Rhode Island

Retirement income taxes in Rhode Island

Tax year 2026. Verified 2026-10-16.

Retirement income

Social Security

Conditional: Social Security benefits are not taxed for a person who has reached full retirement age and whose federal adjusted gross income is under an inflation-adjusted limit (set in law at $80,000 for a single person and $100,000 for a joint return in 2000 dollars; $107,000 and $133,750 for 2025; the 2026 amounts are published with the 2026 forms); above the limit the federally taxed amount is taxed. From tax year 2027 the age test is removed; the income limits stay.

Sources (14)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• 2026-H 7127 Sub A as amended, Art. 6, § 5, amending § 44-30-12(c)(8)(i) (printed Art. 6 page 35)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(8)(i)(A) (printed Art. 6 page 35)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(8)(i)(A), the income limit (printed Art. 6 page 35, the printed line number 29 inside the phrase)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(8)(i)(B), closing words (printed Art. 6 page 35)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(8)(iii) inflation adjustment (printed Art. 6 page 36)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(8)(iii)(A), the inflation base year (printed Art. 6 page 36)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5 heading (printed Art. 6 page 16)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 6 (effective clause; printed Art. 6 page 39)
• RI General Assembly press release, 6/12/2026, '2027 state budget bill enacted', first paragraph
• ADV 2025-22 (November 3, 2025), 'Social Security modification - income limits by Tax Year', the Single and Married filing jointly rows (2024 and 2025 columns)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, new § 44-30-12(c)(8)(ii) (printed Art. 6 page 36)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, new § 44-30-12(c)(8)(ii)(A) (printed Art. 6 page 36)
• RI General Assembly press release, 6/12/2026, section 'Relief for Rhode Islanders'

Government pensions and plans, in-state and federal

Partly taxed: Up to $50,000 a year of pension, annuity and employer-plan income is not taxed for a person who has reached full retirement age and whose federal adjusted gross income is under the same inflation-adjusted limit as for Social Security; the rest is taxed. One $50,000 cap covers all of a person's pension, annuity and employer-plan income together, and IRA withdrawals do not qualify. This state's own, other states' and federal pensions and plans (the Thrift Savings Plan and governmental 457(b) plans included) all take the same cap.

Sources (11)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9) heading
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i), the clause for tax years from January 1, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i)(A), income limit by reference to (c)(8)(i)(A)
• 2026-H 7127Aaa, Art. 6, § 5, § 44-30-12(c)(9)(vi) (printed Art. 6 page 38)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Income Placement on Federal Return' (printed page 6)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Income Placement on Federal Return' (printed page 6), next line
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary' list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary', note under the list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, title page
• 2025 RI-1040 Instructions, RI Schedule M, Line 1t (page I-9)

Government pensions and plans from other states

Partly taxed: Up to $50,000 a year of pension, annuity and employer-plan income is not taxed for a person who has reached full retirement age and whose federal adjusted gross income is under the same inflation-adjusted limit as for Social Security; the rest is taxed. One $50,000 cap covers all of a person's pension, annuity and employer-plan income together, and IRA withdrawals do not qualify.

Sources (7)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9) heading
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i), the clause for tax years from January 1, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i)(A), income limit by reference to (c)(8)(i)(A)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary' list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary', note under the list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, title page

Military retired pay

Not taxed: exempt from the state income tax.

Sources (5)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(11)(i)(A)
• § 44-30-12(c)(11)(i)(A), continued
• § 44-30-12(c)(11)(iii)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 2 'Military Service Pension Modification' (printed page 14)

Private pensions

Partly taxed: Up to $50,000 a year of pension, annuity and employer-plan income is not taxed for a person who has reached full retirement age and whose federal adjusted gross income is under the same inflation-adjusted limit as for Social Security; the rest is taxed. One $50,000 cap covers all of a person's pension, annuity and employer-plan income together, and IRA withdrawals do not qualify.

