8 States Still Tax Social Security in 2026 — and the Exemptions That Erase It for Most Retirees

At a glance: For tax year 2026, only 8 states tax Social Security benefits at all — Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, and Vermont — verified state by state against each state's own tax department on October 25, 2026. Every one of the 8 starts from the same number: the federally taxable amount on line 6b of your federal return. And every one of the 8 carries an eraser — an age rule, an income line, a subtraction, or a credit — that reduces the tax to $0 for most retirees who live there. The other 42 states either have no broad income tax or exempt benefits entirely. If a website tells you 9, 12, or 13 states tax your benefits, it is working from a stale list.

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Search "states that tax Social Security" and you will find pages that disagree with each other by five states. Some are copies of copies, written before Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota repealed their taxes and never updated. The count matters, because the fear is real money: a retiree in Minnesota or Vermont who assumes the worst may over-withhold all year, and a retiree in Colorado who assumes the best may miss the subtraction that would have erased the tax entirely. So we did this the slow way — opened each state's own tax-department pages, read the actual subtraction worksheets and credit formulas, and printed only what a state source says about itself. Here is the verified 2026 map, how each of the 8 taxes work, and the exemptions that quietly zero it out.

Which states tax Social Security in 2026? The verified list

Eight states, and only eight, put any state tax on Social Security benefits in 2026. The shared spine first: all 8 key off your federally taxable Social Security — the amount on Form 1040, line 6b. If none of your benefits are taxable federally, none of the 8 can touch them either. What differs is what each state lets you subtract, exempt, or credit away after that starting point.

State	How it taxes	The eraser, in one line
Colorado	Subtraction from the federally taxable amount	Age 65+: subtract all of it, at any income
Connecticut	Taxable unless exempt; worksheet above the line	Fully exempt under $75,000 single / $100,000 joint federal AGI
Minnesota	Subtraction, two methods, take the greater	Full subtraction under $110,780 joint / $86,410 single AGI (2026)
Montana	Federally taxable amount flows into state income	Only a general $5,660 subtraction per taxpayer 65+ — the weakest eraser
New Mexico	Taxable unless exempt	Exempt under $100,000 single / $150,000 joint income
Rhode Island	Modification for filers at full retirement age	Subtract it all under $107,000 single / $133,750 joint federal AGI (2025 lines)
Utah	No subtraction — a credit instead	Credit of 4.5% of taxable benefits, phasing down past $90,000 joint MAGI
Vermont	Exemption, full then partial	Full under $55,000 single / $70,000 joint AGI; partial through $65,000 / $80,000

Two honest qualifications belong right next to the table. First, "taxes Social Security" describes the law on the books, not what a typical retiree pays: in Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, and Rhode Island, the exemption is wide enough that most resident retirees owe $0 on their benefits. Second, three of these states — Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Vermont — adjust their income lines over time, so the dollar lines below are the current published figures, each dated in our sources list; check your state's page when you file.

State by state: how each of the 8 taxes work

Colorado — the age eraser

Colorado taxes the federally taxable amount, then hands you a subtraction on Schedule DR 104AD. If you are 65 or older at the end of the tax year, you may subtract the entire amount of federally taxable Social Security — no income limit. Ages 55 to 64, the subtraction is also unlimited if your AGI is $75,000 or less filing single, $95,000 or less filing jointly; above those lines, your Social Security subtraction shares the general $20,000 pension-and-annuity cap for that age band. Under 55, there is no subtraction (death benefits aside). Colorado is a "still taxes" state mainly on paper for the 55-to-64 band above the lines.

Connecticut — exempt below the line, worksheet above it

Connecticut exempts Social Security completely if your federal AGI is less than $75,000 (single or married filing separately) or less than $100,000 (married filing jointly, qualifying surviving spouse, or head of household) — claim the full federally taxable amount as a subtraction modification on the CT-1040. Above the line, you do not lose everything: the Schedule 1 Social Security Benefit Adjustment Worksheet computes the taxable slice, and the Department of Revenue Services' own worksheet math caps that slice at 25% of your federally taxable benefits. DRS also offers an online Social Security Benefit Calculator that runs the same worksheet.

