QuantCalc QuantCalc State tax engine docs

State tax docs / States / Colorado

Colorado state income tax: engine rules, 2026

Does Colorado tax Roth conversions? A conversion is a traditional IRA distribution (Form 1040 line 4b) and never a premature one, so from age 55 it draws the pension and annuity subtraction together with the person's other qualifying retirement income, within the same cap (up to $20,000 from 55, $24,000 from 65); the part above the cap, and a conversion below 55, is taxed as ordinary income (Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide). Other taxable income is taxed at a flat 4.4% (DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers).

How the QuantCalc engine computes Colorado tax for tax year 2026, rule by rule, with the official source for each rule. Verification status: Worksheet-tested (what this means).

On this page: How the tax is computed · Rate schedule · Deductions, exemptions and credits · Age 65+ subtractions and credits · Social Security · IRA, 401(k) and private pensions · Public pensions · Military retirement pay · Roth conversions · Capital gains · Interest on state, local and U.S. obligations · Interaction with the federal return · Blindness and disability · Part-year and nonresident returns · Worked examples · After 2026 · Not calculated · Verification. Machine-readable: this state's entry in the engine config and the provenance file (key CO).

How the tax is computed

Every step the engine takes for Colorado, in the order it takes them. Steps marked with a filing status or household type apply only there. Each step links the section below that carries Colorado's figures and the official sources for it; the calculation order page describes every step for all jurisdictions.

What each filing status gets, read back from the engine for a household with $1 of income (so below every phase-out and income test):

