New York - Government Pension Exclusion
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Pensions from New York state and local governments are entered in the Federal Q&A in the Retirement Plan Income section. This would also be reported on Line 10 of Form IT-201. Exclusions of these pensions from New York income are reported on Line 26 of Form IT-201.

Unlike the regular Pension and Annuity Income Exclusion, the exclusion of pensions from the Federal government or New York State and/or local governments are NOT limited to $20,000. You may take the exclusion up to the amount the pension or other distribution was included in your Federal Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). The exclusion amount is entered in the State Q&A on the screen titled New York - Government Pension.

To enter the exclusion amount:

  1. From within your TaxAct return (Online or Desktop), click State to expand, then click New York (or NY). On smaller devices, click in the upper left-hand corner, then click State.
  2. Click Adjustments to Income in the New York Quick Q&A Topics menu to expand, then click Government Pension/Retirement Exclusion.
  3. Continue with the interview process to enter all of the appropriate information.
  4. On the screen titled New York - Government Pension Subtraction, enter the portion of your total Federal pension and annuity income that was received from the Federal government or New York state and/or local governments, then click Continue.

This is the amount that will flow to the Pension Exclusion Worksheet, then to Line 26 of the New York Form IT-201.

Click Form Instructions under the Answer Center heading on the right if you need additional information regarding the pension exclusion.