Roth Conversion in Florida

A Roth conversion in Florida carries $0 state income tax, because Florida imposes no individual income tax on any resident for 2026 (Source: Florida Department of Revenue, Form GT-800025, 2026). The number that actually moves your decision is the federal bill, which Florida residency does not reduce by a single dollar.

This page covers two questions at once: how Florida treats the money you convert, and how the federal costs behave once your state tax is zero. For the mechanics that apply in every state, see our overview of Roth conversion planning and how state taxes affect a Roth conversion.

Does Florida tax a Roth conversion?

No. A Roth conversion completed by a Florida resident in 2026 incurs $0 Florida state income tax, because Florida has no individual income tax at all (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue Form GT-800025, 2026; Tax Foundation 2026). There is no rate, no bracket, and no exclusion to claim.

Florida’s Constitution, Article VII, Section 5, prohibits a personal income tax, so changing it would require a statewide referendum (Source: Fla. Const. art. VII, sec. 5, via Tax Foundation 2026), which makes the state figure stable rather than a rate that could shift next session. The state figure is only half the picture: Florida saving you $0 in state tax does not make your conversion free. Every dollar you convert is added to your federal taxable income and taxed as ordinary income, at rates that can reach 37% (Source: IRS 2026 federal brackets, ground-truth figures). Florida changes the state side of the math to zero and does nothing to the federal side, which is where the real planning work sits: deciding how much to convert to a Roth bracket by bracket.

Does Florida tax 401(k) and IRA withdrawals?

No. Florida does not tax distributions from a 401(k), traditional IRA, or any other qualified retirement plan, because it has no individual income tax (Source: Tax Foundation 2026; Florida Dept. of Revenue 2026). Unlike Pennsylvania or Illinois, which levy an income tax and then statutorily exempt retirement distributions, Florida reaches no income category at all, so no age or dollar threshold applies.

This matters because a Roth conversion is, mechanically, a taxable distribution from your traditional IRA or 401(k) that you redirect into a Roth account. In a state with an income tax, that distribution would be taxed on the state return. In Florida it is a state non-event, and your regular retirement withdrawals in later years are treated the same way: $0 state tax.

Does Florida tax pension income?

No. Florida does not tax public, military, or private pension income, and it draws no distinction among them, because none is subject to a nonexistent state income tax (Source: Tax Foundation 2026). A retired teacher, a military retiree, and a corporate pensioner all report the same $0 Florida tax on pension income. This is why relocating retirees often review whether their income is Florida-source-neutral before large conversions.

Does Florida tax Social Security?

No. Florida does not tax Social Security benefits, again because it has no individual income tax (Source: Tax Foundation 2026; Florida Dept. of Revenue 2026). But the federal treatment is where conversions bite: a large conversion raises your combined income and can push up to 85% of your Social Security benefits into federal taxable income for that year (Source: IRS Publication 915, 2026 rules).

That interaction is a reason many pre-RMD retirees look at converting in the window after they retire but before they claim Social Security, when the conversion cannot drag benefits into taxation because none is being received yet. We cover the mechanics in our note on the taxation of Social Security benefits in 2026.

Does Florida have an estate tax in 2026?

No. Florida imposes neither an estate tax nor an inheritance tax for 2026, and it has no gift tax (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue Form GT-800025, 2026; Tax Foundation 2026). Florida’s former “pick-up” estate tax was tied to a federal credit that was phased out after 2004, so there is no state exemption threshold or top rate to report.

The federal estate tax still applies independently of the state, with a federal estate and gift tax exemption of $15,000,000 per person for 2026 (Source: IRS 2026; One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 2025). For conversion planning, this reinforces a common goal: shifting assets into a Roth removes a future income-tax liability for heirs, and Florida adds no state-level death tax on top. Federal estate tax remains its own question and applies independently of where you live.

Roth conversion Florida: tax on a $100,000 conversion (illustrative)

The table below is illustrative and shows how the state and federal sides separate on a hypothetical $100,000 conversion by a Florida resident in 2026. Florida’s rows are zero as a matter of law; the federal amount is a single illustrative marginal-rate example, not a projection of your result, and depends on your full-year taxable income and filing status.

The takeaway: a Florida resident’s entire tax cost on a conversion is federal. Two people converting $100,000, one in Florida and one in a state with a 6% income tax, owe the same federal amount, but the Florida resident owes $0 of the roughly $6,000 state tax the other would pay. That difference is the whole Florida advantage; it is real but does not reduce the federal figure that usually dominates the decision, which a Roth conversion break-even analysis helps you weigh.

Will a Roth conversion raise your Medicare IRMAA surcharge?