SingleMarried filing jointlyMarried filing separatelyHead of household
Rate schedule usedsingle schedulejoint schedulejoint schedule, thresholds halvedsingle schedule
Top rate4.4% flat4.4% flat4.4% flat4.4% flat
Standard deduction, under 65$16,100$32,200$16,100$24,150
Standard deduction at 70 (joint: both 70)$18,150$35,500$17,750$26,200
Personal exemptionnonenonenonenone
Age subtractions at 70 (joint: both 70)$6,000$12,000none$6,000
  1. Per-person mode joint returns with the spouse's age given On a joint return with the spouse's age given, every age test the state applies per taxpayer is evaluated for each spouse at their own age. Without it one household age applies to both.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: The engine cannot know the second spouse's age unless told.
  2. Blindness and disability, per person only when the caller says a person is blind or disabled The filer is person one; the spouse counts only on a joint return and only when the caller says so (there is no household convention as for age). Where a state lets a disabled person (and, where it says so, a blind one, or one whose spouse is disabled) qualify for its general retirement exclusion before the age, that person is treated as having reached the age for that exclusion only. Of the 42 taxing jurisdictions, these have a blind amount: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Virginia; these have none: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin. A disability route is calculated in Arkansas, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon and West Virginia.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: Who is blind or disabled is the caller's statement; the engine has no household convention for it.
  3. Rate schedule and standard deduction by filing status Single uses the single schedule and deduction; married filing jointly the joint ones. Head of household and married filing separately follow the two steps below.
    Colorado's values · engine step (select_brackets). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  4. Married filing separately Where the state publishes its own separate schedule, that one (with half the joint deduction unless a separate deduction is set). Where one schedule applies to every status, that schedule unscaled with the single deduction. Otherwise the joint schedule with every threshold and the deduction halved (computed as the joint tax on twice the income, halved).
    Colorado's values · engine step (select_brackets). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  5. Head of household The state's head-of-household schedule where it has one, else the single schedule; the head-of-household deduction where set, else the single deduction.
    Colorado's values · engine step (select_brackets). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  6. The income total every income test uses Other ordinary income + retirement distributions (before any exclusion) + conversion + federally taxable Social Security + long-term gains + Railroad Retirement Tier 2. It stands in for federal adjusted gross income in every threshold, cliff and phase-out below; state subtractions do not reduce it. Each income line a threshold reads (this total and the states' own AGI lines) is rounded to cents first, as the form's line is, so a sum of cent amounts that a binary double holds a hair under a threshold tests as the amount it is.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: The inputs are the federal AGI components, so their sum is federal AGI for these income types.
  7. Interest on state, local and U.S. obligations The state's own treatment of interest: the federally tax-exempt interest on other states' obligations (outOfStateMunicipalInterest) is added where the state taxes it, and its own (inStateMunicipalInterest) where it taxes that too; the interest on U.S. obligations (usObligationInterest, a part of ordinaryIncome) is taken out (31 U.S.C. 3124). Both change the state's income, its own income tests and its base, never the federal income total above. Each state's rule is on its page (interest). Illinois adds all of the federal 2a interest (IL-1040 line 2), so the part of taxExemptInterest not split into the two municipal parts is added too.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Interest on state, local and U.S. obligations): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  8. Attributing income to each spouse joint returns with each spouse's own amounts given With a caller's split (the API's spouse object), each spouse's own distributions (employer-plan money included), pension, public pension, conversion, wages and military pay; spouse 2's shares are clamped into the household totals and spouse 1 gets the rest. Without a split, in per-person mode, every item is divided 50/50. Social Security is divided by each spouse's own gross benefits where the caller gives spouse.socialSecurityGross, else 50/50; other ordinary income and gains are always divided 50/50 where a rule needs a per-person amount. The split is used only where a state's rule is per taxpayer; household totals stay authoritative for the base and the income tests.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: Equal attribution is the neutral split when the owner of a dollar is not known.
  9. Early IRA distributions The IRA and employer-plan dollars each person took before 59½: the amount the caller gave, else every such dollar of a person under 59 at the end of the year (none of an older person, or when the age is not given). Where the state keeps its retirement break only for some federal early-withdrawal exceptions, the other early dollars leave the retirement pool and are taxed as ordinary income; the exception is the caller's, else death for a survivor's benefits, disability for a disabled person, else none. Where the state taxes only the part over the IRA basis, the part within it is left out altogether. A kept exception passes the state's IRA age gate. The additional state tax on the early dollars with no exception is added before the credits, or after them where the state says so (next steps). Where the caller's early dollars decide (MS), only they are taxed and the rest of that person's distributions pass the exclusion's age gate (not said: the age gate alone). The early dollars with no exception are also counted for the federal §72(t) additional tax that MO adds to the federal tax it deducts and that OK takes back out of federalTaxBeforeCredits for the federal child credit limit.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  10. Keeping the per-spouse shares inside the household joint returns with each spouse's own amounts given After the public-pension and employer-pension carve-outs, if the two spouses' remaining shares add up to more than the household's exclusion-eligible distributions (an inconsistent split), spouse 1's share is reduced so they do not.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: Input normalisation.
  11. Military retirement pay The state's military rule runs first, on military pay alone, per taxpayer: each spouse's own pay at their own age when attributed, otherwise half each at the household age on a joint return. Exempt dollars leave the base; the rest become pension dollars for the general retirement rules. Where the state lets a disabled retiree qualify at any age, a disabled person is treated as having reached the rule's age.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Military retirement pay): Retired servicemembers (checked 2026-10-12); HB26 1062 (checked 2026-11-02)
  12. One taxpayer's military exemption Exempt: all of it (below the age split, up to the younger cap). Capped: up to the cap for the age tier, plus the earned-income bonus below the age split when the taxpayer's own wages exceed the threshold, less the taxpayer's own Social Security where the rule says so. Percentage: the percentage (below the age split, up to the younger cap). Then the income limit: above it the exemption is lost, or phased out over the range where one is set.
    Colorado's values · engine step (military_exempt_one). Sources (Military retirement pay): Retired servicemembers (checked 2026-10-12); HB26 1062 (checked 2026-11-02)
  13. Capital-loss deduction off the base The deduction comes off the other ordinary income (negative income, as Form 1040 line 7a is), so the base and every state-AGI figure summed from it carry it; WI no more than Wisconsin ordinary income (Schedule WD line 28(c)). States whose base is federal taxable income (with the caller's figure) already have it there and take it only once. Engine 1.13.1: the allowed rental loss comes off the same way, on its own line (rental_loss_deduction).
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Capital gains): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses (checked 2026-11-02)
  14. Colorado: per spouse, own ages joint returns with the spouse's age given Per spouse at their own ages (both ages known): each spouse's own distributions and own Social Security (by the spouse's stated gross benefits, else half) through the subtraction below, at that spouse's age; the income test for ages 55 to 64 uses the joint income total. A conversion is taxed in full, except where the state counts it as a taxable IRA distribution: then it draws what is left of the same subtraction after the distributions.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  15. Colorado: per spouse, household age joint returns Joint return without the spouse's age: still per spouse, each at the household age, with the distributions split by the caller's split or 50/50 and Social Security by the spouse's stated gross benefits, else 50/50. A conversion is taxed in full, except where the state counts it as a taxable IRA distribution: then it draws what is left of the same subtraction after the distributions.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  16. Colorado: one filer Otherwise (single, separate and head-of-household returns): one subtraction on the whole amount. A conversion is taxed in full, except where the state counts it as a taxable IRA distribution: then it draws what is left of the same subtraction after the distributions.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  17. Colorado Social Security and pension subtraction 65 or older: Social Security fully subtracted; pension and annuity income up to $24,000 less the Social Security subtracted. 55 to 64 with income at or below the threshold: the same with a $20,000 cap. 55 to 64 above it: one shared $20,000, Social Security first. Under 55: no subtraction, except a survivor's death benefit (its own step).
    Colorado's values · engine step (co_retirement_in_state_base). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  18. Which Social Security threshold applies Joint returns use the joint threshold; head of household uses it too where the state says so, otherwise the single one; married filing separately uses its own threshold where set, else the single one. Benefits are tested against the income total above.
