North Dakota Retirement Income Tax Calculator

Does North Dakota tax Social Security and retirement income in 2026?

North Dakota excludes taxable Social Security. Estimate 2026 resident tax with military / officer rules and 40% eligible capital gain / dividend relief.

North Dakota does not tax the Social Security amount included in federal adjusted gross income. Its current statute removes the included SSA benefit without an income ceiling. Federal Social Security rules still apply: increasing a taxable IRA withdrawal can increase federal benefit inclusion even when North Dakota subtracts that inclusion. Enter the actual taxable SSA portion, ordinarily federal Form 1040 line 6 b, instead of gross benefit deposits. If Social Security and Railroad Retirement Board Tier 1 benefits share that federal line, the current booklet requires a proportional split based on each gross benefit source. Report SSA and RRB in separate state lines and remove each dollar once.

The 2026 North Dakota worksheet begins with independently prepared federal TAXABLE income. Federal standard or itemized deductions and any actual approved federal senior or other deductions have already reduced that starting amount. Do not start with federal AGI and then apply the state zero band as if it were a standard deduction. Current state instructions also preserve a negative federal taxable computation before the federal return floors it at zero. This tool accepts that signed starting amount, adds approved state additions, then subtracts current state adjustments. A second automatic age deduction would duplicate relief already present in the federal computation.

Actual 2026 FormND-1 ES is filed inside the agency’s 2025 document folder and revised 12-2025. Its tax-year label and rates, rather than the folder name, control the estimate. The current full-year resident zero-rate ceilings are $49,575 single, $82,800 joint or qualifying surviving spouse, $41,400 married separate and $66,400 head of household. The next band is 1.95%; the highest band is 2.5%. Head-of-household’s actual $66,400 state boundary must not be replaced with a similarly named federal bracket. This page uses the printed rounded top-band bases and shows a cent estimate. Final 2026 return lookup tables and return-line rounding require their own verification.

North Dakota requires the same filing status as the federal return. Married separate calculations apply to the actual separate return, not half an assumed joint household. A qualifying surviving spouse uses the wide estimate schedule only after actual federal eligibility is approved. That status does not create a living spouse or a second peace-officer exclusion. The full-year resident model requires both joint filers to satisfy its residency condition. If either filer is nonresident or moved during the year, the estimate worksheet has separate source-income and income-ratio lines; applying the full resident result directly can be wrong.

Ordinary private pensions, IRA and 401(k) withdrawals generally remain in the federal taxable starting amount after contribution-basis recovery. Retirement age alone does not create a blanket North Dakota pension exclusion. Railroad protection follows actual Railroad Retirement Board benefits, including the included qualifying retirement, sickness or unemployment payment; it does not turn every pension from a private railroad employer into an RRB benefit. Amounts already exempt federally or already removed through another state subtraction cannot be deducted again. Retain payer statements and prepared taxable amounts instead of classifying every monthly deposit as retirement relief.

Current military guidance permits eligible retirement payments to retired Armed Forces, reserve and National Guard members and qualifying surviving spouses. The actual 2025 booklet and current military guideline also permit qualifying federal civil-service retirement from dual-status technician employment under Title 10 or 32. This current language differs from the older 2024 booklet’s technician restriction. An ordinary civilian FERS or CSRS annuity does not qualify merely because the retiree worked near a military installation. Approve actual employment, pension and survivor records; a broad uniformed-service label, unrelated beneficiary or later IRA payment cannot establish the deduction by itself.

Peace-officer relief belongs to the actual officer receiving a qualifying former-employer retirement benefit. The owner must have at least 20 cumulative licensed years or documented permanent disability that medically ended the officer’s duties. Qualifying licensed years may come from state, federal, tribal or other jurisdictions and need not be consecutive or entirely in North Dakota. Purchased pension-service credits do not satisfy the licensed-year threshold. Approved disability can qualify without 20 years. Each living joint spouse needs their own actual records and payment amount; one owner’s service history cannot qualify the other’s pension.

