Retirement tax questions

If you received railroad retirement benefits, you won’t pay state income taxes. Kansas exempts retirement plans administered by the US Railroad Retirement Board, including railroad retirement benefits, dual vested benefits, and supplemental annuities. You will still pay federal income taxes on ‌your railroad retirement benefits.

KPERS retirement benefits are subject to Federal Income Tax, but exempt from Kansas Income Tax, as well.

When preparing your Kansas state return you should have a screen something like this one:

TurboTax Kansas uses the following pension code:

K - Federal retirement benefits, Kansas pension plans, or Railroad Retirement benefits

You can deduct federal civil service, Railroad Retirement Board and military retirement or disability benefits from your Kansas taxable income.

Kansas Public Employee's Retirement System (KPERS) retirement benefits aren't taxable in Kansas. Kansas pension plans include:

• Kansas Public Employees' Retirement Annuities
• Kansas Police and Firemen's Retirement System Pensions
• Kansas Teachers' Retirement Annuities
• Justices and Judges Retirement System
• Board of Public Utilities
• Retirement annuity contracts for employees of the State Board of Regents or educational institutions under its management
• Kansas first class cities pension benefits (not covered by KPERS)

You should see a screen like this that asks where your distribution was from.  You need to select that it was from of the retirement providers below.

Which type of Form 1099 did you receive?

You should enter your Form 1099 as it is shown, under the Retirement Plans and Social Security section of TurboTax when going through your federal return..  The information should properly flow through to your Kansas state return.

Form RRB-1099 reports payments from the Railroad Retirement Board. There are two types, one with a green Copy C and one with a blue Copy C.

• Copy C of your RRB-1099 should be blue.
• If it's green, you have Form RRB-1099-R. It's entered in a different place.

To enter your RRB-1099:

1. Sign in to your TurboTax account and open or continue your return.
2. Search for rrb-1099 and select the Jump to link in the search results.
3. On the Did you receive Social Security or Railroad Retirement benefits in 2023 screen, answer Yes.
4. On the Tell us about the benefits you received screen, select Railroad Retirement benefits (Form RRB-1099) and fill in the boxes that appear.

Where do I enter Form RRB-1099-R (the green copy)?

Form RRB-1099-R, reports Annuities or Pensions benefits. Copy C of your RRB-1099-R should be green. (If it’s blue, you have a Form RRB-1099 and it's entered in a different place).

To enter your RRB-1099-R:

1. Sign in to your TurboTax account and open or continue your return.
2. Search for rrb-1099-r (lower-case, with the dashes) and select the Jump to link in the search results.
3. On the Did you get a 1099-R in 2023? screen, select Yes.
   • If you land on the Your 1099-R Entries screen instead, click Add Another 1099-R and Continue.
4. Continue through the screens and choose how you'd like to import your info.
5. If you choose Type it in myself, select U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RBR 1099-R) on the Who gave you a 1099-R? screen.
6. Select Continue and follow the instructions to enter your RRB-1099-R info.

Click here for information on entering your Form RRB-1099 in TurboTax (the blue copy)..

Click here for entering your Form RRB-1099-R in TurboTax (the green copy)..

Click here for explanation of Forms RRB-1099 & RRB-1099-R.