    Colorado's values · engine step (ss_amount_in_state_base). Sources (Social Security): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 Social Security Income Tax Subtraction (checked 2026-11-02); SB25-136 (2025 Regular Session) bill page (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 (signed act; Internet Archive capture) (checked 2026-11-02)
  19. Social Security: Colorado age bands (Social Security alone) The same age bands as the Colorado subtraction, on Social Security alone. In a calculation Colorado always takes the joint subtraction above; this branch serves callers of the Social Security rule by itself.
    Colorado's values · engine step (ss_amount_in_state_base). Sources (Social Security): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 Social Security Income Tax Subtraction (checked 2026-11-02); SB25-136 (2025 Regular Session) bill page (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 (signed act; Internet Archive capture) (checked 2026-11-02)
  20. Long-term gains in the base Where gains are taxed as ordinary income: net long-term gain less the flat exclusion (never below zero), times the inclusion share. Elsewhere none enters.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Capital gains): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses (checked 2026-11-02)
  21. Additional standard deduction at 65 The unmarried amount for a single or head-of-household filer 65 or older, the married amount for each spouse 65 or older, added to the standard deduction before any phase-out.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Deductions, exemptions and credits): IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax Guide (checked 2026-10-12); IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (checked 2026-11-02); 26 U.S.C. § 151 (checked 2026-11-02); Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit (web page) (checked 2026-10-12); House Bill 24-1134 (signed act): Adjustments to Tax Expenditures to Reduce Burden (checked 2026-11-02); Economic & Revenue Forecast, December 2025 (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 DR 0104TN Colorado EITC for ITIN Filers or Certain Filers Under Age 25 (checked 2026-11-02); Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (checked 2026-11-02)
  22. Additional standard deduction for blindness only when the caller says a person is blind or disabled The unmarried amount for a blind single or head-of-household filer, the married amount for each blind spouse, added to the standard deduction before any phase-out. Age and blindness are separate boxes, so a person 65 or older and blind gets both.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Blindness and disability): Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments) (checked 2026-11-02)
  23. Standard deduction limited at high income Above the income threshold the deduction (with its age and blindness amounts) is limited to the status amount: the state adds the rest back. On the component path; where the caller supplies federal taxable income, the add-back is taken from the federal deduction the caller gives with it (conformity-itemizer-addbacks).
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Deductions, exemptions and credits): IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax Guide (checked 2026-10-12); IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (checked 2026-11-02); 26 U.S.C. § 151 (checked 2026-11-02); Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit (web page) (checked 2026-10-12); House Bill 24-1134 (signed act): Adjustments to Tax Expenditures to Reduce Burden (checked 2026-11-02); Economic & Revenue Forecast, December 2025 (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 DR 0104TN Colorado EITC for ITIN Filers or Certain Filers Under Age 25 (checked 2026-11-02); Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (checked 2026-11-02)
  24. Federal senior deduction taken against the state base For each taxpayer 65 or older: the amount, reduced by the rate times the income total above the status's start (joint start on a joint return); none for married filing separately. In the states whose base is federal taxable income it is taken only when the caller does not supply that figure (it is already in it).
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Age 65+ subtractions and credits): Rev. Proc. 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments) (checked 2026-11-02); Schedule 1-A (Form 1040), Additional Deductions (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  25. The federal below-the-line deductions The amounts the federal return deducts below AGI, which a state that allows them takes as they are (26 U.S.C. 224, 225, 163(h)(4) and 170(p), the federal caps and phase-outs as the statutes print them): the Schedule 1-A qualified tips deduction (the employee tips up to the per-return cap, less the statute's step for each whole thousand dollars of modified AGI over its single or joint start; none on a separate return), the qualified overtime deduction (its cap, doubled on a joint return, the same reduction; none on a separate return), the qualified passenger vehicle loan interest deduction (its cap, less the statute's step for each thousand dollars, or part, over its start) and the non-itemizer charitable deduction (cash gifts to public charities other than donor-advised funds, up to its cap, doubled on a joint return, and the 60 percent of AGI limit). Modified AGI is the engine's federal AGI. With computeFederal the federal return's own tips, overtime and 170(p) amounts are used.
    Colorado's values · engine step (state_tax_federal_bl_deductions). Sources (Deductions, exemptions and credits): IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax Guide (checked 2026-10-12); IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (checked 2026-11-02); 26 U.S.C. § 151 (checked 2026-11-02); Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit (web page) (checked 2026-10-12); House Bill 24-1134 (signed act): Adjustments to Tax Expenditures to Reduce Burden (checked 2026-11-02); Economic & Revenue Forecast, December 2025 (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 DR 0104TN Colorado EITC for ITIN Filers or Certain Filers Under Age 25 (checked 2026-11-02); Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (checked 2026-11-02)
  26. Tips, overtime, vehicle loan interest and non-itemizer charity Where the state allows a federal below-the-line deduction (fbl_tips_cap, fbl_overtime_cap, fbl_car_loan_cap, fbl_charity_cap above 0), the federal amount (federal-bl-amounts) is subtracted from the state base, and the state's own per-person amounts are subtracted too: each person's tips up to own_tips_cap_pp and qualified overtime up to own_overtime_cap_pp (the spouse's own on a joint return with the spouse object; without it the household amount is the filer's). Where the state's base is the federal return's taxable income (computeFederal), the federal deductions are already in it and the state adds back the ones it does not allow (fbl_fti_addback). Where the subtraction is in the state's AGI (fbl_reduces_state_agi: NY), the tests on that AGI see it.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Deductions, exemptions and credits): IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax Guide (checked 2026-10-12); IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (checked 2026-11-02); 26 U.S.C. § 151 (checked 2026-11-02); Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit (web page) (checked 2026-10-12); House Bill 24-1134 (signed act): Adjustments to Tax Expenditures to Reduce Burden (checked 2026-11-02); Economic & Revenue Forecast, December 2025 (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 DR 0104TN Colorado EITC for ITIN Filers or Certain Filers Under Age 25 (checked 2026-11-02); Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (checked 2026-11-02)
  27. Survivor benefits below the age only when the caller gives the person facts (a civil service annuity, disability pay, Social Security disability, survivor benefits, an IRA basis or an exception) Below the pension subtraction's age, a person whose pension and IRA income is received as a beneficiary subtracts it up to the cap. Where the state says so, the person's own taxable Social Security received as survivor benefits shares the same cap.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (IRA, 401(k) and private pensions): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax | Information for Retirees (checked 2026-10-12)
  28. State taxable income Other ordinary income + Social Security, retirement income, conversion and gains left in the base − standard deduction − personal exemption − age subtractions.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: The order of subtraction follows the state forms; each amount is sourced at its own step.
  29. Starting from federal taxable income only when the caller supplies federal taxable income (the planner; not the API) When the caller supplies federal taxable income (the planner does, and the API with computeFederal), the base starts from it, adds the gains in it (less the state's gain subtraction), and subtracts the state's own exclusions and subtractions; the state's deduction is not subtracted again.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Interaction with the federal return): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  30. Federal deduction add-backs on the federal-taxable-income base only when the caller supplies federal taxable income (the planner; not the API) When the caller also gives the federal return's deduction (the planner and computeFederal do): a federal itemizer adds back the state income tax deducted on Schedule A, at most the excess of the itemized deductions over the standard deduction (Colorado, Montana); above the income threshold Colorado adds back the federal deduction beyond the status amount, less that add-back.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Interaction with the federal return): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  31. 2025 tax line rounded to the whole dollar (VA, MO, WV, DE, CA, OR, GA, ME, VT, MT, PA, MI, IL, OH, AZ, ID, UT, LA, NE, IN, MS, NC, CT, AR, MN, CO, KS, NY, NM, WI, HI, MA, AL, OK, SC, KY, DC) Engine 1.20.0, a 2025 return in a state whose 2025 instructions say the tax line is a whole-dollar line (VA Form 760 line 16, MO-1040 lines 30Y/30S for each spouse, WV IT-140 line 8, DE PIT-RES line 24, CA Form 540 line 31, OR-40 line 20, GA Form 500 line 16; engine 1.21.0 adds ME Form 1040ME line 20 and VT IN-111 line 8 where the rate schedule gives them, MT Form 2 page 2 lines 8, 10 and 12, PA-40 line 12, MI-1040 line 17 and IL-1040 line 12, each rounded; engine 1.24.0 adds AZ Form 140 line 46, ID Form 40 line 20, UT TC-40 line 10, LA IT-540 line 11, NE Form 1040N line 15, IN IT-40 line 8 and MS Form 80-105 line 15, and OH IT 1040 line 8a with its schedule base amounts, ty25-oh-whole-dollar-tax): the rate-schedule tax is rounded to the nearest dollar, half a dollar up: since engine 1.24.0 from the exact amount (ty25-round-exact), except California and West Virginia, whose rate-schedule worksheets write the product to the cent first. Table rows are whole dollars already. The instructions' own worked examples are quoted at the marker and pinned in the printed-answer fixtures. Golden round 10 adds NC (D-400 line 15), CT (Tax Calculation Schedule line 4), AR (AR1000F line 29, and each column of filing status 4), MN (M1 line 10), CO (DR 0104 line 13 and its worksheet above the table), KS (K-40 line 8; above the table the Tax Computation Worksheet with its printed whole-dollar subtraction amounts, not the exact bracket sums), NY (IT-201 line 39 and each line of the tax computation worksheets), NM (PIT-1 line 18 and its schedule above the table) and WI (Form 1 line 12): these nine round half a dollar up from the exact amount, with no cents step (st25_dollar6), so a product whose cents are 49.73 is rounded down (CT Table B, golden round 10 CT-09). Golden round 10, group C adds HI (N-11), MA (Form 1 line 22, line 24 apart), AL (Form 40 line 17), OK (Form 511 / 511-NR), SC (SC1040 line 6, the printed schedule above the table), KY (Form 740 line 12, each status-2 column) and DC (D-40 line 20), in both the tax-table and the rate-schedule mode (ty25-whole-dollar-c).
