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Money & Insurance

Year-End Tax Checklist for Berks County Before December 31

The tax dates a Berks County household meets at year-end: charity gifts, required withdrawals, the PA 529 deduction, the rent rebate, property tax, and January 15 estimates.

Berks Connect Blog|Published October 14, 2026
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Most year-end tax deadlines for a Berks County household fall on December 31. That's the last day for gifts to charity to count for 2026, for most required retirement withdrawals, for college savings plan contributions to count toward Pennsylvania's deduction, for filing the rent rebate application for 2025, and for paying county and municipal property tax bills before unpaid ones are turned over to the county Tax Claim Bureau. Three more fall on January 15, 2027, for people who make quarterly estimated payments on income with no tax withheld: the fourth payment to the IRS, to the state, and to the local tax collector.

This post is general information about how the dates and rules work, and a question about your own return goes to a CPA, an enrolled agent, or a free IRS volunteer (VITA) or AARP Tax-Aide site. If you don't have someone yet, we at BerksConnect keep a list of accountants in Berks County you can start with.

Which year-end tax deadlines apply in Berks County?

Here are the eight dates, with who sets each one.

What The date Who sets it
Gifts to charity for 2026 Made by December 31, 2026 IRS
Required yearly retirement withdrawal for 2026, for every year after the first December 31, 2026 IRS
Pennsylvania 529 deduction for 2026 Contributions made by December 31, 2026 Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
Property Tax/Rent Rebate for 2025 rent or property taxes Postmarked by December 31, 2026 Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
Paying 2026 county and municipal real estate tax before unpaid bills go to the Tax Claim Bureau December 31, 2026 Berks County Treasurer and local tax collectors
Fourth 2026 federal estimated payment January 15, 2027 IRS
Fourth 2026 Pennsylvania estimated payment January 15, 2027 Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
Fourth 2026 local earned income tax estimate January 15, 2027 Berks Earned Income Tax Bureau

Dates as each office publishes them, as of October 2026. Residents of the Twin Valley and Upper Perkiomen Valley school districts pay local earned income tax to a different collector.

Two things are worth knowing about the dates in this table. Some local collectors stop taking personal checks earlier in December than the property tax date shows. And the three January rows are only for people who pay tax during the year on income that has no tax withheld.

When does a gift to charity count for this tax year?

A gift to charity counts in the year you make it. A gift usually counts as made when it's delivered to the charity unconditionally. A check you mail counts on the date you mail it, so a check mailed December 30 counts for 2026 even if the charity cashes it in January. A gift on a credit card counts in the year of the charge.

For a single gift of $250 or more, you need a written acknowledgment from the charity, and you have to have it in hand by whichever comes first: the day you file or the return's due date, including extensions. Charities usually send these by January 31.

There's something new starting with 2026. If you don't itemize, which means listing your deductions one by one instead of taking the standard deduction, you can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts to charity, or $2,000 for married couples filing jointly. Gifts to donor-advised funds and supporting organizations don't qualify, and noncash gifts such as clothing or stock don't qualify. The cash gifts have to be made during the tax year, so December 31 is the last day for this deduction too.

Pennsylvania works differently. Its personal income tax has no standard deduction, no itemized deductions and no deduction for gifts to charity, so everything in this section is a federal rule.

When are required retirement withdrawals due?

A required minimum distribution is the yearly withdrawal the IRS requires from most retirement accounts once you reach 73. That generally covers traditional IRAs and workplace retirement plans. Every year after the first, the withdrawal is due by December 31.

The first one has its own date. It can wait until April 1 of the year after you turn 73, so someone who turns 73 in 2026 has until April 1, 2027. If you wait, 2027 then carries two withdrawals: the delayed first one by April 1 and the next one by December 31.

Not every account runs on this clock. Roth IRAs need no withdrawals while the owner is alive. And if you're still working, you can generally delay withdrawals from that employer's workplace plan until the year you retire, unless you're a 5% owner of the business. The plan's own rules may require them sooner. IRAs have no such delay.

Do 529 contributions have to be made by December 31 for the Pennsylvania deduction?

