In the title compound, C(13)H(10)O(4), prepared by the condensation reaction between phthalic anhydride and pentane-2,4-dione, one of the acetyl groups in the pentane-2,4-dione fragment is almost coplanar with the isobenzofuran ring system, while the other group is twisted out of this plane by almost 80 degrees . The corresponding C-C and C-O distances in the two acetyl units are consistent with dipolar delocalization into the coplanar unit only. There is no supramolecular aggregation of the molecules, but a number of rather short intermolecular contacts of C-H...O, O...O and O...C types occur.