    engine step (st25_whole_dollar_tax). Engine convention, no external source: The 2025 instructions' whole-dollar rule and worked examples, quoted at CALC-STEP ty25-whole-dollar-tax (ME, VT and MT at st25_whole_lines: ME 'Use whole dollar amounts.' (https://www.maine.gov/revenue/sites/maine.gov.revenue/files/inline-files/25_1040me_gen_instr_w_cover_pg.pdf); VT 'Use Whole Dollars. Round entries to the nearest whole dollar.' (https://tax.vermont.gov/sites/tax/files/documents/IN-111-Instr-2025.pdf); MT: every money line of the 2025 Form 2 prints the cents as '00'). PA: 'On the PA-40 form and schedules, show money amounts in whole-dollars.' (https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/revenue/documents/formsandpublications/formsforindividuals/pit/documents/2025/2025_pa-40in.pdf); MI: 'Report all amounts in whole dollars.' (https://www.michigan.gov/taxes/-/media/Project/Websites/taxes/Forms/IIT/TY2025/MI-1040-Book.pdf); IL: 'You must round cents to whole dollars on Form IL-1040 and most schedules, as directed.' (https://tax.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/tax/forms/incometax/documents/currentyear/individual/il-1040-instr.pdf). NJ's rounding is optional and stays in cents. Engine 1.24.0 (golden round 10): AZ 'You must round dollar amounts to the nearest whole dollar. If 50 cents or more, round up to the next dollar. If less than 50 cents, round down. Do not enter cents.' (https://azdor.gov/sites/default/files/document/FORMS_INDIVIDUAL_2025_140i.pdf); ID 'Round the amounts on your return to the nearest whole dollar. Round down if under 50 cents, round up if 50 cents or more.' (2025 Idaho individual income tax instructions); UT 'Round off cents to the nearest whole dollar. Round down if under 50 cents; round up if 50 cents and above. Do not enter cents on the return.' (https://files.tax.utah.gov/tax/forms/current/tc-40inst.pdf); LA 'All numbers should be rounded to the nearest dollar.' and 'Line 11 - Multiply Line 10 by .03. Round to the nearest dollar.' (2025 IT-540 instructions); NE 'Enter All Amounts as Whole Dollars. Do not include cents on the return or schedules.' (2025 Form 1040N booklet); IN 'You must round your amounts to the nearest whole dollar.' (2025 IT-40 booklet p.5); MS 'All dollar amounts should be rounded to the nearest whole dollar (no pennies).' (2025 Form 80-100 instructions); OH 'Round all figures to the nearest dollar.' (https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/tax.ohio.gov/forms/ohio_individual/individual/2025/it1040-booklet.pdf). Golden round 10: NC 'Round off to the nearest whole dollar. Drop amounts under 50 cents and increase amounts from 50 cents to 99 cents to the next whole dollar.' (2025 D-401 instructions); CT-1040 'Whole Dollars Only'; AR 'ROUND ALL AMOUNTS TO WHOLE DOLLARS' (2025 AR1000F); MN 'Round the dollar amounts to the nearest dollar. For example: 129.49 becomes 129, and 129.50 becomes 130.' (2025 M1 instructions); CO 'Round all dollar amounts to the nearest whole dollar.' (2025 DR 0104 booklet); KS 'ENTER AMOUNTS IN WHOLE DOLLARS ONLY' (2025 K-40) and the 2025 Tax Computation Worksheet (IP25 p.34); NY 'enter whole dollar amounts only. This includes amounts on any credit forms, schedules, or other forms you submit with your New York State return.' (2025 IT-201-I); NM 'Round all numbers and enter only whole dollar amounts.' (2025 PIT-1 instructions); WI 'All amounts filled in on the form should be rounded to the nearest dollar.' (2025 Form 1 and Form 1NPR instructions).
  32. 2025 whole-dollar returns, line by line (ME, VT, MT, VA, OR, MO, DE, GA, WV, CA, PA, MI, IL, OH, AZ, ID, UT, LA, NE, IN, MS, NC, CT, AR, MN, CO, KS, NY, NM, WI, HI, MA, AL, OK, SC, KY, DC); RI, MD, ND and IA lines to the cent Engine 1.21.0, a 2025 return in a state whose 2025 instructions say every amount on the return is a whole-dollar amount (ME "Use whole dollar amounts", VT "Round entries to the nearest whole dollar", MT Form 2 "00" cents, VA, OR, MO, DE, GA, WV, CA, PA, MI, IL): a worksheet's or a credit's product is rounded where the form writes it (half a dollar up from the exact amount since engine 1.24.0, ty25-round-exact; California and West Virginia to the cent first): ME standard/itemized deduction and exemption phase-out line 7, pension deduction, property tax fairness credit lines; VT Social Security / military / non-covered pension partial exemptions, the IN-153 cap on federal taxable income, the minimum tax, the IN-119 early-distribution tax, the charitable credit; MT Schedule II, 2EC and the itemized add-back; VA Form 763 lines 17-18 and the itemized total; OR-40-N line 42 (the deduction plus the federal tax subtraction prorated as one product); MO-1040 line 33 per spouse and the federal tax deduction; GA's part-year retirement exclusion and Schedule 3 line 13 of a separate return; WV Schedule M line 34; CA FTB 3805P line 4 and Form 540NR lines 35/37/39; PA Schedule SP line 16; MI-1040CR lines 12, 34 and 38/41, Worksheet 5 and Form 4884 Worksheet 3.3 line 4; IL Schedule ICR line 4g and the child tax credit on the rounded IL EITC. Engine 1.24.0 adds OH (Schedule of Credits line 12, the joint filing credit; IT NRC line 20; line 13, the share of the federal EIC), UT (TC-40 lines 16 and 19, the AH, AJ, code 18 and AT credit worksheets: ty25-ut-whole-dollar-credits), AZ (the reduced dependent tax credit), ID (Form 43 line 63, the part-year food tax credit), IN (CT-40 line 3, the county tax: ty25-whole-dollar-local) and the prorated deduction and exemption lines of AZ, ID, MS and IN part-year and nonresident returns (ty25-py-whole-lines); LA, NE and MS lines the engine computes are the tax line and the ratio products. The eight states of engine 1.24.0 round from the exact amount, with no cent step (st25_dollar6). Golden round 10 adds NC, CT, AR, MN, CO, KS, NY, NM and WI, rounded half a dollar up from the exact amount (st25_dollar6): NC D-400 line 14 (Schedule PN: line 12b x the line 24 decimal) and line 15; CT Tax Calculation Schedule line 9 (line 7 x the Table E decimal) and CT-1040NR/PY line 10; AR1000NR line 38D and AR line 32 (the early-distribution tax); MN M1NR line 32 and Worksheet A for line 4 steps 3, 5 and 8; CO DR 0104PN line 36; KS K-40 line 10; NY IT-203 line 46, the NYC and Yonkers lines and the household and school credits; NM PIT-B line 14 and the low- and middle-income exemption worksheet line 5; WI Form 1NPR line 39, the married couple credit and the line 25 early-distribution tax. RI-1040 lines keep the cents ("must include cents"). The sources are quoted at st25_whole_lines and st25_cents_lines; the printed-answer fixtures pin the forms' examples. Golden round 10, group C adds HI, MA, AL, OK, SC, KY and DC to the whole-dollar returns and MD to the cents returns ("State calculations are rounded to the nearest cent"); their own lines are at ty25-whole-dollar-c.
    engine step (st25_in). Engine convention, no external source: The 2025 instructions' whole-dollar (and RI cents) rules, quoted at st25_whole_lines / st25_cents_lines and CALC-STEP ty25-whole-dollar-lines.
  33. 2025 whole-dollar lines: one rounding, from the exact amount (CA and WV to the cent first) Engine 1.24.0 (golden round 10): every whole-dollar line of a 2025 return (ty25-whole-dollar-tax, ty25-whole-dollar-lines, ty25-whole-dollar-c and the state lines that cite them) is rounded by one function (st25_dollar6) on the one list of 2025 whole-dollar returns: half a dollar up from the exact amount, with no step to the cent first, as each state's form says (Virginia: "Amounts less than 50 cents should be rounded down while all amounts of 50 cents - 99 cents should be rounded up"). An amount whose cents are at least 49.5 but under 50 is rounded down: a Connecticut Table B product with 49.73 cents is entered a dollar lower than engines 1.20.0-1.23.0 entered it (they rounded it to the cent first, golden round 10 CT-09). California and West Virginia keep the step to the cent: their rate-schedule worksheets write the product to the cent before the total is rounded (California's Step 4, "round the amount from Step 3 to two decimals"; West Virginia's Rate Schedule example). 2026 answers are unchanged.
    engine step (st25_dollar6). Engine convention, no external source: VA: 'All amounts entered on your return must be rounded to the nearest dollar. Amounts less than 50 cents should be rounded down while all amounts of 50 cents - 99 cents should be rounded up.' (2025 Form 760 instructions, https://www.tax.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/vatax-pdf/2025-760-instructions.pdf); MO: 'For 1 cent through 49 cents, round down to the previous whole dollar amount. For 50 cents through 99 cents, round up to the next whole dollar amount.' (2025 MO-1040 instructions); DE: 'amounts from 50 to 99 cents are increased to the next dollar' (2025 PIT-RES instructions); OR: '$99.49 becomes $99, and $99.50 becomes $100' (2025 OR-40 instructions); MI: 'Round down amounts of 49 cents or less. Round up amounts of 50 cents or more.' (2025 MI-1040 book); ME: 'Round down to the next lower dollar any amount less than 50 cents.' (2025 Form 1040ME instructions); IL: 'drop amounts under 50 cents and increase amounts of 50 to 99 cents to the next dollar' (2025 IL-1040 instructions). CA: 'They round the amount from Step 3 to two decimals (if necessary) and add it to the tax amount for their income range. After rounding the result, they will enter $4,768' (2025 Form 540 booklet, How to Figure Tax Using the 2025 California Tax Rate Schedules); WV: '$ 2,778.01 Tax on excess of $57,635 ... $ 4,831.51 Total Tax on $117,635 (Round to nearest whole dollar)' (2025 IT-140 booklet, Rate Schedule I).
