Colorado to Florida Retirement Taxes (2026): Every Tax That Changes

Updated July 25, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Colorado to Florida in retirement, you stop paying Colorado 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.

Colorado vs Florida: 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

Colorado taxes retirement withdrawals: Pension/annuity subtraction (includes pensions, 401(k), IRA distributions, and taxable SS within cap): up to $20,000 (age 55-64) or $24,000 (65+) per taxpayer. Florida does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the Colorado bill is whatever its flat 4.4% schedule produces; in Florida it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — Colorado: Taxed only above deductions: age 65+ may subtract 100% of federally taxed Social Security; Florida: not taxed (no state income tax)

2. What changes at death: state estate tax

Neither state levies an estate tax. Colorado: none Florida: none (constitutionally prohibited) Only the federal estate tax applies.

3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax

Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Colorado: none Florida: none

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

Colorado uses a reasonable-fee fee model (UPC state: reasonable compensation (C.R.S. §15-12-719); no percentage schedule.); Florida uses a statutory-percentage model (Presumptive (not mandatory) statutory schedules. Attorney (Fla. Stat. §733.6171): $1,500 for estates ≤$40,000; +$750 for $40-70k; +$750 for $70-100k; 3% of the next $900,000; 2.5% from $1M-$3M; 2% from $3M-$5M; 1.5% from $5M-$10M; 1% above $10M — presumed reasonable, must be disclosed as negotiable. PR (§733.617): 3% of first $1M; 2.5% next $4M; 2% next $5M; 1.5% above $10M.). Filing fees — Colorado: $199 to open a decedent’s estate (informal or formal), ~$229 with equal justice surcharge — statewide per C.R.S. §13-32-102 and Colorado Judicial fee schedule (JDF 1) Florida: ~$400 formal administration; ~$345 summary administration (estates ≥$1,000); ~$235 summary <$1,000 — clerk fees per Fla. Stat. §28.2401 (base $395/$340 plus $4 service charge)

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

Probate cost in each state, specifically

Colorado uses a “reasonable fee” standard with no schedule, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. Florida uses a statutory percentage schedule, so the fee is computable exactly, and its small-estate route does not clear a solely owned house. 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: Colorado probate cost and Florida probate cost.

Four taxes, two states, one order of operations

Everything above changes together: what Colorado stops taking on withdrawals, what Florida 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 Colorado and Florida. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.

Will Colorado still tax me after I move to Florida?

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: Colorado retirement taxes and Florida 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 Colorado retirees consider and every origin state moving to Florida, 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.

Disclosure: the button above routes to an advertising partner and Clear Money Guide may earn a referral fee. See our Affiliate Disclosure.

Primary sources

• C.R.S. § 39-22-104(4)(f), (g), (y)
• CDOR Income Tax Topics: Social Security, Pensions, and Annuities
• Fla. Const. art. VII (no personal income tax)
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §15-12-719
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §15-12-1201
• Colo. Rev. Stat. §13-32-102
• Fla. Stat. §733.6171
• Fla. Stat. §733.617
• Fla. Stat. §735.201 (as amended by Ch. 2026-57)
• Fla. Stat. §28.2401

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.