania?
The Department of Revenue says snow removal isn't subject to sales tax, except clearing snow from roofs and gutters, which is.
Is new sod taxable in Pennsylvania?
Sod or seed to establish a new lawn isn't taxable. Sodding or overseeding an existing lawn is taxable lawn care.
What if I put taxable and non-taxable work on one line?
Then the whole charge is taxable. List lawn care separately from landscaping work on the invoice.
Early access
Let each line carry its own tax.
In Level Yard each invoice line is taxable or not, and the tax matches QuickBooks to the cent. We're setting up a limited number of Pennsylvania landscaping companies before spring.
- Free during early access
- Taxable and non-taxable lines on one invoice
- Tax-exempt certificates kept on the customer