Sources (8)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9) heading
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i), the clause for tax years from January 1, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i)(A), income limit by reference to (c)(8)(i)(A)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Income Placement on Federal Return' (printed page 6)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary' list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'In summary', note under the list (printed page 10)
• Publication 2026-01, title page

Private employer plan withdrawals (401(k) and similar)

Partly taxed: 401(k), 403(b) and similar employer-plan withdrawals share the pension cap: up to $50,000 a year is not taxed for a person who has reached full retirement age and whose federal adjusted gross income is under the same inflation-adjusted limit as for Social Security; the rest is taxed. One $50,000 cap covers all of a person's pension, annuity and employer-plan income together.

Sources (10)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9) heading
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i), the clause for tax years from January 1, 2025
• § 44-30-12(c)(9)(i)(A), income limit by reference to (c)(8)(i)(A)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Income Placement on Federal Return' (printed page 6)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Income Placement on Federal Return' (printed page 6), next line
• Publication 2026-01, title page
• § 44-43-8(a)
• § 44-43-8(b)
• ADV 2026-02 (January 14, 2026), table 'Tax Credit Sunsets Imposed or Updated', row 'Tax Incentives for Capital Investment in Small Businesses' (printed page 2 of 3)

IRA withdrawals

Taxed.

Sources (6)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• 2025 RI-1040 Instructions, 'RI Schedule M' heading paragraph (page I-8); lines 1a to 1x of modifications decreasing federal AGI read whole
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Individual retirement accounts (IRAs)' (printed page 4)
• Publication 2026-01, Section 1a 'Pension and annuity income and Form 1099-R' (printed page 5)
• 2025 RI-1040 Instructions, RI Schedule M, Line 1t (page I-9/I-10)
• Publication 2026-01, title page

Dividends and interest

Taxed.

Sources (11)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(a) General
• § 44-30-12(b), opening clause of the list of modifications increasing federal AGI; 9 paragraphs (b)(1) to (b)(9) read
• § 44-30-12(c)(1)
• § 44-30-12(b)(1)
• § 44-30-12(c)(2)
• § 44-30-25(f)
• § 44-30-12(c)(5)
• § 44-30-25.1(d)(1)
• § 44-30-25.1(a)(2)
• § 44-30-12(c)(3)

Capital gains

Taxed.

Sources (15)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-12(a) General
• § 44-30-12(c)(10)
• § 44-30-12(c)(2)
• § 44-30-25(f)
• § 44-30-1.1(c)(1)
• § 44-43-8(a)
• § 44-43-8(b)
• § 44-39.3-1
• § 44-43-5, opening
• § 44-43-5(3)
• ADV 2026-02 (January 14, 2026), table 'Tax Credit Sunsets Imposed or Updated', row 'Tax Incentives for Capital Investment in Small Businesses' (printed page 2 of 3)
• Chapter 44-43 index; § 44-43-5 and § 44-43-8 listed without an effective-date marker
• § 44-30-2.7(a)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3), opening (regime from 2011)

A deduction for all income, by age or low income

No. The standard deduction and personal exemptions phase out between $261,000 and $290,800 of federal adjusted gross income (as modified for Rhode Island) for 2026, and are gone above that.

Sources (10)

• § 44-30-12(c), opening clause of the statute's whole list of modifications reducing federal AGI; 13 paragraphs (c)(1) to (c)(13) read, last (c)(13) (§ 280E expenditures of licensed cannabis businesses); section history ends P.L. 2025, ch. 278, eff. June 29, 2025
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3), opening (regime from 2011)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(B)(I)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(B)(III)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(F)(I), opening of the statute's whole list of credits allowed against the personal income tax; items (a) to (m) read
• § 44-30-26
• ADV 2025-22, standard deduction and exemption phase-out (printed page 1 of 4)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(2)(C)(4), first words (the 2007 regime's additional standard deduction)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(2), opening words
• ADV 2025-22, the phase-out range table, Tax Year 2026 column (printed page 1 of 4)

Other state taxes on this income

None.

