41 states that do not tax Social Security benefits

You can increase your Social Security benefits in several ways: Work at least 35 years in jobs that qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. Wait until at least full retirement age to claim your benefits.

Once you are fully retired and receiving Social Security, your benefit amount will only increase with annual cost of living adjustments (COLAs). However, you can still increase the amount of money you can keep. How? Living in a state where you won’t have to pay taxes on your Social Security benefits.

Where they benefit from social security i am tax

You may have to pay state taxes in 2025 for Social Security benefits if you live in one of these nine states:

• COLORADO
• Connecticut
• Minnesota
• mountain
• New Mexico
• Rhode Island
• Utah
• Vermont
• West Virginia

The amount of income taxes on Social Security benefits varies by state. Colorado only taxes Social Security benefits for people under 65.

This list was longer in the past. Kansas recently eliminated state taxes on Social Security benefits. The list will also be shorter in the future. West Virginia is phasing out the state Social Security tax, with full elimination of the tax in 2026.

States that tax no income

Eight states tax no income at all, including Social Security benefits. These states are:

• Alaska
• Florida
• Nevada
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Washington
• Wyoming

Note that you may still have to pay sales, property and/or excise taxes in these states. States still have to raise money to finance operations in other ways because they don’t tax income.

Image source: Getty Images.

States with income taxes that do not tax Social Security

Another 33 states have income taxes but do not tax Social Security benefits. The list currently includes:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Delaware
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indian
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Tomorrow
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• new york
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• South Carolina
• virgin
• Wisconsin

Additionally, Washington, DC does not tax Social Security benefits, but does have an income tax.

Uncle Sam doesn’t care where you live

While 41 states plus Washington, DC don’t require you to pay state taxes on your Social Security benefits, you may have to pay federal taxes on your benefits regardless of where you live. However, you may not owe the IRS anything related to Social Security.

To determine whether you have to pay federal Social Security taxes, first calculate your combined income. This is the total of half of your Social Security benefits (including pension, disability and survivor benefits, but not Additional Security Income Payments), plus all other income from wages, pensions, capital gains, dividends and interest.

After you’ve calculated your combined income, use the table to determine whether you’ll owe federal taxes on your Social Security benefits and, if so, how much of your benefits might be taxable:

Data source: Social Security Administration. Table by author.

By the way, if you want to keep things simple, you can have all federal income taxes automatically withheld from your monthly Social Security benefits. You’ll just need to fill out Form W-4V (Application for Voluntary Withholding) and send it to your local Social Security office.