The officer guideline distinguishes employer-plan payments from later rollover withdrawals. A federally included direct employer-plan lump sum can qualify, and qualifying employer benefits covering mixed officer and other service are not automatically prorated. Subsequent payments after a rollover into an individual retirement plan do not receive this exclusion. Payments to a surviving spouse or other beneficiary do not receive the officer’s exclusion either. The current statute locates the provision at 57-38-30.3(2)(t); the agency PDF reformatted in March 2026 retains older content and a subsection (u) citation. Current compiled law controls that citation, while the detailed agency documentation rules remain useful.

For a first officer claim, preserve the relevant POST or other official licensing records, or employer / medical certification establishing the disability condition. The agency guideline explains that prior approved qualification documents need not be submitted anew every year, while the year’s 1099-R benefit statements still support the amount. More than one qualifying former-employer plan can contribute to an owner’s approved included amount. Keep all receipts distinct from military or other exclusions; the same pension payment cannot be removed under two separate labels.

Investment income can change a retirement estimate even though a pension itself stays taxable. The supported capital worksheet subtracts 40% of the smaller positive net long-term and net total capital gain. A short-term loss can reduce that smaller amount; net loss or no positive long-term gain produces no modeled 40% relief. Sale proceeds, IRA distributions and federal capital-gains tax are not gain-base inputs. Current statute also permits 40% of approved included qualified dividends taxed at a lower federal rate than ordinary income. Its separate alternative for dividends taxed as ordinary income requires the actual independent worksheet and is outside this automatic choice.

For the approved illustrative joint resident, federal taxable income is $180,000. Distinct included SSA $20,000, RRB $5,000, eligible military retirement $30,000 and the actual qualifying officer’s $15,000 reduce the base by $70,000. Supported net long-term gain $10,000 and net total gain $8,000 produce a $3,200 subtraction; approved qualified dividends $2,000 produce $800. Total state subtractions are $74,000, leaving $106,000 taxable. The actual 2026 joint estimate is 1.95% of $23,200 above $82,800, or $452.40 before credits. A separately approved $100 nonrefundable credit reduces that estimate to $352.40; it does not change taxable income.

Keep the 2026 estimate separate from a finished return and payment calculation. The state form explicitly directs continuing 2025 instructions for its adjustment and credit lines; it does not authorize using old 2025 numerical brackets. Approve contribution adjustments, federal conformity and basis, credit eligibility and order, special income, other dividend elections, nonresident allocation and farm averaging independently. Blank credits leave the before-credit estimate resolved and the after-credit amount unknown. Withholding and estimated payments settle liability rather than becoming an additional expense; a large nonrefundable credit cannot create a refund in this worksheet.

Prepare these North Dakota records

• Prepared 2026 federal TAXABLE computation, including negative pre-floor amount and actual deductions
• Distinct included SSA / RRB source split and no repeated benefit subtraction
• Actual current military / Title 10 or 32 technician / eligible survivor pension records
• Each actual officer’s former employer plan, cumulative licensed years or disability certification
• Net long-term / total gain, qualified dividend eligibility and no already-excluded investment income
• Actual federal filing status, both joint residency facts and independently approved additions / credits

Official North Dakota source. Actual 2026 ND-1 ES, Rev 12-2025, independently matched to developer finalPDF; form directs continuing 2025 adjustment / credit instructions. Current Century Code and agency military / officer guidance reviewed October 2, 2026.

Calculate the federal portion separately

Use the federal retirement-tax worksheet to prepare federally included benefits and ordinary income. Its federal deduction and rates do not replace the North Dakota rules above.

Compare North Dakota with nearby states

Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana border North Dakota. Run each one’s worksheet with the same household figures before deciding where a move would leave you.

• Minnesota retirement tax calculator
• South Dakota retirement tax calculator
• Montana retirement tax calculator