Yes. Pennsylvania doesn't let you deduct contributions to retirement plans or gifts to charity, but it does let each taxpayer deduct contributions to a 529 plan, which is a college savings account. It can be any state's plan.

Pennsylvania ties the limit to the federal yearly gift tax exclusion, which is $19,000 for 2026. That's the most each taxpayer can deduct for each child or other beneficiary.

Only contributions made up to and including December 31 count for that tax year. A contribution made after December 31 and before April 15 goes on the next year's return.

Which property tax and rent rebate deadlines end December 31 in Berks County?

The Property Tax/Rent Rebate for rent or property taxes paid in 2025 is still open: its deadline was extended, and applications postmarked by December 31, 2026 are accepted. It's for people 65 and older, widows and widowers 50 and older, and people with disabilities 18 and older, with household income of $48,110 or less. Half of Social Security is left out of that income. Standard rebates run from $380 to $1,000.

Applying is free, online through myPATH, the Department of Revenue's website, or on the paper PA-1000. Free help is at the Department of Revenue's Reading district office at 625 Cherry St., the Berks County Area Agency on Aging at 610-478-6500, and state legislators' offices. You reapply every year.

County real estate tax bills for 2026 went out with a March 1 bill date. The penalty period is the last stretch of the bill's year, when it's paid with a penalty added, and the county Treasurer says it runs through December 31, 2026. After December 31, unpaid county and municipal bills are turned over to the Berks County Tax Claim Bureau by mid-January, and additional costs can be added then. For how a bill splits into county, municipal and school taxes, and what happens when one goes unpaid, see our guide to Berks County government. In some school districts, the school tax penalty period also ends December 31, so check the dates on your own school tax bill.

Your own collector's cutoff can come sooner. Douglass Township, for one, takes no personal checks from December 15 to 31, and Exeter Township's last in-person collection day for 2026 is December 17. If you pay by check or in person, look at your collector's page before the middle of December.

Which estimated tax payments are due January 15?

An estimated tax payment is the quarterly payment people make on income that has no tax withheld. If that's you, the fourth payment for 2026 comes due in January at three levels.

The federal one is due January 15, 2027. People with wages can instead ask their employer to withhold more by filing a new Form W-4.

The Pennsylvania one is due January 15, 2027 as well. For 2026, Pennsylvania estimated payments can be required if you expect to owe at least $430 of Pennsylvania tax on income that has no tax withheld. That works out to $14,000 of such income. You can pay on myPATH or with the PA-40 ES voucher.

The local one is the earned income tax, the local tax on wages and business profits. In most of Berks County the collector is the Berks Earned Income Tax Bureau, 1125 Berkshire Blvd, Suite 115, in Wyomissing, 610-372-8439. For earnings with no tax withheld, the fourth quarterly estimated payment there is due January 15. The bureau isn't the collector for the Twin Valley and Upper Perkiomen Valley school districts: Residents there pay a different collector.

The annual local return is due April 15. The bureau is closed December 25 and 28, 2026.

Frequently asked questions about year-end taxes in Berks County.

Do IRA and HSA contributions have to be made by December 31?

No. Contributions to an IRA for a year can be made until that year's return due date, not counting extensions, and HSA contributions likewise run to the filing deadline.

Is there still a year-end deadline for the home energy or electric vehicle tax credits?

No. The federal credit for home energy improvements ended for property placed in service (put into use) after December 31, 2025, and the residential clean energy credit, the one for home solar and similar systems, ended for expenditures made after that date. The federal electric vehicle credits ended for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025.

What happens if a required withdrawal is missed?

If the full amount isn't withdrawn by the due date, the shortfall may be subject to an extra tax (the IRS calls it an excise tax) of 25%, or 10% if it's corrected within two years.

What about money left in a health flexible spending account?

Your plan's rules decide. A workplace health flexible spending account may give a grace period of up to 2 1/2 months or let up to $680 carry over for 2026, but never both.

Put the December items on this month's list and January 15 on the calendar now. And when a question turns on your own return, that's the moment to call one of the accountants in Berks County.

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