We did a little research on this for you. Although the (general)
Wisconsin Retirement system and the Wisconsin State Teacher Retirement
System today operate under the same umbrella pension organization,
historically speaking they are actually not the same thing. The state
of Wisconsin income tax code differentiates between the two different
kinds of pensions (for teachers and non-teachers), for purposes of a
state-level tax subtraction.
Presumably you ask this question
in relation to a particular TurboTax software question you wanted to
answer correctly, yes? If that assumption is wrong, then please give us
a call to speak with a live agent (link below) so that we can better
understand the nature of your issue. However, if this assumption is
accurate, then you should know that the Wisconsin state tax code allows a
state-only subtraction for income tax purposes, from certain Wisconsin
retirement pensions, if particular conditions are met.
A Wisconsin teacher's pension, and a few other pensions from the
City of Milwaukee, qualify for this tax subtraction (please see the
screen-capture image from TurboTax below). But, we should note that the
majority of Wisconsin pensions, including those retirees from the other
government agencies of Wisconsin (excepting teaches) don't qualify for
the subtraction. For federal tax purposes, all Wisconsin pensions are
treated just the same: fully taxable.
Thus, only if you have a Wisconsin teacher's pension (or
Milwaukee city pension) for working service credits earned before 1964,
or are the beneficiary of such a retiree, will this subtraction apply to
a Wisconsin taxpayer. In other words, it is a pretty narrow and
restrictive subtraction.
For further details and rules
(including examples) on this Wisconsin pension subtraction, please see
Pages 21 and 22 of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's Form I-111
instruction booklet here:
https://www.revenue.wi.gov/DORForms/2016-Form1_inst.pdf
Other than this single state-level income (1099-R) subtraction,
any minor differences between the Wisconsin Teacher's pension plan and
the general Wisconsin Retirement system do not impact anyone's federal
or state tax return.
If you have further
questions, if this answer does not address your particular issue, or if you just want to speak with a live tax
expert who can walk you through your TurboTax entries (including the ability to
screen-share with your computer), please feel free to contact us. We
would be happy to help you (and as a TurboTax Deluxe customer, the call is free to
you). Here is a link where you can create a support ticket and reach us:
https://support.turbotax.intuit.com/contact/
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