Minnesota — the two-method subtraction

Minnesota lets you subtract benefits on Schedule M1M, using whichever of two methods gives you more. The simplified method subtracts your federally taxable benefits in full if your AGI is at or below $110,780 (married joint or surviving spouse), $86,410 (single or head of household), or $55,390 (married filing separately) for 2026; above the line, the subtraction shrinks by 10% for each $4,000 of AGI over it ($2,000 steps if married filing separately). The alternative method subtracts up to $5,840 joint or $4,560 single, reduced by 20% of provisional income over $88,630 / $69,250 — it wins for some higher-income filers with small benefits. Minnesota's rates run 5.35% to 9.85%, so whatever survives the subtraction is taxed at your bracket.

Montana — the honest exception

Montana has no Social Security exemption at all. Its return starts from your federal taxable income, so the federally taxable share of your benefits is taxed like any other income — 4.7% up to $95,000 of joint taxable income in 2026, 5.65% above. The only relief that touches most retirees is a general subtraction of $5,660 for each taxpayer age 65 or older (2026 Publication 1) — worth $11,320 of sheltered income to a couple both over 65, but it applies against all income, not benefits specifically. Montana is the one state on this list where a typical retiree genuinely pays tax on benefits, and it is priced in the examples below.

New Mexico — the high, hard line

Since tax year 2022, New Mexico exempts Social Security for filers with income under $100,000 (single), under $150,000 (married filing jointly, surviving spouses, and heads of household), or under $75,000 (married filing separately). The department's exemption page describes no phase-out: stay under your line and the tax is $0; cross it and the federally taxable amount stays in your New Mexico income. A cliff, not a slope — which makes year-end income planning unusually powerful for New Mexico retirees near the line.

Rhode Island — full retirement age plus an income line

Rhode Island's modification (R.I. Gen. Laws §44-30-12(c)(8), claimed on Schedule M, line 1s) subtracts your taxable Social Security if both tests pass: you have reached full retirement age, and your federal AGI is under the year's line — for tax year 2025, $107,000 if unmarried, head of household, or married filing separately, and $133,750 married filing jointly. The amounts are inflation-adjusted every year; the Division of Taxation computes yours on the Social Security Modification worksheet in the RI-1040 booklet. File before full retirement age, or over the line, and the modification is gone.

Utah — a credit, not a subtraction

Utah never removes benefits from income; instead it refunds the tax through the Social Security Benefits Credit (code AH on Form TC-40A). The commission's own worksheet: take your federally taxable benefits (Form 1040, line 6b), multiply by 4.5%, then subtract 2.5% of your modified AGI over $54,000 single, $90,000 married joint / surviving spouse / head of household, or $45,000 married filing separately. The credit is nonrefundable and cannot be claimed if you or your spouse claims the Retirement Credit instead — run both worksheets; the credit is usually the larger of the two for benefit-heavy households.

Vermont — full, then partial, then none

Vermont exempts federally taxable benefits through Schedule IN-112, on the Department of Taxes' published table: full exemption at AGI up to $55,000 (single, separate, surviving spouse, head of household) or $70,000 (married or civil-union joint); a partial exemption through $64,999 / $79,999, computed as (top of the range minus your AGI) divided by $10,000, times your taxable benefits; and no exemption at $65,000 / $80,000 or more. One caution we flag rather than hide: the department's table is its currently published one (labelled for tax year 2025), and a 2026-labelled update had not been posted when we checked on October 25, 2026 — confirm the lines on tax.vermont.gov when you file.

Get the free one-page State-by-State SS Tax Card (2026) — this table, the exemption lines, and the exact schedule each state makes you file, on one printable page. Get the free card (PDF) or have it sent to your inbox.

The erasers, priced: what the tax actually costs

(Labelled hypotheticals — round figures, one state rule at a time, machine-checked against each state's own worksheet or table. They isolate the Social Security line; your real return stacks everything else on top.)

