Retiring in Washington

Every figure below is sourced to Washington’s own publications and dated. Estimates only, and not tax advice.

Retirement tax by state

What your state actually takes from a 401(k) withdrawal, a pension, and Social Security — in dollars, not a yes/no list.

Brokerage account growth

Long-term index-fund growth after expense-ratio drag — and what your state takes from the gains at withdrawal.

Roth vs. Traditional

Decided on the two rates that actually govern it — yours now, and yours at withdrawal, in the state you'll retire in rather than the one you're in.

Contribution limit optimizer

2026 limits, employer match, the 60-63 super catch-up, and whether the Roth catch-up mandate applies to you.

Required minimum distribution

When your RMDs start under SECURE 2.0, how much this year's is, and what missing it costs.

Backdoor Roth pro-rata

What a backdoor Roth conversion would actually cost you in tax — the pro-rata rule most calculators only describe.

Self-directed IRA real estate (UDFI)

The tax a leveraged rental owes inside a self-directed IRA — computed at trust rates, not the rate you'd assume.

Washington at a glance

Washington has no state income tax, so none of your retirement income — 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, pensions, or Social Security — is taxed at the state level. Federal tax is a separate matter these pages do not model.

  • Washington has NO general personal income tax on wages, salaries, pensions, interest, or dividends, and this is not merely a policy choice: the Washington Supreme Court held in Culliton v. Chase (1933) that income is property under the state constitution's uniformity clause, which is why every subsequent attempt at a graduated income tax has failed.
  • THE EXCEPTION THAT MAKES WASHINGTON DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER NO-INCOME-TAX STATE: Washington levies a standalone capital gains EXCISE tax on long-term capital gains above an annually indexed standard deduction. Treating Washington as a flat no-tax state produces a materially wrong answer for anyone selling appreciated securities in a taxable account.
  • The excise survived constitutional challenge precisely because it was structured as an excise on the sale or transfer of an asset rather than as a tax on income: Quinn v. State, 1 Wn.3d 349, 526 P.3d 1 (2023). A November 2022 initiative to repeal it (Initiative 2109) was rejected by voters in November 2024.
  • Washington's revenue mix leans on a 6.5% state sales tax plus local add-ons and on the business and occupation tax on gross receipts, which is why the state consistently ranks as one of the more regressive tax systems in the country despite having no income tax.