  34. 2025 whole-dollar returns: the amounts you enter are whole dollars too (37 jurisdictions); ND and IA lines to the cent Golden round 11: on a 2025 return in one of the 37 whole-dollar jurisdictions every amount the form makes you enter is a whole dollar, not only the lines it computes: each income amount of the request (one entry of the form: a person's wages, the household's interest, a part-year return's state-source amounts), each federal-return line the state return copies (with computeFederal: the taxable Social Security, the federal tax lines, Form 1040 lines 12e and 13b one by one, so Montana's line 3 is the entered federal AGI less each entered deduction line) and a credit's facts (the property tax paid) are entered rounded, half a dollar up, and a figure the form reads from its own charts by income (a standard deduction or child deduction table, an exemption tier, a tax-table row) is read on the entered amount. The request is validated on the amounts as sent (a negative cent is still refused); input shows the amounts as entered and yearNotes says so. North Dakota's and Iowa's 2025 lines are written to the cent, as Rhode Island's and Maryland's (Iowa's whole-dollar rounding is optional). 2026 answers are unchanged.
    engine step (state_tax_ty25_whole_entries). Engine convention, no external source: PA: 'On the PA-40 form and schedules, show money amounts in whole-dollars. Eliminate any amount less than $0.50 and increase any amount that is $0.50 or more to the next highest dollar.' (2025 PA-40 instructions p.4, https://www.pa.gov/content/dam/copapwp-pagov/en/revenue/documents/formsandpublications/formsforindividuals/pit/documents/2025/2025_pa-40in.pdf); VA: 'All amounts entered on your return must be rounded to the nearest dollar.' (2025 Form 760 instructions); IA: 'You can round off cents to whole dollars on your return and schedules. If you do round to whole dollars, you must round all amounts.' (2025 IA 1040 expanded instructions, What's New).
  35. 2025 whole-dollar returns: the request validated as sent, evaluated as entered Golden round 11: a 2025 request for one of the 37 whole-dollar jurisdictions is validated on the caller's own amounts, then evaluated on each amount rounded to the dollar as the form enters it (ty25-whole-entries); a part of two amounts (early distributions of the IRA and employer-plan money, the out-of-state part of the tax-exempt interest) stays within their entered sum. Should the entered amounts break a rule the caller's own met, the caller's amounts are evaluated as given.
    engine step (stj_ty25_enter). Engine convention, no external source: The forms' whole-dollar rules quoted at ty25-whole-entries and ty25-whole-dollar-lines.
  36. 2025 refundable credit lines in whole dollars (ME, VT, MT, VA, OR, MO, DE, GA, WV, CA, PA, MI, IL, OH, AZ, ID, UT, LA, NE, IN, MS, NC, CT, AR, MN, CO, KS, NY, NM, WI) Engine 1.21.0, a 2025 return of a whole-dollar state (ty25-whole-dollar-lines): each refundable credit line is entered in whole dollars (ME earned income credit worksheet line 3, VT IN-112 Part II, OR Kids Credit, VA Form 760 line 23's refundable share of the federal EIC, ...); a line that rounds to nothing drops out of refundableCredits. Golden round 10 adds NC, CT, AR, MN, CO, KS, NY, NM and WI (CT EITC, CO, MN, NM, NY and NYC credit lines).
    engine step (state_tax_refundable_credits). Engine convention, no external source: The 2025 instructions' whole-dollar rules, quoted at st25_whole_lines and CALC-STEP ty25-whole-dollar-credits.
  37. No tax at or below zero State taxable income at or below zero returns a tax of 0 (credits are not refundable), unless the state has a tax computed apart from taxable income that still applies (next step).
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: Every credit the engine carries is nonrefundable, so nothing below can make a zero tax negative; each credit is sourced at its own step.
  38. Separate-return scaling married filing separately For the halved-joint rule, taxable income is doubled before the schedule and the result halved.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  39. The rate schedule Each bracket's rate on the part of taxable income inside it, summed. No rounding: the result is carried in full precision.
    Colorado's values · engine step (apply_state_brackets). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  40. Credits cannot make the tax negative The credits are subtracted and the result floored at zero.
    engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Engine convention, no external source: Every credit the engine carries is nonrefundable; each credit is sourced at its own step.
  41. Qualifying surviving spouse qualifying surviving spouse returns A qualifying surviving spouse (filingStatus qss) is one person on the return, taxed from the single figures with the state's own treatment of the status laid over them: where the state says so, the joint rate schedule, the joint standard deduction, the joint personal exemption, the joint income limits and phase-outs (only those the state sets for joint returns), the married 65+ and blindness amounts, or the head-of-household return; where the state gives the status nothing of its own, the single return. The federal figures the engine derives for the status are the federal qualifying-surviving-spouse ones (the joint standard deduction, the married 65+ amount).
    Colorado's values · engine step (state_tax_effective_config). Sources (Rate schedule): DR 1098 2026 Colorado Withholding Worksheet for Employers (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02)
  42. Railroad Retirement benefits only when the caller gives Railroad Retirement benefits Railroad Retirement benefits are never taxed by a state (45 U.S.C. §231m). Tier 2 (railroadRetirementTier2) is in the income total the tests use but never in the base. Tier 1 (railroadRetirementTier1) is a part of the gross benefits (socialSecurityGross); its share of the taxable benefits is taken out of the Social Security every state rule sees, so a state that taxes Social Security never reaches it. Where a state's worksheet says so, the benefits reduce a retirement cap or subtraction (ID, IN, MD, ME, MN: both tiers; MI: the taxable railroad benefits); Minnesota's and Utah's Social Security rules test an income without them, Minnesota's, New Jersey's and California's retirement income tests an income without Tier 2; Ohio and Delaware test their own AGI everywhere, which never holds the benefits.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Social Security): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 Social Security Income Tax Subtraction (checked 2026-11-02); SB25-136 (2025 Regular Session) bill page (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 (signed act; Internet Archive capture) (checked 2026-11-02)
  43. The capital-loss deduction the state allows With a net capital loss (capitalLoss): the smaller of the loss and the state's limit (the federal $3,000 / $1,500 where the state follows the federal return; MA $2,000, and no more than the interest and dividends); AL the loss less the part carried in, unlimited; PA and NJ none. It comes off the income total the income tests use (and the Social Security worksheets' income); the gross-income filing test (LA) reads the total before it. Engine 1.13.1: with a rental loss (rentalNetIncome below 0, the federal Schedule E line 26 amount) the state allows, the whole loss where the state starts from federal AGI or follows the federal schedule, none in PA and NJ (rental_loss_no_offset): it comes off the same income the same way; a rental profit is other ordinary income.
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Capital gains): Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 Schedule D (Form 1040), Capital Gains and Losses (checked 2026-11-02)
  44. Each spouse's own Social Security joint returns On a joint return, each spouse's own Social Security is the spouse's share of the benefits by spouse.socialSecurityGross when the caller gives it (Tier 1 railroad benefits left out), else half each. It is what the per-spouse rules read: Colorado's per-spouse subtraction, Rhode Island's per-spouse modification, and the Maine, Maryland and other retirement caps reduced by the benefits each spouse received (with each spouse's own railroad benefits where the state counts them).
    Colorado's values · engine step (compute_state_tax_detail). Sources (Social Security): Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities (Revised January 2025) (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 Social Security Income Tax Subtraction (checked 2026-11-02); SB25-136 (2025 Regular Session) bill page (checked 2026-11-02); HB24-1142 (signed act; Internet Archive capture) (checked 2026-11-02)
  45. Refundable state credits The credits paid beyond the tax (reported in refundableCredits; netTax = totalTax less them): earned income credits as a share of the federal EIC with each state's own age band (OK on the 2020 federal credit, DC's own childless schedule, the CalEITC table, MN's Working Family Credit; PA's Working Pennsylvanians Tax Credit, a tenth of the federal EIC, from 2025), New York's Empire State child credit (IT-213; state engine 1.16), the refundable child and dependent credits figured from the dependents' ages (MA Form 1 line 46, ME DETC, NJ line 65, NM PIT-RC line 25, OR Kids Credit, VT IN-112, CO DR 0104CN with 2025's Family Affordability Tax Credit, IL Schedule IL-E/EITC Step 5, MD Worksheet 21C, CA's young child tax credit, and MN's child tax credit with the Working Family Credit on Schedule M1CWFC), the NYC EIC and school tax credits, and the property-tax, renter, grocery and senior credits of MA, MI, NJ, ID, HI, NM, OK, AZ, NY, RI, WV, ME, DC, MN, MO, WI, IN and MT, each on its own income measure. Engine 1.13.1: a part-year NYC resident's school tax credits (the Table 2 proration chart and the rate-reduction amount on IT-360.1 line 47; IT-203 lines 60 / 60a for a part-year state resident). Golden round 3: Hawaii's food/excise bands are "under" their upper amounts, read on the N-11's whole-dollar AGI. Engine 1.19.0 (tax year 2025, the printed charts): the MO-PTS Property Tax Credit Chart, Oklahoma's 511-EIC 2020 EIC Table and Colorado's TABOR State Sales Tax Refund (DR 0104 line 38).
    Colorado's values · engine step (state_tax_refundable_credits). Sources (Deductions, exemptions and credits): IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026, including amendments from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill (checked 2026-11-02); Book 104 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (checked 2026-11-02); Individual Income Tax Guide (checked 2026-10-12); IRS releases tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (checked 2026-11-02); 26 U.S.C. § 151 (checked 2026-11-02); Child Tax Credit & Earned Income Tax Credit (web page) (checked 2026-10-12); House Bill 24-1134 (signed act): Adjustments to Tax Expenditures to Reduce Burden (checked 2026-11-02); Economic & Revenue Forecast, December 2025 (checked 2026-11-02); 2025 DR 0104TN Colorado EITC for ITIN Filers or Certain Filers Under Age 25 (checked 2026-11-02); Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (checked 2026-11-02)

