Retirement income taxes are complex. Usually, Americans think of just Social Security when they evaluate their earnings once they stop working, but most people have 401(k), individual retirement account (IRA), or pension income that they also have to take into account.
And most of these other forms of payments come with taxes attached, depending on where you live. In the United States not every state taxes retirement income at the same rate, or, in some cases, even at all. It is important to know which states are more tax advantageous to move to, sometimes even before you retire, to be able to make ends meet. Having said that, you will always have to pay some type of tax, be it sales taxes (the exceptions are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon), or property tax if you own a home.
But if you are just looking to preserve the amount of money that you receive every month as intact as possible, here are a few options.
States that don’t have an income tax
Not just applicable to retirement income, those who live in Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington or Wyoming will not have to pay any tax on income.
Having said that, there are some peculiarities you will have to take into account if you live in these states. New Hampshire may not have an income tax, but it does levy taxes on dividends and interest. These taxes are not applicable on dividend and interest income within an IRA or 401(k), but if you have other investments you will need to look into your earnings. There are still some good news, New Hampshire will phase out these taxes after 2024, so from April on that will not be a worry.
Another example is the state of Washington, which taxes capital gains and is expected to continue to do so, as voters in the state rejected an initiative to eliminate the taxes.
States that tax income but not retirement income
In addition to the nine states that don’t tax any income, there are four more that do not tax retirement income, including money received from Social Security, 401(k) plans, IRAs, or pensions, which are Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi, Pennsylvania. Regular income is still taxed in these.
There are some quirks to take into account, for example, in Mississippi and Pennsylvania early distributions aren’t viewed as retirement income and could be subject to taxes
Alabama taxes retirement income from 401(k) plans and IRAs but not Social Security retirement benefits or pension income from a defined benefit retirement plan, giving reprieve to those that depend on government funds of pensions to live on.
Hawaii’s peculiarity is that it will not tax any retirement distributions from private or public pension plans as long as retirees don’t contribute to the plans, also meaning that retirement plans with employee contributions are taxable only on the portion of increased value in the plan resulting from the employee contributions.
States where Social Security isn’t taxed
The good news for most Americans is that most states do not tax Social Security benefits, although the rest of your retirement income may be at risk. The rest of the states that do not tax these benefits are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin, in addition to the previous 13 states.
These states have individual policies that mean that the rest of your retirement income is still taxed, so before you decide where you want to live, do check what other policies a state has that could negatively impact your plans.
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