PA-40 Schedule UE: 2025 PA Schedule UE - Allowable Employee Business Expenses (PA-40 UE) (2025)
Pennsylvania · Pennsylvania DOR · Used for tax years 2025
Pennsylvania PA-40 Schedule UE reports allowable employee business expenses incurred while performing the duties of your job or profession. It totals expenses and accounts for reimbursements to calculate the net expense or reimbursement reported on your PA-40.
Who files this form
Use the 2025 PA-40 Schedule UE to report unreimbursed employee business expenses incurred while performing your job or profession. You must include it with your original PA-40 if you report these expenses on PA-40 Line 1b.
Allowable expenses must be ordinary and accepted in your occupation, actually paid while performing your job, reasonable, necessary, and directly related to your work.
- Complete a separate schedule for each job or position and each taxpayer. Spouses cannot combine expenses on one Schedule UE, even when filing a joint return.
- Sole proprietors, partners, shareholders, and other self-employed individuals should not use Schedule UE to claim their expenses.
- Nonresidents must use PA Schedule NRH to apportion expenses. Nonresidents and part-year residents who earned income and incurred expenses both inside and outside Pennsylvania must complete Schedule NRH.
What you'll need
Have your employer’s name, local address, local telephone number, and federal employer identification number from Box b of your W-2 available. You also need to describe your job duties.
Keep documents, receipts, vouchers, and other records supporting your expenses for at least four years. Depending on what you claim, you may also need:
- Vehicle expenses: Total and business miles for 2025. If claiming vehicle depreciation, include a statement showing the vehicle description, acquisition date, cost or other basis, depreciation method, Section 179 expense if taken, prior accumulated depreciation, and current-year depreciation.
- Miscellaneous expenses: A separate detailed, itemized statement if you have more than two expenses.
- Office or work area expenses: Statements listing property maintenance, other apportionable expenses, and office supplies by type and amount. You also need the work area and total property square footage.
- Education expenses: The institution’s name, course of study, and amounts paid for tuition, required materials, and travel.
You may provide an employer letter using Form REV-757 to verify required expenses and reimbursement methods. Instead, you may provide the employer’s expense reimbursement policy or Form REV-775, Personal Income Tax Employee Business Expense Affidavit.
How to file
Include the completed Schedule UE with your original PA-40 when claiming unreimbursed employee business expenses on Line 1b. The supplied text does not give a mailing address or an e-filing method for this schedule.
If you later discover an increase or decrease in your claimed expenses, include an amended Schedule UE with Schedule PA-40 X. Explain the change in Section III on Page 2 of Schedule PA-40 X.
Include PA Schedule NRH with your PA-40 when required.
Common mistakes
- Combining jobs or spouses on one schedule. A separate Schedule UE is required for each job or position and each taxpayer.
- Leaving eligibility questions blank. Answer all three questions for office or work area expenses and all three for education expenses. Missing answers will cause those expenses to be disallowed.
- Claiming depreciation with standard mileage. You cannot claim vehicle depreciation when using the standard mileage rate method.
- Using federal per-diem amounts. Deductible travel expenses must be based on expenses actually paid, not federal per-diem allowances.
- Using the federal home-office safe harbor. Pennsylvania requires actual office or work area expenses instead.
- Ignoring reimbursements. The form requires you to account for reimbursements. Do not claim expenses covered by a below-federal-rate mileage reimbursement or a fixed or per-diem reimbursement that the employer did not include in compensation.
- Omitting expense allocation. Nonresidents and part-year residents with income and expenses both inside and outside Pennsylvania must complete Schedule NRH.
Questions people ask
Can I deduct my commute?
No. Travel between home and your main workplace is a personal commuting expense, regardless of distance. Commuting between different jobs for different employers is also not allowable.
Can I claim meals while working late?
No, unless you are traveling away from home overnight on business. Qualifying actual meal expenses are 100 percent allowable for Pennsylvania purposes. Federal meal per-diem rates are not allowable.
Can I deduct courses that improve my job skills?
Not simply because they maintain or improve your skills. The education must be required by law or your employer to retain your established employment status or compensation rate. It cannot meet entry-level job requirements or qualify you for a new occupation, trade, or business.
Whose Social Security number goes on the schedule if my spouse claims the expenses?
Enter the primary taxpayer’s Social Security number, meaning the person listed first on the PA-40. Enter the name of the spouse who is claiming the expenses in the taxpayer-name field.
Where does the final amount go on my PA-40?
Subtract reimbursements on Line I from allowable expenses on Line H. If Line H is greater, report the difference on PA-40 Line 1b. If Line I is greater, report the excess reimbursement as additional compensation on PA-40 Line 1a.