Connecticut — the line is worth $0 versus a capped slice. A couple with federal AGI of $99,500 and $28,000 of federally taxable benefits subtracts all $28,000: Connecticut tax on their benefits is $0. The same couple at $100,000 or more loses the full exemption and files the Schedule 1 worksheet — which can leave at most 25% of the $28,000, or $7,000, in Connecticut income. Crossing the line is annoying, not catastrophic — but it is entirely avoidable in a year when one spouse can defer a withdrawal.

Minnesota — $4,000 over the line costs $204. A couple with Minnesota AGI of $110,780 or less subtracts their whole $30,000 of federally taxable benefits: $0 of state tax on benefits. At AGI of $114,780 — exactly $4,000 over the 2026 line — the simplified subtraction drops by 10%, so $27,000 is subtracted and $3,000 stays taxable. At the 6.80% marginal bracket that covers most joint filers, that slice costs $204. Each further $4,000 of AGI removes another 10% of the subtraction — the slope is gentle, and it is priced before you cross it.

Utah — the credit shrinks on a formula, not a cliff. A couple with $24,000 of federally taxable benefits and modified AGI of exactly $90,000 claims a credit of $24,000 × 4.5% = $1,080, with no phase-down. At $110,000 of modified AGI, the worksheet subtracts 2.5% of the $20,000 excess — $500 — leaving a credit of $580. Utah's tax on the benefits themselves is not erased at higher incomes, but the credit's decline is gradual and exactly computable from the TC-40A worksheet.

Colorado — one birthday erases it. A 62-year-old with $34,000 of federally taxable benefits and AGI of $80,000 — over the $75,000 single line for the unlimited subtraction — subtracts $20,000 under the age-band cap and pays Colorado tax on the remaining $14,000. The same filer at 66 subtracts all $34,000 and owes $0 of Colorado tax on benefits, at any income. No other state on this list makes a single birthday worth the whole tax.

Vermont — the department's own arithmetic. Vermont's tax department publishes its own examples, and they are the cleanest illustration of a phase-out: a single filer with AGI of $60,000 and $20,000 of taxable benefits exempts half — $10,000 — because ($65,000 − $60,000) ÷ $10,000 = 50%. A joint filer at $72,000 of AGI exempts 80%, or $16,000 of the same $20,000. Under $55,000 / $70,000 the answer is simpler: all of it, $0 of Vermont tax on benefits.

Montana — the exception, priced honestly. A couple, both 66, with $30,000 of federally taxable benefits gets no benefit-specific relief. Their two age-65 subtractions shelter $11,320 of some income — worth $532.04 at the 4.7% joint bracket if their taxable income sits in that band — and the rest of the $30,000 is taxed as ordinary Montana income. This is the real cost the "8 states" headline points at, and Montana is the only state where it lands on a typical couple at full weight.

Why older lists say 9, 12, or 13 states

The count has been falling for five straight years, and the stale pages never got the memo. North Dakota exempted benefits in 2021 (Senate Bill 2351) — its Tax Commissioner still has you deduct the taxable amount on Form ND-1, with no income limit. Kansas removed benefits from its tax base for tax years after December 31, 2023 — the Kansas Department of Revenue's own FAQ now states that benefits included in federal AGI "are not subject to Kansas income tax." Nebraska finished its phase-in next: its exclusion reached 100% for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025. Each repeal stranded thousands of copied listicles still counting the state.

One more name is mid-exit, and we flag it rather than assert it: West Virginia is widely reported to complete a three-step phase-out — 35% exempt in 2024, 65% in 2025, 100% for tax year 2026. We could not open a West Virginia Tax Division page to confirm that schedule first-hand before publishing, so treat West Virginia as reported, not verified by us: if you file there, confirm at wvtax.gov. If the reports are right, the 2027 version of this list has 8 names only because West Virginia's exit lands in the same year this table was drawn — and no further repeal already enacted for a future year was verified in any of the remaining 8 states' sources. Vermont's full-exemption bill, for the record, was a proposal that died in committee — not law, and not counted here.

Should you move states over this tax?

