If you're planning your retirement in Kansas, there's reason to be happy come tax time. It is a tax-friendly state for retirees. That's the sunny report from
Kiplinger, a personal finance and investing website, about the Midwestern Sunflower State. Here is a look at what makes the state so tax-friendly.
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- Social Security Benefits - Kansas excludes Social Security benefits from income taxes for residents with a federal adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less, Kiplinger says.
- Pension Exemptions - Military, civil service and in-state public pensions are exempt from state income taxes, the Kiplinger survey says, but out-of-state pensions are fully taxed.
- Income Tax Reductions - In 2013, Kansas began reducing its income tax rates. It reduced the brackets to two, and as of 2015, the low rate is 2.7 percent, and the high rate is 4.6 percent.
- Property Taxes- The state taxes property at 100 percent fair-market value. The state also offers property tax refunds to low-income seniors. A home with a median value of $125,500 is taxed $1,625, the Tax Foundation says.
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- Sales Tax - The state sales tax is 6.3 percent and excludes prescription drugs. Local taxes are allowable, up to another 4 percent. This means that some cities could charge as much as 10.3 percent sales tax on items, but none do so. As of 2015, the highest sales tax rates are in Junction City at 9.4 percent, Leavenworth at 9.15 percent, Liberal at 8.9 percent, Gardner at 8.875 percent, and Dodge City at 8.8 percent.
- No Estate or Inheritance Tax - Kansas has no estate or inheritance tax. A Washington Times editorial says more states should enact tax cuts like the ones Kansas enacted in 2015: "Tax cuts in these states will not only make life easier for the taxpayers, lowering their burdens in the struggle to survive and prosper, but the states will see stronger economies, with more employed workers to pay more taxes," the editorial says. "Legislators, for their part, can go back to their constituents confident of a pat on the back instead of a boot in the seat of their pants. Everybody wins."
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