Rate schedule

A flat 4.4% on state taxable income.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Deductions, exemptions and credits

  • Standard deduction (or the exemption the engine carries in its place): $16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly, $24,150 head of household.
  • The standard deduction includes $2,050 more for a single or head-of-household filer 65 or older, and $1,650 more for each spouse 65 or older on a married return.
  • Above $300,000 of income the deduction (with its age and blindness amounts) is limited to $1,000 ($2,000 for a married couple filing jointly); the rest is added back. The engine applies this where it rebuilds the base itself (the API); where federal taxable income is supplied, that figure is used as given.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Age 65+ subtractions and credits

  • The federal senior deduction is also taken against the state base: $6,000 for each taxpayer 65 or older, each reduced by 6% of income above $75,000 (single and head of household) or $150,000 (MFJ). Married couples filing separately get none. (The state starts from federal taxable income, which already carries it; the engine adds it only where it rebuilds the base itself.)

Social Security

From age 65, fully subtracted at any income. From 55 to 64, fully subtracted when income is at or below $75,000 (single) and $95,000 (married filing jointly); above it, one $20,000 subtraction is shared with pension and annuity income, Social Security first. Below 55, only benefits received because the person entitled to them died qualify (up to $20,000); Social Security the person receives as survivor benefits (socialSecuritySurvivor: true) is such a death benefit: the engine subtracts the person's taxable benefits within that cap, which pension and IRA survivor income (survivorBenefits) shares. Without that field it subtracts none below that age.

API value: socialSecurityRule: "age_banded_subtraction". The engine's input is the federally taxable amount; income tests use the sum of the income components as the adjusted-gross-income proxy.

IRA, 401(k) and private pensions

  • Pension, annuity and IRA/401(k) distributions get a subtraction of up to $24,000 from age 65, and up to $20,000 from age 55. The cap is reduced by the Social Security subtraction claimed; for filers 55-64 over the income threshold the $20,000 is shared with Social Security. Below 55: no subtraction ($0), except a death benefit — pension or IRA income received as a survivor (survivorBenefits) — up to $20,000; a survivor's military retirement pay takes the military subtraction or the death-benefit one, whichever is larger, not both. On a joint return the cap is per spouse, against each spouse's own income, even when only one household age is given.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Public pensions

No separate treatment: public pensions follow the rules for other retirement income above.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Military retirement pay

  • Below age 55, up to $15,000 of military retirement pay is exempt per taxpayer. From age 55 there is no separate military exemption: the pay is pension income under the general retirement rules above.
  • Military pay the military rule does not exempt is pension income under the general retirement rules.
  • Rules are applied per taxpayer at that person's own age when the spouse's age is given. API value: rules.militaryRetirement.treatment: "capped_exclusion".

Roth conversions

A conversion is a traditional IRA distribution (Form 1040 line 4b) and never a premature one, so from age 55 it draws the pension and annuity subtraction together with the person's other qualifying retirement income, within the same cap (up to $20,000 from 55, $24,000 from 65); the part above the cap, and a conversion below 55, is taxed as ordinary income.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Capital gains

  • Net long-term gain is taxed as ordinary income.
  • Short-term gains are ordinary income.

Interest on state, local and U.S. obligations

  • Interest on obligations of other states and their local governments, though exempt from federal tax, is added to Colorado income (outOfStateMunicipalInterest); interest on Colorado's own obligations (inStateMunicipalInterest) stays exempt.
  • Interest on U.S. obligations (usObligationInterest: Treasury bills, notes and bonds and U.S. savings bonds, a part of ordinaryIncome) is taken out of Colorado income, as 31 U.S.C. 3124 requires.
  • Without the split the engine adds and subtracts nothing (taxExemptInterest alone is read only by the credits' household income); inputsNotSupplied then shows what the split could change.

Interaction with the federal return

  • The state base starts from federal taxable income when the caller supplies it (engine input fed_taxable_ordinary, used by the planner; the API does not take it), so the real federal deductions carry through; otherwise the engine rebuilds the base from income components minus the deduction shown above.

Source review notes (what the sources do not state outright, or what the engine does not carry):

Blindness and disability

  • The standard deduction includes $2,050 more for a blind single or head-of-household filer and $1,650 more for each blind spouse on a married return. Age and blindness are separate: a person 65 or older and blind gets both amounts.
  • The API applies these through its blind, disabled, spouse.blind and spouse.disabled fields; absent means false.