Almost never on this tax alone. Run the real size of it: outside Montana, the erasers above reduce the typical bill to $0 or a few hundred dollars a year, and even Montana's full-weight version is a few percent of the taxable share of one income source — set against moving costs, a new home's property-tax and insurance picture, and leaving the people and doctors you know. The readers who genuinely gain from a move are those already relocating for family or housing, where the state line is a tiebreaker, not the reason. The money most retirees actually leave on the table is not geographic — it is the exemption or subtraction they were owed in the state they already live in and never claimed.

The forms readers forget

Every eraser on this page is claimed, not automatic — the state will not compute it for you. The miss is almost always the same: the subtraction or credit never gets entered on the schedule that carries it.

• Colorado: the subtraction goes on Schedule DR 104AD.
• Connecticut: the full exemption is a subtraction modification on the CT-1040; above the line, complete the Schedule 1 Social Security Benefit Adjustment Worksheet.
• Minnesota: claim the subtraction on Schedule M1M — and run both methods; the form does not choose for you.
• Montana: the age-65 subtraction is entered on Form 2 itself; there is no benefits-specific form to forget, because there is no benefits-specific relief.
• New Mexico: the exemption applies on the state return if your income is under the line — keep the department's exemption page with your records in case of a notice.
• Rhode Island: the modification is Schedule M, line 1s, computed on the Social Security Modification worksheet — and enter both dates of birth where the form asks; the full-retirement-age test is checked there.
• Utah: the credit is computed on the TC-40A worksheet and entered in Part 3 with code AH; skip the worksheet and the credit simply never appears.
• Vermont: claim the exemption on Schedule IN-112, filed with Form IN-111 — and note you may claim only one of Vermont's retirement exemptions, not stack them.

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Keep the map on paper: the free State-by-State SS Tax Card (2026) prints this article's verified table, every exemption line, and the schedule checklist above on one page for your tax folder — and it lives in our free Worksheets page library. Get the free card (PDF) or have it emailed to you.

Frequently asked questions

Does my state tax Social Security benefits?

For 2026, only if you live in Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Utah, or Vermont — and in most of those, an exemption, subtraction, or credit zeroes the tax at typical retiree incomes. Everywhere else, benefits are exempt or there is no broad state income tax. This list was verified state by state against state tax-department sources on October 25, 2026.

My state is on the list. How do I know if I actually owe anything?

Start with line 6b of your federal return — the federally taxable amount. If it is $0, you owe nothing anywhere. If it is more than $0, apply your state's eraser from the table above: your age (Colorado), your federal AGI against the line (Connecticut, New Mexico, Rhode Island), the subtraction worksheet (Minnesota, Vermont), or the credit worksheet (Utah). Montana has no benefits-specific eraser.

Why does the federal amount matter so much?

Because all 8 states start there. The federal formula — provisional income against thresholds of $25,000 / $32,000 and $34,000 / $44,000, taxing up to 85% of benefits — decides the maximum any state can reach. How that federal machine works, including the "tax torpedo" zone where extra income is taxed at up to 1.85 times your bracket, is our companion guide: The Social Security Tax Torpedo.

I moved between two of these states mid-year. What then?

Most states tax you as a resident for the part of the year you lived there and offer part-year returns for exactly this case; the exemption lines and schedules above then apply to the resident period. Because part-year mechanics differ by state and by move date, this is the one situation in this article where we will not generalize — check both states' part-year instructions, or have a preparer run the split year once.

Will any of these 8 repeal the tax soon?

None of the 8 has an enacted, scheduled repeal we could verify in state sources as of October 25, 2026. Vermont debated a phased full exemption in 2025 and the bill died in committee; Rhode Island bills to widen its modification met the same fate. West Virginia's reported phase-out completes with tax year 2026 (see the flag in the trend section above). We refresh this table every tax season — the dated card below is the current edition.

Do these states also tax my pension or IRA withdrawals?

Usually yes — state taxation of pensions and IRA distributions is a separate, broader question, and several states on this list (Colorado with its capped pension subtraction, Connecticut with its own pension rules) treat that income differently from benefits. This article covers Social Security only; do not assume your state's benefits rule describes your IRA.