Sources (14)

• The General Assembly's list of the General Laws' titles (webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/): 47 titles, Title 1 (Aeronautics) to Title 47 (Weights and Measures), Titles 6A and 40.1 included, every title read by the main thread on 2026-10-16; Title 44 (Taxation) is the one title headed by a tax word and its 110-chapter index is claim c65; the other titles whose names bear on a charge (3, 27, 28, 31, 35, 39, 41, 42, 45) are disposed of in the other_state_taxes note
• Title 44 (Taxation), index of chapters, 110 chapter rows read; supporting evidence only: Title 44 does not hold every state tax (e.g., employment-security charges sit in Title 28)
• R.I. Const. art. VI, § 2, first two sentences
• Title 44 index of chapters
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(2)(G)(1), items (a) and (b)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(2)(H)(1)
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(2), opening words
• § 44-30-2.6(c)(3), opening (regime from 2011)
• § 44-15-1(1) (Tax on Bank Deposits Generally, definitions)
• § 44-25-1(a), opening words (Real Estate Conveyance Tax)
• § 44-40-2(4) (Generation Skipping Transfer Tax, definitions)
• § 44-40-3(a)
• § 44-3-2.1, whole section
• ADV 2026-02 (January 14, 2026), table 'Tax Credit Sunsets Imposed or Updated', row 'Tax Incentives for Capital Investment in Small Businesses' (printed page 2 of 3)

Local income taxes

None.

This rests on a search, not on a ban. We found no Rhode Island local government levying an income, wage or payroll tax for tax year 2026, and no state law that lets one: the state constitution's home-rule article says that nothing in it "shall be deemed to grant to any city or town the power to levy, assess and collect taxes or to borrow money, except as authorized by the general assembly"; the state legislature's general grant lets towns and cities "raise by a tax on real or personal estate, or on both", "provided, that the tax is voted on at a legal meeting of the electors of the town or city"; and the personal income tax in the General Laws is the state's own, imposed "on the Rhode Island income of every individual, estate, and trust". State law also lets a city or town levy a tourism improvement district assessment on businesses in the district, which "may be based on a percent of gross business revenue, a fixed dollar amount per transaction, or any other reasonable method based upon benefit, and approved by the municipality"; such assessments fall on businesses, not on an employee's wages or a person's retirement income.

Sources (13)

• R.I. Const. art. XIII, § 5 (Local taxing and borrowing powers)
• R.I. Const. art. XIII, § 2 (Local legislative powers)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-2-2 (Power to tax property)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-1, first sentence
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-5-3(a)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-1(a)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-59.1-3(2)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-59.1-9(b)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-59.1-4(b), first sentence
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-2-31.1(b)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 39-18-9, first sentence
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 45-24.6-5
• § 44-3-2.1, whole section

Estate and inheritance taxes

Estate tax

Yes.

Sources (8)

• § 44-22-1.1(a)(4)
• § 44-22-1.1(a)(4), measure of the tax
• ADV 2025-27 (December 30, 2025), printed page 1 of 2
• Chapter 44-22 index (Estate and Transfer Taxes - Liability and Computation); 3 sections in force, the rest listed repealed or renumbered
• § 44-40-3(a)
• § 44-40-3(a), continued
• § 44-40-2(4) (Generation Skipping Transfer Tax, definitions)
• Chapter 44-40, index of sections, §§ 44-40-1 to 44-40-16

Inheritance tax

No.

Sources (10)

• The General Assembly's list of the General Laws' titles (webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/): 47 titles, Title 1 (Aeronautics) to Title 47 (Weights and Measures), Titles 6A and 40.1 included, every title read by the main thread on 2026-10-16; Title 44 (Taxation) is the one title headed by a tax word and its 110-chapter index is claim c65; the other titles whose names bear on a charge (3, 27, 28, 31, 35, 39, 41, 42, 45) are disposed of in the other_state_taxes note
• Title 44 (Taxation), index of chapters, 110 chapter rows read; supporting evidence only: Title 44 does not hold every state tax (e.g., employment-security charges sit in Title 28)
• R.I. Const. art. VI, § 2, first two sentences
• § 44-22-1.1(a)(4)
• Chapter 44-22 index (Estate and Transfer Taxes - Liability and Computation); 3 sections in force, the rest listed repealed or renumbered
• § 44-40-3(a)
• § 44-40-3(a), continued
• § 44-40-2(4) (Generation Skipping Transfer Tax, definitions)
• Chapter 44-40, index of sections, §§ 44-40-1 to 44-40-16
• § 44-25-1(a), opening words (Real Estate Conveyance Tax)

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