Georgia doesn't tax teacher retirement income. Why are they keeping part of what I paid in?

[ToddL]

While GA does have a general retirement exclusion, they do not have a separate exclusion for teacher's retirement income

From the GA 2016 IT-511 Individual Income Tax Booklet:

1. Retirement income. For tax year 2016, the maximum retirement income exclusion is $35,000 for taxpayers who are:

1. (A)  62 - 64 years of age, or

2. (B)  less than 62 and permanently disabled to such an

extent that they are unable to perform any type of gainful employment.

The retirement exclusion is $65,000 if the taxpayer is 65 or older.

There is one special case for teacher's retirement  income: For teachers retired from the Teacher’s Retirement System of Georgia, you can subtract contributions paid between July 1, 1987 and December 31, 1989 that were reported to and taxed by Georgia.