Sources & official figures

• Colorado Department of Revenue — Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions and Annuities and Information on Senior Tax Credits: the age-65 full subtraction, the 55–64 AGI lines ($75,000 single / $95,000 joint) and $20,000 cap, Schedule DR 104AD: https://tax.colorado.gov/information-on-senior-tax-credits — and Colorado Revised Statutes §39-22-104(4)(f), the subtraction statute: https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-39/specific-taxes/income-tax/article-22/part-1/section-39-22-104/
• Connecticut Department of Revenue Services — Connecticut Tax Tips for Senior Citizens: full exemption under $75,000 / $100,000 federal AGI, the Schedule 1 Social Security Benefit Adjustment Worksheet and DRS calculator: https://portal.ct.gov/drs/individuals/connecticut-tax-tips-for-senior-citizens — and Form CT-1040ES, the DRS worksheet showing the 25% factor applied above the lines.
• Minnesota Department of Revenue — Inflation Adjusted Amounts for 2026 (Tax Research Division, December 1, 2025): §290.0132 subd. 26 simplified thresholds $110,780 / $86,410 / $55,390 and alternative maximums $5,840 / $4,560: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2025-12/inflation-adjusted-amounts-2026.pdf — and the department's Social Security Benefit Subtraction page (the 10%-per-$4,000 phase-down, Schedule M1M).
• Montana Department of Revenue — 2026 Publication 1: the $5,660 subtraction for taxpayers 65 and older (p. 9) and the 2026 tax tables (4.7% to $95,000 joint; 5.65% above, p. 16): https://revenuefiles.mt.gov/files/Forms/Publication-1/Publication-1-2026.pdf
• New Mexico Taxation and Revenue Department — Social Security Income Tax Exemption: exemption from tax year 2022 under $100,000 single / $150,000 joint, surviving spouse and head of household / $75,000 married filing separately (tax.newmexico.gov).
• Rhode Island Division of Taxation — 2025 RI-1040 Resident Instructions: line 1s, the §44-30-12(c)(8) modification for taxpayers who have reached full retirement age, computed on the Social Security Modification worksheet (p. 18 of the RI-1040 booklet): https://tax.ri.gov/sites/g/files/xkgbur541/files/2025-11/2025 1040R Instructions_d.pdf — 2025 AGI lines of $107,000 / $133,750 per the Rhode Island Senate Finance Committee's analysis of the Division's figures.
• Utah State Tax Commission — TC-40A Supplemental Schedule Instructions, "(AH) Social Security Benefits Credit": the worksheet (line 6b amount × 0.045, minus 0.025 × modified AGI over $54,000 / $90,000 / $45,000), code AH, and the bar on claiming it with the Retirement Credit: https://incometax.utah.gov/tc-40a/
• Vermont Department of Taxes — Social Security Exemption: the full/partial table ($55,000 / $70,000 full; phase-out through $65,000 / $80,000), the partial-exemption formula, both worked examples quoted above, and Schedule IN-112: http://tax.vermont.gov/individuals/income-tax-returns/social-security-exemption
• Repeals — North Dakota Office of the Governor (Senate Bill 2351, 2021) and the ND Tax Commissioner's individual income tax newsletter (Form ND-1 deduction); Kansas Department of Revenue FAQ (benefits not subject to Kansas tax for tax years after December 31, 2023); Nebraska Department of Revenue legislative-changes pages (exclusion at 100% for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025).

Last updated: October 25, 2026 — every state's line checked against that state's own tax-department source on October 25, 2026, as itemized in this package's fact-check file.

Disclaimer: The Retirement Desk publishes education, not financial, tax, or legal advice. State lines and thresholds are the figures published by each state for the tax years noted and can change by legislation or inflation adjustment; the worked examples are labelled hypotheticals with round figures isolating one rule at a time. Confirm your own state's current figures on its tax-department site, or with a qualified tax professional, before filing.

Filed under: Retirement Taxes · Social Security — The Retirement Desk, the situation-first retirement money desk for Americans 60–75.