Federal Pension Tax
Estimate the tax owed on pension and retirement-plan distributions under current federal tax law.
About Federal Pension Tax
Pension distributions under current federal tax law are generally taxable when they came from pre-tax (traditional) contributions. The taxable portion you enter is taxed at your marginal rate; the rest is the estimated net you keep. Withdrawals from Roth or after-tax sources are not taxable again.
Formula
Tax
Tax = pension × taxable% × marginal rate
Worked example
With the default values below, Federal Pension Tax returns Estimated Pension Tax of $8,415.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Annual pension incomeminimum 0
- 45,000
- Taxable portion of paymentsaccepts 0–100
- 85
- Assumed marginal tax rateaccepts 0–50
- 22
Results
- Estimated Pension Tax
- $8,415.00
- Taxable Amount
- $38,250.00
- After Tax
- $36,585.00
- Effective Rate
- 18.7%
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Tax
- 3Estimated Pension Tax= 8,415.00
- 4Taxable Amount= 38,250.00
- 5After Tax= 36,585.00
- 6Effective Rate= 18.7
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 3 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation or fees or charges into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
- Approximate estimate — not tax advice.
- This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Approximate estimate — not tax advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my whole pension taxable?
No — only the portion from pre-tax contributions; after-tax and Roth contributions are excluded.
How accurate is this estimate?
Rates are approximate reference values. Local rates, exemptions and rules can differ, so treat the output as a planning figure only.