It can, and Florida residency offers no protection here because IRMAA is federal. The Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount adds a surcharge to Medicare Part B and Part D premiums based on your Modified Adjusted Gross Income from two years earlier (Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026; Kiplinger, “Medicare Premiums 2026,” 2026). A conversion at 63 can therefore raise your premiums at 65.

For 2026, the standard Part B premium is $202.90 per month, and the first IRMAA tier begins at MAGI above $109,000 for single filers and $218,000 for joint filers, with total Part B premiums climbing to as much as $689.90 per month at the top tier (Source: CMS 2026; Kiplinger 2026). IRMAA is a cliff, not a ramp: one dollar over a threshold triggers the full surcharge for that tier. Because the lookback is two years, a conversion in the year you turn 63 uses that year’s income to set your 65-and-older premiums. Our 2026 IRMAA brackets and premiums page lists every tier.

A related federal cost is the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax. The conversion amount itself is not net investment income and is not directly hit by the surtax, but the conversion raises your MAGI, which can pull your interest, dividends, and capital gains above the $200,000 single or $250,000 joint threshold and subject that other income to the tax (Source: IRS, NIIT rules, 2026). These federal interactions, not any Florida rule, are what multi-year planning manages.

Moving to Florida before a Roth conversion: domicile and the source-tax rule

Timing follows residency. A conversion is taxed by your state of legal domicile in the year of the conversion, so a snowbird or recent relocator who is still a part-year or statutory resident of a high-tax state that year can still owe state tax on the conversion (Source: state residency rules; 4 U.S.C. 114). Establishing genuine Florida domicile before you convert is generally what produces the $0 state result, though a former high-tax state may still challenge residency for the conversion year.

Two federal points shape this. First, the Source Tax Act, 4 U.S.C. 114, bars a state from taxing the retirement distribution of a nonresident, so once you are a Florida domiciliary, your former state cannot tax the conversion distribution (Source: 4 U.S.C. 114, ground-truth). Second, that protection covers the distribution, not your resident-year income in the state you left. If you convert during a year you are still a New York, New Jersey, or California resident for part of it, that state may still reach the conversion income under its own residency tests, and several high-tax states run residency audits.

To establish Florida domicile, residents generally take documented steps: physical presence and intent, a Florida driver’s license, voter registration, and a Declaration of Domicile filed with the county clerk under Fla. Stat. 222.17, often alongside a homestead filing (Source: Fla. Stat. 222.17; Florida Dept. of Revenue new-resident guidance GT-800025, 2026). Sequencing the move and the conversion correctly is a common reason relocating retirees seek advice, and our overview of moving to a tax-friendly state in retirement covers the broader checklist.

What age to consider for a Roth conversion before RMDs

There is no single best age, but many pre-RMD retirees examine the window between leaving work and the start of required minimum distributions, when taxable income often dips into lower federal brackets. Required minimum distributions begin at age 73, or 75 for those born in 1960 or later (Source: SECURE 2.0 Act, IRS 2026). Converting during that gap can fill up lower brackets before RMDs and Social Security stack on top.

The core rationale is RMD reduction: every dollar converted now shrinks the traditional balance that will later drive a forced, taxable withdrawal at 73 or 75. Because there is no income limit on conversions, only on contributions, a retiree can convert any amount in a year, which is why “filling” the 10%, 12%, 22%, or 24% federal brackets over several years is more common than one large conversion that spikes into higher brackets and IRMAA tiers.

A further reason some couples act earlier is the survivor situation: when one spouse dies, the survivor typically files as single, with narrower brackets and lower IRMAA thresholds, so the same RMDs can be taxed more heavily. Converting while married-filing-jointly brackets still apply is one way retirees address that shift. All of this is federal-bracket work, and Florida’s zero state rate simply means none of it is complicated by a state return.

Florida property tax and homestead exemption for retirees

Florida funds itself through the taxes it does levy, the trade-off for 0% income tax. The two that reach retirees most are property tax and sales tax. Florida’s effective property tax rate on owner-occupied homes is relatively low, about 0.78% (Source: Tax Foundation, “Florida Tax Rates & Rankings,” 2026).

The state sales tax is 6%, with a county surtax that commonly brings the combined rate to roughly 6.5% to 8%, while groceries and prescription drugs are exempt (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue, 2026).

Homeowners who make a Florida home their permanent residence can claim a homestead exemption of up to $50,000: the first $25,000 applies to all taxing authorities and a second $25,000 to all except the school district. Many counties add an extra exemption of up to $50,000 for residents age 65 and older whose household income is at or below $38,686 for 2026, with the amount set at the county level (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue, “Additional Homestead Exemptions,” 2026). None of these levies touch a Roth conversion, but they round out what Florida residency actually costs.

