topic Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in the box for "Allowable US Armed Forces retirement benefit deduction"? in Retirement tax questions

Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in the box for "Allowable US Armed Forces retirement benefit deduction"?

emily-m-mcginty- — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:30:10 GMT

Re: Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in ...

DawnC — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 02:33:52 GMT

Can you clarify what state you are filing a tax return for? And what does the screen say up top where you see this box?

Re: Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in ...

emily-m-mcginty- — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 02:37:25 GMT

I am filing for NC and the title says, "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces". It doesn't tell you what to put in the box, words, numbers? I just put my total income for my retirement pay for the year. NC doesn't tax military retirement income so that's what I put in the box.

Re: Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in ...

BillM223 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:36:27 GMT

Only some military pension income is exempt from NC state income tax. Please see the instructions for lines 19 and 20 in the NC Instruction Book on pages 18 and 19.

What this box is asking for is the amount of your military pension that is exempt from state tax. So please review the instructions and determine how much of your pension is exempt (anywhere from 0 to the full amount).

And did you see the link for "Do I qualify for this deduction?" On many TurboTax screens when you have requests like this, you can click on this link to find out what information is desired. For example, on this screen, you would see:

"Do I qualify for this deduction?

Beginning in 2021, the following retirement payments received from the United States government that are included in federal income are allowed a deduction on your North Carolina tax return:
* Military retirement payments received by a retired member who served at least 20 years in the military or who was medically retired from the military.
* Payments from the Survivor Benefit Plan to a beneficiary of a retired member who served at least 20 years in the military or who was medically retired from the military.

Note: The deduction does not apply to:
* Severance payments received by a member of the Armed Forces who was separated from the military.
* Military retirement payments already deducted as a Bailey retirement deduction."

@emily-m-mcginty-

Re: Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in ...

emily-m-mcginty- — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:38:37 GMT

Ok, good I did it correctly by putting in the full amount of my pension that I earned for 2021. Thank you!

Re: Under "Retirement Benefits Received by a Member of the U.S. Armed Forces" what do you put in ...

BillM223 — Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:53:01 GMT

Great! I am sure you earned that tax deduction!