Allegheny County Drink Tax: Rate, What’s Taxed, and Filing

The Allegheny County drink tax is a 7% county tax on alcoholic beverages sold by bars, restaurants, and other establishments licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board. It applies whether you’re drinking on-site or taking the bottle home, but it doesn’t apply to purchases at Pennsylvania state liquor stores or beer distributors. The tax started at 10% in December 2007 and dropped to 7% in 2009 after collections came in well above projections.

What Purchases Are Taxed

Any retail sale of an alcoholic beverage by a PLCB-licensed business in the county is taxed. That covers mixed drinks, wine, and beer, opened or unopened, for on-premises consumption or to go.¹ A draft beer at a bar is taxed. A bottle of wine sold by a restaurant for you to take home is taxed.

The county ordinance defines “malt and brewed beverages” to include beer, lager, ale, and porter, and “liquor” to include distilled spirits and wine.² Between the two categories, essentially every alcoholic drink sold at a licensed venue falls in scope.

What Is Not Taxed

Three kinds of transactions sit outside the tax:

Purchases at Fine Wine & Good Spirits state stores.
Purchases at licensed beer distributors, including cases and kegs.
Complimentary drinks given away by an establishment, because no retail sale takes place.¹

Service charges added to a bill are also excluded from the taxable amount.³ So the practical rule for a consumer is straightforward: you pay the 7% when you buy drinks at a bar, restaurant, hotel, or club. You don’t pay it when you carry alcohol home from a state store or distributor.

Weddings, Fundraisers, and Other Private Events

Whether the tax hits a private event depends on who is providing the alcohol. If a licensed restaurant or caterer supplies the drinks, the 7% applies to the entire bar tab, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s an open bar billed to the host or a cash bar where guests pay individually.³

Bring-your-own scenarios are different. If you book a venue that doesn’t hold a liquor license and supply the drinks yourself, no tax is owed. The county’s regulations use the example of a wedding held at a fire hall with alcohol brought in by the host, and a church serving complimentary beer at bingo. In both cases there’s no license and no sale, so the tax doesn’t apply.³

How the 7% Shows Up on Your Bill

The tax is 7% of the sale price of the alcoholic beverage itself.² The Pennsylvania 6% state sales tax is calculated on the same base, not stacked on top of the county tax, so the two don’t compound. On a $50 drink tab, the county tax adds $3.50, and the state sales tax is figured separately from the drink price.

The customer pays the tax; the business collects it and remits it to the county. Some establishments break it out as a separate line on the receipt, and others build it into the menu price. Places that fold it into the price are supposed to post a sign letting customers know.

What Businesses Have to Do

Every PLCB-licensed establishment operating in Allegheny County has to collect the tax at the point of sale.¹ Restaurants, bars, hotels, private clubs, and social clubs with liquor permits all carry the same obligation.²

Before collecting anything, a business registers with the Allegheny County Treasurer’s Office using the form on the Treasurer’s website, which sets up the account number used on every future filing.¹

Monthly Filing

Returns run monthly. The Alcoholic Beverage Tax Return and payment are due by the 25th day of the month after the reporting period, so January collections have to be filed and paid by February 25.¹

The return starts with total gross sales across the business, then subtracts everything that isn’t taxable alcohol: food, non-alcoholic drinks, and merchandise. The remainder is taxable alcohol sales, and 7% of that is what you owe. The account number goes on every return.⁴ Filings can be submitted online through the county’s e-payment portal or mailed with a check.⁵

Late Payment

Missing the deadline triggers a 1% penalty per month, or fraction of a month, on the unpaid tax, plus interest at half a percent per month. Both run from the original due date.⁶

Beyond the added charges, the county can file a civil complaint in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, obtain a judgment, and pursue the vendor’s assets. Criminal prosecution, including fines and imprisonment, is also available for persistent noncompliance.¹

Where the Money Goes

Every dollar of drink tax revenue funds Pittsburgh Regional Transit, formerly the Port Authority of Allegheny County. The tax was created to produce the local matching funds the county needs to draw down state transit subsidies, and losing that local contribution would cut the county off from the larger pool of state funding for buses and light rail.³

The original 10% rate raised well beyond its $32 million projection in the first year, which prompted the reduction to 7% in the 2009 budget. Even at the lower rate, the tax generally brings in tens of millions of dollars a year, with dips during the pandemic and another decline in 2024 as dining habits shifted.

1
Allegheny County Treasurer Office. Alcoholic Beverage Tax
2
County of Allegheny, PA. Allegheny County Code – Article 808A Alcoholic Beverage Taxation
3
Allegheny County Treasurer. Allegheny County Alcoholic Beverage Tax Official Rules and Regulations
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Allegheny County Treasurer. Allegheny County Alcoholic Beverage Tax Statement
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Allegheny County Treasurer Office. Drink Tax E-Payments
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County of Allegheny, PA. Allegheny County Code – Article 808A Alcoholic Beverage Taxation – Section: Penalties and Interest