Updated July 28, 2026. Quick answer: No. Texas has no state income tax, so converting to a Roth costs you nothing at the state level. Only the federal bill applies.
Why a conversion is a different question from a withdrawal
Almost every state summary answers “how does Texas tax retirement income?” That is a question about distributions. A Roth conversion is not a distribution in the ordinary sense — it is a voluntary election to recognise income now in exchange for tax-free growth later. Whether a state’s retirement exclusion reaches that election is a separate question, and it is the one that decides your bill.
This is the simplest case on the map. Texas levies no tax on ordinary income, so the entire question of whether a retirement exclusion covers a conversion never arises. Your conversion is a federal-only event here.
The planning consequence is the opposite of what people expect: because the state adds nothing, the timing question in Texas is purely federal — bracket, IRMAA, and the tax you pay from outside the account.
What Texas does with the converted amount
State income tax: none (constitutionally prohibited since 2019 amendment)
How Texas treats IRA and plan income: Not taxed (no state income tax).
| Conversion | State tax in Texas |
|---|---|
| $50,000 | $0 |
| $100,000 | $0 |
| $250,000 | $0 |
What to ask a preparer about Texas
Nothing to ask at the state level. Spend the question on federal timing.
Converting around a move
Converting after establishing residency in Texas is the whole play. People moving here from a taxing state sometimes convert before the move and pay a state bill they could have avoided entirely by waiting.
Four separate taxes change when you move, not one: income tax on withdrawals, treatment of Social Security, estate tax, and inheritance tax. A state that looks good on conversions can be worse on the other three.
The state bill is the smaller half
Whatever Texas does, the conversion is federal ordinary income first. The federal bracket you land in, and whether the conversion pushes you over an IRMAA threshold two years later, will usually move more money than the state line does. The state answer tells you whether to convert here; the federal answer tells you how much to convert at once.
Paying the tax from outside the account matters more than either. Using converted dollars to pay the bill shrinks the balance that was the entire point of converting.
Run your own numbers. Roth conversion guardrail estimator — find the bracket ceiling for this year.
Sources
Authority: Tex. Const. art. VIII, § 24-a.
Compiled from state statutes, session laws and revenue-department publications and adversarially verified in July 2026. Dataset confidence for Texas: high.
This page states what the cited authority says. It is not tax advice, and a conversion large enough to matter is worth putting in front of a preparer who can see your whole return.