How Rothology plans a Roth conversion for Florida residents

Rothology Premier Roth Conversion is a flat-fee, fiduciary planning service from Q3 Advisors. It is educational and factual: we build a multi-year conversion plan and tax projections for Florida residents, and we sell no financial products. Because the Florida state figure is already $0, the analysis concentrates on the four federal interactions that determine whether and how much to convert in a given year:

• Federal bracket management, sizing each year’s conversion to fill lower brackets rather than spike into higher ones.
• IRMAA thresholds and the two-year lookback, so a conversion does not quietly raise Medicare premiums later.
• Social Security taxation, coordinating conversions with the year you claim benefits.
• The 3.8% NIIT and the surviving-spouse bracket shift, projected across multiple years.

We also review domicile documentation for relocators, since the $0 state result depends on being a legal Florida resident in the conversion year. A common approach is paying the federal tax from funds outside the IRA, so the full converted amount stays invested for tax-free qualified growth. This description is factual, not a recommendation or a promise of any outcome.

Frequently asked questions

Does Florida tax Roth conversions?

No. Florida does not tax a Roth conversion, because it has no individual income tax for 2026 (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue Form GT-800025, 2026; Tax Foundation 2026). The conversion produces $0 Florida state tax with no exclusion required. The converted amount is still fully taxable as ordinary income on your federal return, at rates reaching up to 37%.

Can my old state tax my IRA or Roth conversion after I move to Florida?

Once you are a legal Florida resident, federal law 4 U.S.C. 114 bars your former state from taxing your retirement distribution, including a conversion (Source: 4 U.S.C. 114). The exposure is the conversion year itself: if you were still a part-year or statutory resident of a high-tax state that year, that state may tax the income under its own residency tests before your Florida domicile is complete.

Is Social Security taxed in Florida?

No. Florida does not tax Social Security benefits, because it levies no individual income tax (Source: Tax Foundation 2026). At the federal level, though, a Roth conversion raises your combined income and can make up to 85% of your Social Security benefits federally taxable in that year (Source: IRS Publication 915, 2026). Conversion timing relative to claiming benefits is a common planning point.

How much does a Roth conversion cost in Florida?

In Florida state tax, $0, because there is no individual income tax (Source: FL DOR GT-800025, 2026). Your entire cost is federal. On an illustrative $100,000 conversion at a 22% marginal rate, that is roughly $22,000 in federal tax, with the exact amount depending on your full-year income and filing status. Florida residency reduces the state portion to zero but does not lower the federal amount.

Will a Roth conversion increase my Medicare premiums (IRMAA)?

It can, and Florida offers no shelter because IRMAA is federal. Medicare uses your MAGI from two years earlier, so a conversion at 63 can raise your Part B and Part D premiums at 65 (Source: CMS 2026). For 2026, surcharges begin above $109,000 single or $218,000 joint MAGI, and one dollar over a threshold triggers the full tier surcharge (Source: Kiplinger, “Medicare Premiums 2026,” 2026).

Does Florida have an estate or inheritance tax?

No. Florida imposes no estate tax and no inheritance tax for 2026, and no gift tax either (Source: Florida Dept. of Revenue Form GT-800025, 2026; Tax Foundation 2026). There is no state exemption threshold to track. The federal estate tax still applies on its own terms, so large estates may face federal exposure even though Florida adds no state-level death tax.

How do Roth conversions reduce required minimum distributions (RMDs)?

Converting moves money out of your traditional IRA or 401(k), which is the balance RMDs are calculated from, and into a Roth, which has no lifetime RMD for the original owner. Reducing the traditional balance before RMDs begin at age 73 or 75 shrinks those future forced withdrawals and the taxable income they create (Source: SECURE 2.0 Act, IRS 2026), which can also ease later IRMAA and Social Security taxation.

Sources

• Florida Department of Revenue, “Tax Information for New Residents,” Form GT-800025, 2026 edition (no personal income tax; no estate, inheritance, or gift tax; Declaration of Domicile guidance).
• Florida Department of Revenue, homestead and additional senior homestead exemption guidance, 2026; Florida sales tax guidance, 2026.
• Tax Foundation, “Florida Tax Rates & Rankings,” 2026 (no individual income tax; effective property tax rate about 0.78%; no estate or inheritance tax).
• Florida Constitution, Article VII, Section 5 (prohibition on a personal income tax).
• Fla. Stat. 222.17 (Declaration of Domicile).
• 4 U.S.C. 114, Source Tax Act (bar on states taxing a nonresident’s retirement distributions).
• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2026 Part B premium and IRMAA figures; Kiplinger, “Medicare Premiums 2026,” 2026.
• IRS 2026 federal income tax brackets; IRS Publication 915 (Social Security taxation); IRS Net Investment Income Tax rules; SECURE 2.0 Act (RMD ages 73 and 75); IRS 2026 estate and gift tax exemption ($15,000,000 per person), as set by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, 2025.