California to Arizona Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from California to Arizona in retirement, withdrawals stay taxable, but the top rate falls from 13.3% to 2.5%. Four separate taxes change when you move — state income tax on withdrawals, state estate tax, state inheritance tax, and what probate costs your heirs. Most comparisons only price the first one.

Whether the state you leave still taxes your pension is answered here: does California tax out-of-state pensions and does Arizona tax out-of-state pensions.

Comparing other moves: Massachusetts to Arizona retirement taxes and Michigan to Arizona retirement taxes.

Related state retirement tax guides: California to Delaware Retirement Taxes.

California vs Arizona: every tax that changes

Every cell is quoted from our statute-cited 51-jurisdiction dataset. Download the full dataset as CSV.

1. What changes on your annual tax bill

Both states tax retirement withdrawals, so this is a rate change rather than an exemption. California runs graduated to 13.3% (plus existing 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax (formerly the Mental Health Services surtax) included in that top rate); against Arizona at flat 2.5% — a top-rate difference of roughly 10.8 percentage points. On $100,000 of withdrawals that is on the order of $10,800 a year at the top of the schedule, before any exclusion either state allows.

California: Pensions, 401(k), and IRA distributions taxable as ordinary income, with no age-based exclusion and no general retirement deduction. The exception is military retirement pay and Survivor Benefit Plan annuity payments, up to $20,000 of each type for taxable years 2025 through 2029, if federal AGI does not exceed $125,000 ($250,000 for a surviving spouse or a joint return). Arizona: Private pensions, 401(k), and IRA distributions fully taxable at 2.5%.

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

Neither state levies an estate tax. California: none Arizona: none Only the federal estate tax applies.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. California: none Arizona: none

4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs

California uses a statutory-percentage fee model (Cal. Prob. Code §10810 (attorney) and §10800 (PR) — identical schedules, each computed on gross estate value: 4% of first $100,000; 3% of next $100,000; 2% of next $800,000; 1% of next $9,000,000; 0.5% of next $15,000,000; court-determined reasonable amount above $25,000,000. E.g., $500,000 estate = $13,000 each for attorney and PR.); Arizona uses a reasonable-fee model (UPC state: reasonable compensation for PR and attorneys (A.R.S. §14-3719); no percentage schedule.). Filing fees — California: $435 first-filed petition for letters (Gov. Code §70650, Statewide Civil Fee Schedule); Riverside and San Francisco counties charge $450 because of a local courthouse construction surcharge, and San Bernardino stays at $435. Note each side’s petition triggers the fee. Arizona: ~$306 initial probate filing (Maricopa County Clerk of Superior Court); varies modestly by county

Full detail: probate cost by state and small-estate limits by state.

Probate cost in each state, specifically

California uses a statutory percentage schedule, so the fee is computable exactly, and its small-estate route can reach real property under a statutory cap. Arizona uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route can reach real property under a statutory cap. Both states land in the same bucket on that question. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: California probate cost and Arizona probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what California stops taking on withdrawals, what Arizona does not take at death, and what probate costs in each. The order you do things in — when you establish domicile, when you convert, when you retitle property — changes the total, and some of it cannot be undone afterwards. If a move is genuinely on the table, here is what to look for in an advisor who knows both California and Arizona. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.

Will California still tax me after I move to Arizona?

Not on your retirement withdrawals, once you genuinely change domicile — but that is a harder test than a change of address, and what you leave behind stays in reach.

• Domicile is a test, not a mailing address. A departing state can and does audit residency. Days present, voter registration, driver’s licence, where your doctors and advisers are, and where you keep what you value all count.
• A Roth conversion is taxed where you live in the year you convert. Sequencing a conversion after establishing the new domicile is often worth more than the annual saving — see how all 51 jurisdictions tax Roth conversions.

Full state detail

Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: California retirement taxes and Arizona retirement taxes. To compare any other pair, start at the retirement tax relocation hub.

Widen the comparison

This page prices one corridor. To see every destination California retirees consider and every origin state moving to Arizona, start there instead. For any pair not covered, the retirement tax comparison tool runs all 51 jurisdictions, and the probate cost calculator works out what settling the estate costs in each.

Talking this through

Relocation timing, Roth conversion sequencing and estate exposure interact, and the order you do them in changes the total. If you want a second opinion, understand what it should cost first — see our advisor cost guide.

Figures verified against the FTB 2025 tax rate schedules, Form 541 booklet and Form 540 booklet, California Probate Code §§13100, 13101 and 13151, the Judicial Council Probate Code §890 adjusted amounts and fee schedule, the EDD SDI rate page, A.R.S. §§43-1022, 14-3971 and 14-3719 and the chaptered text of Laws 2025, ch. 24 (HB 2116) on September 30, 2026; the flat 2.5% Arizona rate and Arizona’s lack of an estate or inheritance tax rest on secondary tables, and the California Social Security exclusion, the absence of a California estate or inheritance tax, county filing-fee surcharges, the Maricopa County filing fee and the HB 2116 effective date were not re-checked.

Primary sources

• FTB 2025 Schedule CA (540) instructions
• Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code (2025-26 budget trailer legislation)
• A.R.S. § 43-1022
• AZDOR: Identifying Other Taxable Income / Military Tax Filing
• Cal. Prob. Code §10810
• Cal. Prob. Code §10800
• Cal. Prob. Code §§13100-13101
• Cal. Gov. Code §70650
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. §14-3719
• Ariz. Rev. Stat. §14-3971 (HB 2116, 2025)

Methodology: every figure is quoted from Clear Money Guide’s statute-cited 51-jurisdiction datasets, compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Nothing here is personalized tax or legal advice. Confirm your own facts with a qualified adviser before you move.