How Colorado taxes retirement income in 2026 — Social Security, pensions and IRA distributions — starting from the federal worksheet that decides how much of a benefit is taxable at all, then the state's own subtractions, cliffs and credits, on your figures.
Working income instead? The Colorado paycheck calculator covers wages.
Social Security in Colorado: Taxed with relief. The federal worksheet runs first — the state only ever sees the federally taxable portion, and most states then exempt it anyway.
From the gross benefit to the state tax, step by step: the federal worksheet, the state's inclusion, the pension subtraction, then the brackets.
| Social Security benefit | $24,000 |
| Federally taxable portion (Pub. 915) | $19,800 |
| Taxed by Colorado | $0 |
| Pension / IRA income | $30,000 |
| Colorado pension subtraction | −$24,000 |
| Other income | $10,000 |
| Total Colorado tax | $0 |
| of which: the tax on Social Security | $0 |
The default case: $24,000 of Social Security, $30,000 of pension/IRA income, $10,000 of other income, single and 65+. Provisional income is $52,000, so $19,800 of the benefit is federally taxable. Colorado then taxes $0 of that portion, subtracts $24,000 of pension income, and the total Colorado tax lands at $0.
Now move the age band to 55–64, or push the other income up: the subtractions and thresholds on this page switch exactly where the state’s rules put them, which is where retirement-tax surprises live.
The state's Social Security rule, its pension treatment, and the federal worksheet both stand on.
Age 65+: 100% of federally taxable Social Security is subtracted, no cap and no income test. Ages 55-64: full subtraction only if AGI is $75,000 or less (single) / $95,000 or less (joint); above those limits Social Security is sheltered only within the $20,000 pension/annuity subtraction cap.
Source: Colorado Department of Revenue.
Pension/annuity subtraction (including IRA and 401(k) distributions): $20,000 for ages 55-64; $24,000 at age 65+.
Source: Colorado Department of Revenue.
Before any state touches your benefits, the IRS decides how much of them is taxable at all: provisional income (your other income plus half the benefit) is tested against $25,000/$34,000 single or $32,000/$44,000 joint, and 0%, up to 50%, or up to 85% of the benefit enters federal AGI. Every figure on this page starts from that worksheet — the calculator runs it for you — and the states that tax Social Security then apply their own subtraction, credit or cliff to the federally taxable portion.
Source: IRS Publication 915 — Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.
Partly. Age 65+: 100% of federally taxable Social Security is subtracted, no cap and no income test. On the default case below, $0 of the state tax falls on the Social Security portion.
On $24,000 of Social Security, $30,000 of pension/IRA income and $10,000 of other income (single, 65+), the federally taxable part of the benefit is $19,800. Colorado taxes $0 of it, subtracts $24,000 of pension income, and the total state tax is $0. Change any input and the whole chain recomputes.
It depends on provisional income — other income plus half the benefit. Under $25,000 single / $32,000 joint, none of it is taxable; in the middle band, up to 50%; above $34,000 / $44,000, up to 85%. No more than 85% of a benefit is ever taxable federally. The calculator runs the IRS Publication 915 worksheet on your figures.
Pension/annuity subtraction (including IRA and 401(k) distributions): $20,000 for ages 55-64; $24,000 at age 65+. The calculator applies the subtraction where it is a clean dollar cap and describes the source-specific exemptions (government, military and railroad pensions in several states) rather than guessing your pension’s source.
In several states, yes: subtractions switch on at 55, 60, 62, 65 or full retirement age depending on the state and the provision — Colorado’s pool starts at 55, Georgia’s big exclusion at 65, Iowa’s full exclusion at 55. The age switch on this calculator applies each state’s age tests at band level; exact birthdays matter at the edges, which the page flags.
Colorado retirement income tax calculator for 2026: on $24,000 of Social Security, $30,000 of pension/IRA income and $10,000 other income at 65+, the Colorado tax is $0 — Social Security is taxed with relief in Colorado. Enter your own retirement income.
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How Colorado taxes retirement income in 2026: Social Security (taxed with relief), pension and IRA subtractions, and the federal worksheet underneath — applied to your benefits, your pension and your age.
On the default case — $24,000 of benefits, $30,000 of pension income, $10,000 other income at 65+ — Colorado takes $0, of which $0 falls on the Social Security portion.
The computation order matters and is the order the states use: federal taxable benefits first (Publication 915), then the state’s own inclusion and subtraction rules, then the state brackets through the same verified engine as the paycheck calculators.
Partly — Colorado taxes the federally taxable portion with a subtraction, credit or income test on top.
Because state retirement relief is age-gated: subtractions switch on at 55, 60, 62, 65 or full retirement age. The age band applies each state’s test at band level.
Everything else in AGI — wages, interest, dividends, business income, and capital gains (which stack into the same state base; the capital gains pages price that layer separately).
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