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

Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from California to Texas in retirement, you stop paying California income tax on retirement withdrawals. 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 Texas tax out-of-state pensions.

California vs Texas: every tax that changes

Related guides: State tax on 401(k) and IRA withdrawals, Capital gains tax by state and State tax on dividends and interest.

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

California taxes retirement withdrawals: 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). Texas does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the California bill is whatever its graduated to 13.3% (plus existing 1% Behavioral Health Services Tax (formerly the Mental Health Services surtax) included in that top rate; schedule produces; in Texas it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — California: not taxed (excluded from CA AGI) Texas: Not taxed (no state income tax).

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

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

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. California: none Texas: 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.); Texas uses a hybrid model (Executor/administrator standard compensation is statutory (Tex. Estates Code §352.002): 5% commission on cash actually received plus 5% on cash actually paid out (excluding e.g. cash on hand/bank deposits at death and distributions to heirs), capped in aggregate at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration. Attorney fees are reasonable. Note: most Texas probates are independent administrations where compensation is often governed by the will. Verified.). 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. Texas: County clerk / statutory probate court fees vary by county; typically ~$250-$450 to file an application for probate. Representative range from county schedules, not verified against a single official statewide source.

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 affidavit route covers personal property only; a primary residence worth up to $750,000 goes through the separate §13151 petition. Texas uses a hybrid standard — a statutory bound with reasonableness inside it, and its statute does not say whether that route reaches real property. The two states differ on that question, which is exactly the kind of thing a move changes. Full figures with the governing statute, the court filing fee and the small-estate threshold: California probate cost and Texas probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what California stops taking on withdrawals, what Texas 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 Texas. 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 Texas?

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 Texas 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 Texas, 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 statewide civil fee schedule, the enrolled text of Texas H.J.R. 38 (2019) and Texas Estates Code §§205.001, 257.001 and 352.002 (public-law mirror of the official text) on September 30, 2026; the Texas county filing-fee range, the absence of a California or Texas estate or inheritance tax, California county filing-fee surcharges and the budget-legislation citation were not re-checked.

Primary sources

• FTB 2025 Schedule CA (540) instructions
• Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code (2025-26 budget trailer legislation)
• Tex. Const. art. VIII, § 24-a
• Cal. Prob. Code §10810
• Cal. Prob. Code §10800
• Cal. Prob. Code §§13100-13101
• Cal. Gov. Code §70650
• Tex. Estates Code §352.002
• Tex. Estates Code §205.001
• Tex. Estates Code ch. 257

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.