Retirement Income Tax Calculator

Start with taxable pension and account amounts after contribution basis. Gross retirement cash is useful for a budget; it is not automatically the taxable base. The federal worksheet uses 2026 ordinary brackets and the benefit-income thresholds. State pages explain the records and eligibility that change the state calculation.

Worked joint example: $30,000 of benefits and $35,000 of other income

The worksheet above opens on this household. With no tax-exempt interest or special benefit adjustment, provisional income is $50,000: $35,000 plus half the $30,000 benefit. The joint upper threshold is $44,000, so the ordinary worksheet includes $11,100 of Social Security rather than automatically including 85% ($25,500). Up to 85% of benefits can enter income; that is an inclusion limit, not an 85% tax rate.

With $35,000 of other ordinary income and an approved $32,200 deduction, modeled federal taxable income is $13,900. The 2026 ordinary-rate result is $1,390 before credits. A prepared $500 state liability would make the displayed combined amount $1,890. These are illustrative inputs; changing household eligibility or deductions requires a new prepared amount.

Prepare two different non-benefit income figures

The provisional-income test uses its prescribed non-benefit income and tax-exempt interest, plus half of Social Security. The ordinary-tax calculation uses taxable ordinary income and the deductions approved for the return. Do not deduct the standard deduction from provisional income, and do not enter a pension’s contribution basis as taxable pension income. Qualified Roth cash should not be added merely to make taxable income match the household’s bank deposits.

Filing separately needs the spouse-living condition

A married-separate filer who lived with a spouse at any time during the year has a different benefits calculation from someone who lived apart all year. The form asks for that fact explicitly; selecting married-separate status without resolving it cannot establish taxable benefits.

When a separate calculation is needed

Lump-sum benefits for prior years, repayments, deductible-IRA interactions and other special adjustments require the relevant Publication 915 worksheet. Qualified dividends and long-term gains need the preferential-rate calculation. Additional distribution taxes, federal credits and Medicare-related effects are not computed here. Approved age-based or senior deductions belong in the deduction input only after their eligibility and income limits are established.

Federal sources: IRS Publication 915 (benefit worksheets and base amounts) · Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 ordinary-rate tables).

Retirement tax rules for all 50 states and DC

Every state and the District of Columbia has a jurisdiction-specific retirement worksheet. Choose the actual resident return to calculate benefits, qualified pension relief and ordinary tax under the displayed scope. Nine no-income-tax jurisdictions have a confirmed ordinary-retirement cash worksheet. Current unpublished indexed amounts are explicit approved inputs; later years have a separate assessment path. Type a state or code below to jump to its guide.

Compare the same household facts across states: payment types, taxable contribution basis, recipient ownership, filing status, ages, disability or survivor conditions and residence period. A state with a pension deduction may still tax income that another state excludes, while a credit reduces tax rather than the taxable base. A top marginal rate cannot resolve those differences, so no state here is ranked by gross income multiplied by its highest rate.

Use the tax year printed by each source. Agency publications can be issued the following year: Rhode Island’s Publication 2026-01 expressly covers 2025 returns, and Wisconsin publishes a separate 2026 estimated-tax schedule. Older partial Social Security provisions also differ from current law in Nebraska and West Virginia. Read each guide’s effective-year note rather than relying on a recently updated page date.

Compare the same retirement household in two states

Prepare each state’s annual liability using the same tax year, filing facts, income ownership and residence period. Enter the amounts after allowed deductions and credits. The comparison reports the difference and cash remaining after state income tax; changing a selected state clears the old amount so it cannot become another state’s answer. For a move during the year, prepare the resident and nonresident periods with the relevant return instructions: pensions paid by a former employer do not by themselves settle source-income treatment.

Retirement cash after tax and withholding

Convert the prepared annual tax amounts into a retirement spending figure. Withholding is credited against liability; it is not a second income tax.

For a spending budget, start with gross cash rather than taxable income: include the benefit and account payments being modeled, even amounts excluded from taxable income such as a return of contribution basis. An account conversion, by contrast, can create taxable income without adding cash for monthly spending.

The after-tax figure subtracts the annual federal and state liabilities once. The cash-received figure separately shows the effect of tax payments already made, and the settlement line subtracts those payments from liability: a positive result is a possible balance due, a negative one an overpayment under the supplied assumptions. In the illustrated case, $65,000 of cash and $1,769.05 of combined liability ($1,390 federal from the example above plus $379.05 state) leave $63,230.95 after income tax, averaging $5,269.25 per month. With $5,000 of withholding and estimated payments, the modeled settlement is negative $3,230.95.

A monthly average spreads the annual result evenly. Actual pension deposits, quarterly estimated payments, required distributions and tax settlements may fall in different months, and this tool makes no required-minimum-distribution determination. Leave a liability blank when it is unresolved rather than entering zero just to produce a monthly number.

Why two retirement incomes can have different tax

The account and recipient matter. New York cannot transfer one spouse’s unused pension exclusion to the other. Georgia also applies its exclusion by owner. Wisconsin permits joint age-67 pooling when both spouses qualify, but that strategy gives up all return credits. A public-system pension and an IRA can follow different rules in Maryland, Hawaii or another destination.

A larger taxable withdrawal can increase federally taxable Social Security. That does not mean 85% of every benefit is taxed, and it does not mean the federal tax rate is 85%. The worksheet shows the included benefit dollars first, then applies ordinary rates after the deductions you supply. Qualified dividends, capital gains, special benefit worksheets and additional distribution taxes require separate preparation.

Pension and Social Security questions by state

• Pension categories and state exclusions
• State Social Security exemptions and conditional relief

Sources reviewed October 9, 2026. Calculation scope · Official sources and tax years. Tax estimates are scoped worksheets, not complete tax-return preparation.

Updated / verified 2026-10-09 · Retirement Income Tax Calculator Editorial Team