Part-year and nonresident returns

  • Part-year resident (DR 0104PN): the tax a full-year resident would owe on all the year's income, times the state's income ratio.
  • Nonresident (DR 0104PN): the tax a full-year resident would owe on all the year's income, times the state's income ratio.
  • The ratio: the state's own AGI (after its subtractions) of the state's income over the state AGI of the whole year, rounded to 6 places, which may exceed 1.
  • A nonresident's retirement income is not taxable by the state (4 U.S.C. §114); the API refuses it in residency.stateIncome. The credit for tax paid to another state and the earned income credits on these returns are not computed.

Married couples whose residency differs (engine 1.13.0)

With residency.spouse on a joint request, each allowed treatment is calculated and reported in residency.couple; tax is the required one, else the state's default, else the couple's residency.election, else the joint return the request's mfj names. Each rule is quoted from the state's instructions (engine 1.14.0: and its statutes, regulations, bulletins and other official guidance) in the sources below.

SpousesColorado's rule
One spouse a full-year resident, the other a part-year residenta joint part-year / nonresident return is required.
One spouse a full-year resident, the other a nonresidenta joint part-year / nonresident return is required.
One spouse a part-year resident, the other a nonresidenta joint part-year / nonresident return is required.
Both part-year residents, different resident periodsa joint part-year / nonresident return is required.
Both nonresidents, only one with income from the statea joint part-year / nonresident return is required.

Worked examples

Computed by the engine for the fixed households below (the same ones for every state, so states compare directly). Federal tax is not supplied, so a federal-tax deduction is not taken; the income tests use the sum of the components as income.

Household (engine inputs)State tax
Single, 67: $30,000 private pension, $20,000 IRA, $10,000 interest, $24,000 Social Security ($17,000 federally taxable), $5,000 long-term gain$1,507.88
Married filing jointly, 70: $40,000 public pension, $40,000 IRA, $20,000 interest, $40,000 Social Security ($34,000 federally taxable), $10,000 long-term gain$2,134
Single, 60: $60,000 other ordinary income and a $50,000 Roth conversion$3,251.60
Married filing jointly, 66: $30,000 IRA, a $40,000 Roth conversion, $30,000 Social Security ($25,500 federally taxable)$0
Single, 58: $36,000 military retirement pay and $30,000 wages$1,315.60
Married filing jointly, ages 67 and 61: $50,000 IRA, $10,000 interest, $30,000 Social Security ($25,500 federally taxable), each spouse's age given$72.60

Line by line

The intermediate lines the engine records while it computes each example (its detail record, printed as it comes out; lines that are zero are left out). The engine's documentation build checks that the lines add up to the taxable income and the tax, for every state, filing status and a grid of households. Each line links the engine step that produces it.

Single, 67: $30,000 private pension, $20,000 IRA, $10,000 interest, $24,000 Social Security ($17,000 federally taxable), $5,000 long-term gain: $1,507.88
Married filing jointly, 70: $40,000 public pension, $40,000 IRA, $20,000 interest, $40,000 Social Security ($34,000 federally taxable), $10,000 long-term gain: $2,134
Single, 60: $60,000 other ordinary income and a $50,000 Roth conversion: $3,251.60
Married filing jointly, 66: $30,000 IRA, a $40,000 Roth conversion, $30,000 Social Security ($25,500 federally taxable): $0
Single, 58: $36,000 military retirement pay and $30,000 wages: $1,315.60
Married filing jointly, ages 67 and 61: $50,000 IRA, $10,000 interest, $30,000 Social Security ($25,500 federally taxable), each spouse's age given: $72.60

After 2026: how the amounts move

A request with projection (API) estimates a later tax year from these rules: every dollar amount and age test below moves the way Colorado's law moves it. Rates and the rules themselves stay the 2026 ones (how projection works).

