Missouri Public Pension Exemptions; Are you Eligible?

As the recipient of a public pension, you may qualify for the Missouri public pension exemption. This exemption allows you to exclude a portion of your pension and/or Social Security Income from your gross taxable income for your Missouri taxes. To qualify for the exemption, your adjusted gross income must fall within certain limits.

                -Up to $85,000 for single taxpayers            

                -Up to $100,000 for married taxpayers

The exemption will be calculated as the amount of your taxable pension, limited to the maximum exemption amount for each taxpayer, and then reduced by the amount of your nontaxable social security benefit, if any. If you exceed the limitations listed above, you may still qualify for a partial exemption.

To see if you qualify for any or all of the exemption, you will need to file Form MO-1040 or MO-1040P. You will need to complete the worksheet in Part 3 of Form MO-A to file with your MO-1040.

KCPERS recommends that you contact the Missouri Department of Revenue or a qualified tax professional for information or questions regarding your eligibility to claim the public pension exemption.

Qualified Health Insurance Premiums

Missouri also allows a subtraction from federal adjusted gross income for qualified health insurance premiums. The subtraction is taken on line 12 of part 1 of Form MO-A. To determine if you qualify for a subtraction, the Missouri Department of Revenue supplies a worksheet for line 12 which can be found in the instructions to form MO-1040.

IRS Treatment of Insurance Premiums for Retired Public Safety Officers