Does Arkansas tax Social Security benefits?

No. Arkansas fully exempts Social Security retirement benefits from state income tax. Whatever portion is taxable federally, Arkansas excludes it entirely, so your Social Security adds nothing to your state tax.

How much retirement income is exempt in Arkansas?

Arkansas allows a deduction of up to $6,000 per taxpayer of qualifying pension and IRA/401(k) distribution income. Married couples filing jointly can each claim the $6,000 deduction against their own qualifying income, for up to $12,000 combined.

Are 401(k) and IRA withdrawals taxed in Arkansas?

Distributions from 401(k)s and traditional IRAs are taxable in Arkansas, but the first $6,000 per person of qualifying distributions is deductible. The remainder is taxed at Arkansas's graduated rates, which top out at 4.4% for 2024.

Is military or government pension treated differently?

Arkansas fully exempts U.S. military retirement pay from state income tax. Civil-service and other qualifying pensions use the $6,000 deduction. This calculator models the general $6,000 pension/IRA deduction; military pay should be entered as exempt.

Does Arkansas have an extra deduction for seniors?

Arkansas's standard deduction and personal credits apply to retirees as they do to all filers, but there is no separate age-based exemption beyond the $6,000 retirement-income deduction and the full Social Security exclusion.

Arkansas Retirement Income Tax Calculator

Email me this result

Get this tool's output sent to your inbox, plus one useful tool a week. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

Arkansas is relatively friendly to retirees: Social Security is fully exempt and a portion of pension and retirement-account income is deductible. This calculator applies those rules and shows the Arkansas tax on what remains.

How it works

Arkansas excludes all Social Security benefits, then allows a deduction of up to 6,000 dollars per person on qualifying pension and IRA/401(k) income. The remaining taxable retirement income is run through the 2024 brackets:

taxable retirement = (pension + IRA/401k) − $6,000 deduction (per person)
Social Security    = fully exempt (excluded)
Arkansas tax       = brackets applied to taxable retirement (top rate 4.4%)

A married couple filing jointly can each apply the 6,000 dollar deduction, for up to 12,000 dollars combined.

Example

A single retiree with 20,000 dollars of Social Security and 30,000 dollars of 401(k) withdrawals pays no Arkansas tax on the Social Security. The 401(k) income minus the 6,000 dollar deduction is 24,000 dollars taxable, yielding roughly 750 dollars of Arkansas tax under the 2024 brackets.

Notes

This tool models the full Social Security exclusion, the 6,000 dollar pension/IRA deduction, and Arkansas’s 2024 brackets. It does not apply the standard deduction or personal credits, which would reduce the tax further, and it treats military retirement as fully exempt only if you enter it as such. Confirm specifics at dfa.arkansas.gov.