Amounts (engine fields)After 2026What the law says, and the source
std_deduction_single, std_deduction_mfj, std_deduction_hoh, std_deduction_aged_add_unmarried, std_deduction_aged_add_married, blind_std_add_unmarried, blind_std_add_marriedTied to an indexed federal amount: federal standard deduction under IRC 63(c) and the IRC 63(f) additional amounts for age/blindness, indexed by the IRC 1(f)(3) C-CPI-U cost-of-living adjustment; the increase rounded down to a multiple of $50.Colorado taxable income starts from federal taxable income, so the deduction is the federal standard deduction with the IRC 63(f) aged/blind additions, indexed federally (increases rounded down to $50). Tax year 2027 is published: the IRS printed the 2027 federal amounts in Rev. Proc. 2026-35 (November 5, 2026), and the engine reads them as printed (from the federal engine's source) whatever the cpiFactor; 2028 on is projected from the 2026 amounts at the factor.
  • Book 104: 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (Colorado Department of Revenue, instructions): Colorado tax starts from federal taxable income (Form 1040 line 15), which carries the federal standard deduction, the 63(f) amounts and the senior deduction. Quoted: "Enter your federal taxable income from your federal income tax form 1040, 1040 SR, or 1040 SP, line 15.". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • 26 U.S.C. 63 (Taxable income defined) (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) - U.S. Code, federal): IRC 63(c)(4) indexes the basic standard deduction and the subsection (f) additional amounts for age and blindness by the IRC 1(f)(3) cost-of-living adjustment. Quoted: "each dollar amount contained in paragraph (2)(B), (2)(C), or (5) or subsection (f) shall be increased by an amount equal to". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • 26 U.S.C. 1 (Tax imposed), subsection (f)(7) (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) - U.S. Code, federal): IRC 1(f)(7)(A): increases under 1(f)(2)(A) (brackets), 63(c)(4) (standard deduction) and 151(d)(4) are rounded down to a multiple of $50. Quoted: "section 63(c)(4), section 68(b)(2) [1] or section 151(d)(4) is not a multiple of $50, such increase shall be rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • Rev. Proc. 2026-35 (2027 inflation adjustments) (Internal Revenue Service, federal): Prints the 2027 federal basic standard deduction and the 2027 section 63(f) additional amounts, which the engine reads for tax year 2027. Quoted: "For taxable years beginning in 2027, the standard deduction amounts under § 63(c)(2) are as follows:"; "deduction amount under § 63(f) for the aged or the blind is $1,700". Checked 2026-11-09.
fed_senior_deduction, fed_senior_phaseout_single, fed_senior_phaseout_mfjEnacted schedule: 2027: fed_senior_deduction $6,000, fed_senior_phaseout_single $75,000, fed_senior_phaseout_mfj $150,000; 2028: fed_senior_deduction $6,000, fed_senior_phaseout_single $75,000, fed_senior_phaseout_mfj $150,000; 2029: fed_senior_deduction $0, fed_senior_phaseout_single $0, fed_senior_phaseout_mfj $0; held at the 2029 value after 2029.The federal $6,000 senior deduction (IRC 151(d)(5)(C)), reduced by 6% of MAGI over $75,000 ($150,000 joint), flows into federal taxable income for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2029; it is 0 from 2029. Amounts are not indexed.
  • 26 U.S.C. 151(d)(5)(C) (Deduction for seniors) (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) - U.S. Code, federal): Senior deduction and its sunset. Quoted: "in the case of a taxable year beginning before january 1, 2029, there shall be allowed a deduction in an amount equal to $6,000 for each qualified individual"; "as exceeds $75,000 ($150,000 in the case of a joint return)". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • Book 104: 2025 Colorado Individual Income Tax Filing Guide (Colorado Department of Revenue, instructions): Colorado tax starts from federal taxable income (Form 1040 line 15), which carries the federal standard deduction, the 63(f) amounts and the senior deduction. Quoted: "Enter your federal taxable income from your federal income tax form 1040, 1040 SR, or 1040 SP, line 15.". Checked 2026-11-02.
std_addback_agi_threshold, std_addback_keep_single, std_addback_keep_mfjFixed in law: held at the rules-year amount in every later year.Above $300,000 of AGI the federal standard or itemized deduction beyond $1,000 single / $2,000 joint is added back for 2026 and later (it was $12,000/$16,000 for 2023-2025); nominal, no indexing.
  • Individual Income Tax Guide (Colorado Department of Revenue, agency_page): Addback threshold and 2026+ limits. Quoted: "whose adjusted gross income exceeds $300,000 and who claims either itemized deductions or the standard deduction on their federal return"; "2026 and later $1,000 $2,000". Checked 2026-10-19.
ss_exempt_agi_single, ss_exempt_agi_mfjFixed in law: held at the rules-year amount in every later year.For ages 55-64 the Social Security cap rises to the full benefit when AGI is at most $75,000 single / $95,000 joint (HB24-1142, C.R.S. 39-22-104(4)(f)(III)(A)); nominal, no indexing.
co-pension-ss-caps (a table held in code), survivor_young_capFixed in law: held at the rules-year amount in every later year.The pension and annuity subtraction is capped at $24,000 (65+) and $20,000 (55-64, and a death benefit received under 55); nominal amounts, no indexing.
military_cap_youngEnacted schedule: 2027: $15,000; 2028: $15,000; 2029: $0; held at the 2029 value after 2029.C.R.S. 39-22-104(4)(y): a retiree under 55 may subtract military retirement pay up to $15,000 for tax years 2022 through 2028; the subtraction applies only to tax years 'prior to January 1, 2029', so it is $0 from 2029 (age 55+ uses the general pension subtraction instead). HB26-1062 (uncapped subtraction) was postponed indefinitely.
  • Colorado Revised Statutes 2024, Title 39 (uncertified printout; Internet Archive capture), § 39-22-104(4)(y) (Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services, statute): Military retirement subtraction amounts and sunset. Quoted: "for income tax years commencing on or after january 1, 2019, but prior to january 1, 2029, an amount equal to a qualified individual's military retirement benefits"; "fifteen thousand dollars for income tax years commencing on or after january 1, 2022, but before january 1, 2029"; ""qualified individual" means an individual who is under fifty-five years of age at the close of the taxable year". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • Retired Servicemembers (Colorado Department of Revenue, agency_page): DOR table through 2028. Quoted: "$15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000 $15,000". Checked 2026-10-19.
military_min_age, survivor_young_below_ageAttained age: the same age in every year.Fixed attained age 55 at the close of the tax year splits the military and pension/death-benefit rules.
cap_loss_limit, cap_loss_limit_mfsFixed in law: held at the rules-year amount in every later year.Colorado starts from federal taxable income, so the fixed IRC 1211(b) limit applies.
  • 26 U.S.C. 1211 (Limitation on capital losses) (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) - U.S. Code, federal): IRC 1211(b) limits a non-corporate capital loss against other income to $3,000 ($1,500 MFS), with no inflation adjustment. Quoted: "(1) $3,000 ($1,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return), or". Checked 2026-11-02.
fbl_tips_cap, fbl_car_loan_capEnacted schedule: 2029: fbl_tips_cap $0, fbl_car_loan_cap $0; held at the 2029 value after 2029.The state's base is federal taxable income, so the federal IRC 224 tips, 163(h)(4) vehicle loan interest deductions reach it as the federal return takes them (the component path subtracts the same amounts); the federal deductions cover 2025-2028, so the schedule sets them to 0 from 2029. Colorado adds the overtime deduction back from 2026 (no overtime cap here: on federal taxable income the engine adds it back).
  • Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (Colorado Department of Revenue, agency_page): Colorado starts from federal taxable income; the overtime deduction is added back from 2026, the tips deduction is not. Quoted: "must add back the amount of the deduction on their Colorado return"; "No addback is required on the taxpayer’s Colorado return for any deduction claimed on their federal return for qualified tips.". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • 26 U.S.C. § 224 (Legal Information Institute) (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code text), statute): The federal deduction the state takes. Quoted: "shall not exceed $25,000.". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • 26 U.S.C. § 163(h)(4) (Legal Information Institute) (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code text), statute): The federal deduction the state takes. Quoted: "The amount of interest taken into account by a taxpayer under subparagraph (B) for any taxable year shall not exceed $10,000.". Checked 2026-11-02.
fbl_charity_capFixed in law: held at the rules-year amount in every later year.IRC 170(p) (2026 on): a non-itemizer's deduction of cash gifts to public charities, at most $1,000 ($2,000 joint), nominal and with no end year, is a deduction from AGI in computing federal taxable income (IRC 63(b)), the state's base.
  • 26 U.S.C. § 170(p) (Legal Information Institute) (Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute (U.S. Code text), statute): The federal deduction the state takes. Quoted: "the deduction under this section shall be equal to the deduction, not in excess of 1,000 ($2,000 in the case of a joint return)". Checked 2026-11-02.
  • Colorado Individual Income Tax Guide (Revised January 2026) (Colorado Department of Revenue, agency_page): Colorado starts from federal taxable income; the overtime deduction is added back from 2026, the tips deduction is not. Quoted: "must add back the amount of the deduction on their Colorado return"; "No addback is required on the taxpayer’s Colorado return for any deduction claimed on their federal return for qualified tips.". Checked 2026-11-02.
co-child-tax-credit (a table held in code)Indexed: Denver-Aurora-Lakewood CPI-U (C.R.S. 39-22-129(8)); the increase rounded to the nearest $1,000. The engine carries the 2025 figure (the latest published) for 2026, so a projection adds 1 year of indexing at the factor's average annual rate.C.R.S. 39-22-129(4.5) fixes $1,200 / $600 / $200 per child; 39-22-129(8) adjusts the AGI thresholds by the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood CPI, rounded to $1,000 (2025: $26,000 / $51,000 / $77,000; joint $36,000 / $61,000 / $87,000). The engine carries the 2025 thresholds (the 2026 ones are not in its sources) and the 2025-only Family Affordability Tax Credit tables (C.R.S. 39-22-130; none for 2026).
  • 2025 Colorado Child Tax Credit (DR 0104CN) (Colorado Department of Revenue, instructions): The 2025 per-child amounts, thresholds and Family Affordability tables. Quoted: "The regular Colorado child tax credit is not allowed if your federal adjusted gross income is greater than $77,000 ($87,000 for joint filers).". Checked 2026-10-28.

Enacted for later years, not applied by the projection

What the engine does not calculate, and known approximations

What the engine does not calculate for any state (credits beyond those each page lists, credits for tax paid to other states, state alternative minimum taxes, and more) is listed on the calculation order page.

Verification

Worksheet-tested Golden and unit tests follow form DR 0104 line 1 (federal taxable income) and DR 0104AD line 4 (the pension and Social Security subtraction).