topic Pension income in New York and "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2" selection in TurboTax, $20.000 NY limit in Retirement tax questions

Pension income in New York and "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2" selection in TurboTax, $20.000 NY limit

ChelleSt — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:45:59 GMT

I'm 62, live in New York, retired, and receive a monthly pension from my former employer, which is just an everyday company - non goverment, etc. After reading everything I can find, I'm still confused as to whether or not I have to pay New York State taxes on my pension under $20,000. There is conflicting information on both the NY tax law site, and what I read in some posts. If I select the button on my federal return for "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2", the taxes are taken out for NY. But on everything I'm reading on the NY state tax site, in the FAQ section it does state that if I'm 59 1/2 or older, I don't have to pay taxes for anything under $20.000. Which is it? Do I select the not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2 button in TurboTax so it is taken out or do I select the "none of the above" button so it is not taken out. Again, my pension id from a non-Govt, non-NYS, non-United States, etc employer. It's just a pension payment I receive (non 401k, IRA, Roth, etc) from the financial Bank I work at for 30 years when they still had a Pension Benefit. Please let me know so this can be answered not only for myself but others that have posted this question. The answer never seems to be clear.

Re: Pension income in New York and "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2" selecti...

LenaH — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 18:12:57 GMT

Please select None of the above on the page Where is your distribution from?

Per NYS, taxpayers over age 59 1/2 can deduct up to $20,000 of certain pensions and certain IRAs on their New York return. If married filing jointly, each spouse may deduct up to $20,000, which would total the $40,000 you see on your return.

The individual receiving the pension must be 59½ years of age or over. In addition, the pension and annuity income must be:

included in federal adjusted gross income (FAGI);
received in periodic payments (except IRA or Keogh);
attributable to personal services performed by the individual before their retirement; and
from an employer-employee relationship or from an employee’s tax-deductible contributions to a retirement plan.

For more information, please see Common questions and answers about pension subtraction adjustments.

Re: Pension income in New York and "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2" selecti...

BKMMC5 — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 22:14:05 GMT

As a 60 yo beneficiary of my deceased fathers IRA should I also check none of the above?

Re: Pension income in New York and "not eligible for exclusion for those over age 59 1/2" selecti...

FangxiaL — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 22:28:14 GMT

You should check non of the above. Be aware that you can only exclude your share of the $20,000 if you have other beneficiaries sharing the pension of your deceased father. For example, if your share is 50%, you can only exclude $10,000.

@BKMMC5