Kansas retired pay

Is military retirement taxed in Kansas?

Not taxed

Line A14 Subtraction Covers TSP Too.

No. K.S.A. 79-32,117(c)(vii) subtracts retirement benefits in whatever form earned for federal employment or for service in the armed forces, so military retired pay comes off federal AGI in full, at any age and with no cap. The condition that matters is the form: Kansas gives you nothing unless you enter the amount on Schedule S, line A14, and file Schedule S with your K-40.

The law: K.S.A. 79-32,117(c)(vii)
Current rule since: No start year published by the Department of Revenue; a KDOR policy memorandum dated January 11, 1993 already treats military retirement benefits as exempt under then-current law, and the 2002 booklet lists them for the Schedule S retirement subtraction
Where you claim it: 2025 Schedule S, Part A, line A14 (Retirement benefits specifically exempt from Kansas income tax); keep the 1099-R instead of enclosing it

Read on Kansas’s own sources October 10, 2026

What Kansas’s rule is worth on your retired pay

Enter your annual taxable retired pay (box 2a of your DFAS or Coast Guard 1099-R). The rate starts at Kansas’s top 5.58% rate (taxable income over $23,000 single, $46,000 joint), unchanged for 2026 under KDOR Notice 25-06 for tax year 2025; change it to your own bracket if you know it.

One rate applied to the whole amount, not Kansas’s full return: brackets, other income, deductions and credits change the real figure. Use it to compare, then check the state’s own form instructions.

How it works in Kansas

Form K-40 starts from federal AGI on line 1, so the DFAS pay is already in the number you carry over. Take it back out on Schedule S, Part A, line A14, titled Retirement benefits specifically exempt from Kansas income tax, entering the amount that was included in your federal AGI. The 2025 booklet says not to enclose the 1099-R; keep it for verification instead.

Line A14 is wider than military pay. The booklet's list for the line opens with Federal Civil Service Retirement or Disability Fund payments and any other amounts received as retirement benefits from employment by the federal government or for service in the United States Armed Forces, including Thrift Savings Plans. A retiree with a DFAS check, a TSP withdrawal and a FERS annuity from a second career enters all three on line A14, to the extent each is in federal AGI.

Worked example with an assumed $33,000 pension: line A14 is worth up to about $1,841 a year at the 5.58% top rate, which the 2025 tax computation worksheet applies above $23,000 of taxable income for single filers and above $46,000 for joint filers. Income below those points is taxed at 5.2%, so a retiree with modest other income saves somewhat less per dollar. KDOR Notice 25-06 says revenue missed the trigger in K.S.A. 79-32,110c, so there is no rate cut for 2026.

Kansas ties the filing duty to the federal one. A full-year resident must file a K-40 if required to file a federal return, or if Kansas AGI tops the standard deduction plus exemption allowance. A retiree whose 1099-R forces a federal return should expect to file the K-40 and Schedule S even when line A14 wipes out the pension and the Kansas tax comes to zero.

For a past year where the pension stayed in Kansas income, file an amended K-40, mark the box giving the reason, and include Schedule S with line A14 filled in. A refund claim must arrive within three years of the original filing date, counting extensions, or two years from payment, whichever is later.

Survivor Benefit Plan annuities

Exempt. A KDOR policy memorandum dated January 11, 1993, still posted in the Department's Policy Information Library, concludes that payments to survivors of deceased armed forces members are treated as ordinary military retirement benefits and are exempt. The 2025 line A14 instructions do not name SBP (read October 10, 2026).

Active-duty pay in Kansas

Taxed for a Kansas resident: the 2025 booklet says a member whose home of record is Kansas owes Kansas tax on all income, military compensation included. The legislature's page shows HB 2044 of the 2025-2026 Legislature, which would have subtracted armed forces pay, as vetoed by the Governor after an April 2026 conference report; nonresidents stationed in Kansas subtract military pay on line A15.

Missed it in an earlier year?

If the amended return results in a refund, it must be filed within three years of when the original return was filed (including extensions) or within two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later (2025 Kansas income tax booklet, read October 10, 2026).

What trips Kansas retirees up

Retired pay and active-duty pay get opposite treatment. The 2025 booklet taxes a resident's military compensation wherever the member is stationed. HB 2044, the 2025-2026 bill to subtract armed forces pay, shows Vetoed by Governor on the legislature's page with no override recorded (read October 10, 2026). The military items Schedule S does take off are recruitment, sign-up and retention bonuses and service-linked student loan repayments on line A17, and a nonresident's pay on line A15.
Leaving Kansas ends the question. The 2025 booklet's nonresident instructions say retirement benefits or pensions received by a nonresident are not Kansas-source income, even if earned while the person lived in Kansas.
Line A14 and line A11 are easy to mix up. Line A11 is only for KPERS lump-sum distributions and line A10 is Social Security; the DFAS pension and any TSP withdrawal belong on A14.

Federal side: DFAS reports retired pay on Form 1099-R, and the IRS taxes it as a pension. VA disability compensation is not taxable income under federal law (IRS Publication 525). The SCRA’s tax-home rule (50 U.S.C. § 4001) protects servicemembers on orders, not retirees, so where a retiree lives decides which state taxes the pension. Compare every state on the 51-state ledger. Kansas’s other servicemember protections are on the Kansas SCRA page.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kansas tax military retirement?

No. K.S.A. 79-32,117(c)(vii) requires Kansas to subtract amounts received as retirement benefits in whatever form earned for service in the armed forces of the United States or for federal employment. Because Form K-40 starts from federal AGI, you claim it on Schedule S, Part A, line A14, Retirement benefits specifically exempt from Kansas income tax. The 2025 Kansas income tax booklet lists military retirement and Thrift Savings Plans under that line and says to keep, not enclose, your 1099-R (read October 10, 2026).

Is the Thrift Savings Plan taxed in Kansas?

Not when it comes from federal service. The 2025 Kansas income tax booklet lists, for Schedule S line A14, amounts received as retirement benefits from employment by the federal government or for service in the United States Armed Forces, including Thrift Savings Plans. A TSP withdrawal that is in your federal AGI goes on line A14 with your DFAS pension. That treatment rests on K.S.A. 79-32,117(c)(vii), which covers federal retirement benefits in whatever form (read October 10, 2026).

Is SBP taxed in Kansas?

No. A Kansas Department of Revenue policy memorandum dated January 11, 1993, still published in the Department's Policy Information Library, concludes that funds received by survivors of deceased armed forces members should be treated as ordinary military retirement benefits and are exempt from Kansas income tax. The survivor enters the annuity on Schedule S, line A14, like a retiree would. The 2025 booklet's line A14 text does not mention SBP by name (read October 10, 2026).

Sources, read October 10, 2026

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