Does Arkansas Tax Retirement Income?

No. Arkansas does not tax Social Security benefits.

Social Security benefits are exempt from Arkansas income tax.

The Arkansas answer is separate from the federal one. Depending on combined income, up to 85% of Social Security benefits can be taxable on the federal return regardless of what Arkansas does, so the state rule changes the state line only. Our guide to states that do not tax Social Security shows where Arkansas sits among the states that still tax benefits.

Partly. Arkansas taxes some pension income, subject to an exclusion or age rule.

The first $6,000 of distributions from an employer-sponsored retirement plan, public or private, is exempt. The balance is taxable at ordinary Arkansas rates.

The exemption is $6,000 per taxpayer, so a married couple can reach $12,000 only if each spouse has qualifying retirement income in their own name. Early IRA withdrawals before 59 and a half do not qualify unless they are made because of death or disability, and a surviving spouse gets a single $6,000 exemption.

Public and private pensions, annuities, and retirement-plan distributions do not always get the same treatment. The pension comparison lists which states exempt pensions broadly, partly, or only for certain plans.

Partly. Arkansas taxes some traditional 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, subject to an exclusion or age rule.

Traditional 401(k) distributions fall under the employer-plan rule. Traditional IRA distributions taken after age 59 and a half also qualify for the $6,000 exemption, but the total exemption across every plan and IRA is capped at $6,000 per taxpayer, not $6,000 per account.

Two timing points matter in Arkansas. A Roth conversion is taxable in the year it is done, and Arkansas starts from federal adjusted gross income, so a large conversion can land in a year when the state exclusion does not cover it. Qualified Roth withdrawals later are generally not taxable at either level. Required minimum distributions follow the same Arkansas rules as any other traditional-account withdrawal.

Every state page on this site runs the same retiree profile so the states can be compared: $30,000 of Social Security, $40,000 withdrawn from a traditional 401(k), and a $20,000 private pension, $90,000 in total.

A 68-year-old with $30,000 of Social Security, $40,000 from a 401(k), and a $20,000 private pension excludes the Social Security and applies one $6,000 exemption to the $60,000 of other retirement income. About $54,000 remains before the standard deduction, and Arkansas tax on that is roughly $1,600 for 2026.

Step one, remove the $30,000 of Social Security. Step two, take the $6,000 exemption against the $40,000 401(k) withdrawal, leaving $34,000 taxable from that account plus the full $20,000 pension, or $54,000 of Arkansas income before the standard deduction. Step three, run $54,000 through the 2026 standard table: nothing on the first $5,599, 2% up to $11,199, 3% up to $15,999, 3.4% up to $26,399, and 3.7% on the rest, which comes to roughly $1,600. Contrast a $150,000 lump-sum IRA withdrawal in the same year: net income of about $204,000 is over $94,700, so the upper table applies and nearly every dollar from $4,701 up is taxed at 3.7%, producing roughly $7,500 of tax, about $5,900 more than the base case for $150,000 of extra income. The bracket adjustment between $94,701 and $97,600 exists only to smooth the jump between the two tables.

The same $90,000 profile looks different a state line away. The rows below come from the reviewed 51-state table; each state name links to its own guide.

• Missouri: treats Social Security as exempt, pensions as partially taxed, and 401(k) and IRA withdrawals as partially taxed, with a top rate of 4.70% and public-pension deduction and phased $6,000 private exemption.
• Tennessee: has no individual income tax at all.
• Texas: has no individual income tax at all.

People assume the $6,000 exemption is per account or per income stream. It is one $6,000 per taxpayer across every employer plan and IRA, and a military retiree with more than $6,000 of exempt military pay gets no additional $6,000 at all.

Military retirement: Military retirement pay has been fully exempt since tax year 2018. A military retiree whose exempt military pay exceeds $6,000 cannot claim the separate $6,000 exemption on other pensions or IRAs; if the military pay is under $6,000, the remainder of the $6,000 can be applied to other retirement income. See the military retirement tax map for every state's treatment.

Estate and inheritance tax: Arkansas has no estate or inheritance tax.

Selling a home or investments in Arkansas: retirement-income rules do not cover capital gains. See Arkansas capital gains tax before selling appreciated property or a brokerage position in the year you move or retire.

• Confirm the exclusion you are claiming. The exemption is $6,000 per taxpayer, so a married couple can reach $12,000 only if each spouse has qualifying retirement income in their own name. Early IRA withdrawals before 59 and a half do not qualify unless they are made because of death or disability, and a surviving spouse gets a single $6,000 exemption.
• Part-year residents. If you moved into or out of Arkansas during the year, retirement income is generally allocated to the period of residency, and the former state may still tax distributions received before the move. Document the move date, the new domicile, and where each distribution was received.
• Withholding and estimates. Pension and IRA custodians often withhold federal tax but not Arkansas tax. If Arkansas taxes any part of your retirement income, check whether quarterly estimated payments are needed to avoid an underpayment penalty.
• Federal side. The federal return has its own rules: up to 85% of Social Security can be taxable, the temporary $6,000 federal senior deduction is available for 2025 through 2028 subject to income limits, and Roth conversions are taxed in the conversion year. State exemptions do not change any of that.
• Large one-time distributions. Watch the $94,700 line. Above it, Arkansas switches to the upper table and taxes almost all income at 3.7% from the first few thousand dollars, so a large one-year IRA withdrawal costs more than the marginal rate suggests. Spreading the withdrawal across years keeps each year in the standard table.

Comparing states before a move? Use the retirement taxes by state table and the moving states tax guide, and read retirement tax planning for how distributions, conversions, and a move are sequenced together.