Updated July 26, 2026. Quick answer (2026): Moving from Rhode Island to Florida in retirement, you stop paying Rhode Island income tax on withdrawals and leave a Rhode Island death tax behind. 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.
Rhode Island vs Florida: every tax that changes
| What changes | Rhode Island (leaving) | Florida (arriving) |
|---|---|---|
| State income tax | graduated, 3.75% / 4.75% / 5.99%; TY2026 brackets: 3.75% to $82,050, 4.75% to $186,450, 5.99% above (ADV 2025-22) | none |
| Social Security | Taxed only above income limits: SS modification fully exempts federally-taxable SS for taxpayers at SSA full retirement age with federal AGI below $107,000 (single/HoH/MFS) or $133,500-$133,750 (RI DOR publications conflict on the exact MFJ figure; confirm on the RI-1040 instructions) (MFJ) for TY2025 (inflation-adjusted annually; TY2026 amounts set in a later advisory). Hard cliff – no partial exemption above the limits. | not taxed (no state income tax) |
| Pension / 401(k) / IRA | Pension/annuity/401(k)/403(b)/TSP income: modification of up to $50,000 per person (TY2025+, raised from $20,000) for taxpayers at full retirement age with AGI below the same limits; | Not taxed (no state income tax). |
| Estate tax | yes – 2026: net taxable estates of $1,838,056 or less exempt (credit $87,940), per RI Division of Taxation Advisory ADV 2025-27; up from $1,802,431 in 2025 (CPI-U indexed annually); rates 0.8%-16% | none (constitutionally prohibited) |
| Inheritance tax | none | none |
| Probate fee model | reasonable-fee | statutory-percentage |
| Probate filing fee | Probate is administered by each city/town probate court; petition fees are set locally (often modest flat fees plus per-page costs). Statewide representative figure not found — marked not found rather than guessed. | ~$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) |
| Small-estate limit | $15,000 — voluntary informal administration of small estates: personal property only (exclusive of tangible personal property per statute text), 30-day wait (R.I. Gen. Laws §33-24-1). Verified via rilegislature.gov/Justia. | Summary administration: $150,000 as of July 1, 2026 (Fla. Stat. §735.201, amended by CS/HB 1337, Ch. 2026-57, signed April 29, 2026; was $75,000), or death more than 2 years ago regardless of value; exempt homestead not counted. Disposition without administration (§735.304): raised $10,000 → $20,000 of exempt personal property by the same act. |
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
Rhode Island taxes retirement withdrawals: Pension/annuity/401(k)/403(b)/TSP income: modification of up to $50,000 per person (TY2025+, raised from $20,000) for taxpayers at full retirement age with AGI below the same limits; Florida does not. On a $100,000 annual withdrawal, the Rhode Island bill is whatever its graduated, 3.75% / 4.75% / 5.99%; schedule produces; in Florida it is $0. Social Security is treated as follows — Rhode Island: Taxed only above income limits: SS modification fully exempts federally-taxable SS for taxpayers at SSA full retirement age with federal AGI below $107,000 (single/HoH/MFS) or $133,500-$133,750 (RI DO Florida: not taxed (no state income tax)
2. What changes at death: state estate tax
This is usually the larger number. Rhode Island levies an estate tax — yes – 2026: net taxable estates of $1,838,056 or less exempt (credit $87,940), per RI Division of Taxation Advisory ADV 2025-27; up from $1,802,431 in 2025 (CPI-U indexed annually); rates 0.8%-16% — and Florida levies none (none (constitutionally prohibited)). Establishing domicile in Florida removes that exposure for assets that are not Rhode Island real property.
3. What changes at death: state inheritance tax
Neither state levies an inheritance tax. Rhode Island: none Florida: none
4. The one nobody prices: what probate costs your heirs
Rhode Island uses a reasonable-fee fee model (No statutory percentage schedule; executor/administrator and attorney compensation is allowed by the (municipal) probate court as just/reasonable. Exact compensation section not pinned to a primary source this pass.); 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 — Rhode Island: Probate is administered by each city/town probate court; petition fees are set locally (often modest flat fees plus per-page costs). Statewide representative figure not found — marked not found rather than guessed. 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.
Does this actually apply to you?
Below $1,000,000 no US state estate tax applies anywhere — Oregon has the lowest threshold in the country and that is where it starts. So for most estates the whole “escape the death tax” framing is irrelevant, and the only thing that changes when you move is your annual income tax. Here is exactly where the line falls for this pair:
| Estate value | Rhode Island | Florida |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500,000 | Under $1,838,056 | No estate tax |
| $3,000,000 | Taxed (over $1,838,056) | No estate tax |
| $6,000,000 | Taxed (over $1,838,056) | No estate tax |
| $10,000,000 | Taxed (over $1,838,056) | No estate tax |
Thresholds are the 2026 figures in our verified dataset and apply to the taxable estate. Federal estate tax is separate and far higher. Test your own number with the comparison tool.
Probate cost in each state, specifically
Rhode Island 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: Rhode Island probate cost and Florida probate cost.
Four taxes, two states, one order of operations
Everything above changes together: what Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island and Florida. If you would rather price it yourself first, the two-state comparison tool is free and asks for no email.
Will Rhode Island 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.
- Real property left behind stays taxable. Keeping a home in Rhode Island can keep part of the estate within reach of Rhode Island rules even after you become a Florida resident.
- 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.
If you keep a home in Rhode Island, what happens at death?
Changing domicile moves you. It does not move the house. Rhode Island levies an estate tax, and it reaches a nonresident decedent’s real property situated there — so a home kept behind after the move stays within Rhode Island’s reach even once Florida is your legal home for every other purpose. Tax imposed on the transfer of the net value of assets with actual situs in Rhode Island. Nonresidents are taxed only on Rhode Island-situs assets.
Tentative Rhode Island tax multiplied by Rhode Island-situs property over federal gross estate. The practical consequence is the part most summaries skip: a statutory lien attaches to the Rhode Island real estate and cannot be discharged until the return is filed and paid, which blocks a sale. Authority: R.I. Division of Taxation estate tax guidance.
This is the exposure that survives a move, and it is the one worth pricing before the move rather than after. The house also stays within that state’s probate jurisdiction, so the estate faces a separate ancillary proceeding there on top of the probate where you live — the ancillary probate calculator prices that second proceeding. Confirm the current figures with the state revenue department or a licensed professional before acting — thresholds move, and the arithmetic depends on the whole estate, not just the house.
Full state detail
Every figure above is summarized. The complete statute-cited breakdown for each state: Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island 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.
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Cite or share this comparison
Suggested citation: Clear Money Guide, “Rhode Island to Florida Retirement Taxes (2026),” statute-cited; clearmoneyguide.com/rhode-island-to-florida-retirement-taxes/. Free to cite with attribution. Download the full dataset as CSV, or contact contact@clearmoneyguide.com for custom cuts.
Primary sources
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-12
- RI Division of Taxation ADV 2025-22 (Nov 3, 2025)
- RI Division of Taxation Publication 2026-01 (Retirement Income Guide, TY2025)
- R.I. Gen. Laws sec. 44-22-1.1
- Fla. Const. art. VII (no personal income tax)
- R.I. Gen. Laws §33-24-1
- 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.