Does Florida tax Social Security and retirement income?
By Nicolas Straut
Key takeaways
- Florida has no personal income tax, so Social Security, pensions and IRA withdrawals are taxed only by the IRS.1
- A homestead exemption takes up to $50,000 off your home's assessed value, and only the first $25,000 counts against school taxes.
- The 6% state sales tax, plus a county surtax of up to 2.5%, is the state tax most retirees feel week to week.
In this article
Key takeaways
- Florida has no personal income tax, so Social Security, pensions and IRA withdrawals are taxed only by the IRS.1
- A homestead exemption takes up to $50,000 off your home's assessed value, and only the first $25,000 counts against school taxes.
- The 6% state sales tax, plus a county surtax of up to 2.5%, is the state tax most retirees feel week to week.
No, Florida doesn't tax Social Security or any other retirement income, because the state has no personal income tax and no individual return to file.
What a Florida retiree pays the state comes through the house and the checkout line instead. Budget for property tax, softened by the homestead exemption, and for sales tax that counties can raise.
Retirement income in Florida, by type
| Income | In Florida | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security | Not taxed | Florida does not tax Social Security, because Florida has no personal income tax.1 |
| Pensions | Not taxed | Pensions are untaxed too, and there is no state income tax return for individuals to file.1 |
| IRA and 401(k) withdrawals | Not taxed | IRA and 401(k) withdrawals, Roth conversions included, owe the state nothing.1 |
| Income tax rate | None | No personal income tax |
The Florida taxes a retiree does pay
Three state rules matter more to a Florida retiree than income tax ever will.
Homestead exemption
The first $25,000 of a homestead exemption applies to all property taxes, school taxes included. An additional exemption of up to $25,000 applies to assessed value over $50,000 for non-school taxes only. You apply to your county property appraiser by March 1.2
Sales tax
Florida charges a 6% state sales tax, and most counties add a discretionary surtax of 0.5% to 2.5%.3
No estate tax
Florida's estate tax ended for people who died after December 31, 2004, after a federal change.4
What changes at tax time after you move to Florida
Your federal return stays the same, because the IRS taxes pensions and IRA withdrawals identically in every state. The second return goes away.
Keep records of the date you moved and where you lived before. The state you left decides how it treats income you received while you still lived there.
What the sample couple stops paying when they move to Florida
These are the state income tax bills our married sample couple, both 67, would leave behind. In Florida the same income owes the state $0.
| State | State tax on the sample couple |
|---|---|
| Florida | $0 |
| New York | $154 |
| Massachusetts | $2,490 |
| California | $138 |
| Every state we cover | |
What to confirm with your county
- Your county's surtax rate and any local senior homestead exemption, which counties set.
Use the missing state tax in your withdrawal plan
With no state layer, the bracket you aim for is purely federal. That can make Florida a good place for Roth conversions, and the Tweed Retirement Withdrawal Plan shows how much to convert each year, while the free Tweed Retirement Calculator tests whether the savings last.
Florida never taxes the benefit itself, so when to file comes down to the size of the check, which the Tweed Social Security claiming plan works out by filing age.
This year is free
Plan withdrawals and conversions for a Florida retirement
Questions Florida retirees ask
Is Social Security taxed on my federal return if I live in Florida?
Yes, the IRS can tax up to 85% of your benefits once a married couple's provisional income passes $44,000. Florida's lack of an income tax removes only the state layer.
Does Florida tax a business I run in retirement?
It can. The Florida Department of Revenue says businesses do have filing requirements, so check them before you start consulting or open a company in retirement.
Sources
- https://floridarevenue.com/faq/Pages/FAQDetails.aspx?FAQID=1466
- https://www.floridarevenue.com/property/documents/pt113.pdf
- https://www.floridarevenue.com/Forms_library/current/gt800013.pdf
- https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/estate_tax.aspx
This page covers Florida state income tax on retirement income for full-year residents in 2026. The households are illustrations, not your return.
Tweed provides educational information, not tax or financial advice. Nicolas Straut is a personal finance writer, not a financial advisor or tax preparer.
Personal finance writer, former Forbes contributor and This Week in Fintech writer. He isn't a financial advisor or a CPA.
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